The 'Improper' Feminine

Experimental Female Fictions; Or, The Brief Wondrous Life of theNahḍaSensation Story

“…It is here, as Pykett suggests, that the value of the sensation form lies, for sensation fiction is neither 'the transgressive or subversive field of the improper feminine, [n]or the contained, conservative domain of the proper feminine.' 54 Instead, Pykett writes: we should explore the sensation novel as a site in which the contradictions, anxieties and opposing ideologies of [nineteenth century] culture converge and are put into play, and as a medium which registered and negotiated (or failed to negotiate) a wide range of profound cultural anxieties. 55 Produced in a time of fervent cultural activity and flux, these Arabic sensation stories give us insight into how anxieties over women, marriage, and the home were figured in the contemporary press by women themselves; they add a distinct voice to the (growing) body of scholarship on women's roles and lives during the nahḍ a.…”

“…14 Pykett writes that 'the moment of the sensation novel was also one of intense public discussion about women and the law, about the state of modern marriage, and about women's roles in the family.' 15 As a result, these texts 'registered the pulse of contemporary feeling and were deeply implicated in the immediate social and political issues of their day. Many of the sensation novels grew out of specific concerns about women's social and familial roles'.…”

“…For, as scholars of the sensation genre have pointed out, the form juxtaposes many versions of femininity, both 'proper' and 'improper,' forcing the reader to constantly have 'to rethink her conceptions of femininity and proper feminine behavior.' 25 Introducing the genre, Harrison and Fantina write that sensation texts tested 'the stability of middle-class mores. They also frequently challenged the stability of individual identity and showed a person's outward appearance and social standing to be poor indicators of personality and motive.'…”

“…27 Later scholars have connected this phenomenon with the genre's cultural negotiation of 'a wide range of profound cultural anxieties about gender stereotypes, sexuality, class, the family and marriage.' 28 Pykett adds that, in many examples of this fiction, 'an "improper" heroine may be juxtaposed with the epitome of proper femininity in such a way as to redefine both categories.' 29 More often than not, the fault-line of this juxtaposition occurred in the representation of dangerous, or even deviant, sexuality or sexual behavior, which, as Andrew Mangham points out, 'appeared to confirm presumptions that when women's sexuality becomes excessive, it becomes destructive.…”