ANGRY WORDS SOFTLY SPOKEN

A Comparative Study of English & Arabic Women Writers

ANGRY WORDS SOFTLY

SPOKENA Comparative Study of English & Arabic Women Writers

AlAnoud AlshArekh

ANGRY WORDS SOFTLY SPOKEN: A Comparative Study of English & Arabic Women Writers

Alanoud Alsharekh

ISBN-10 1 872843 93 XISBN-13 9781872843933

Asian Art and Society SeriesSeries Editor Sajid RizviSeries ISSN 1740 3103

Cover by Prizmatone Design Consultancy (EAP), based on a photograph by Manayer Al Sharekh of the painting, Moudhi and Manayer, by George Bahjoori, 1995, from the collection of Mohammed al Sharekh

Copyright © 2006. No part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form (graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or information storage and retrieval systems) without permission of the publisher

Published by Saffron Books, an imprint of Eastern Art Publishing Eastern Art Publishing P O Box 13666 London SW14 8WF United Kingdom Managing Editor Sajid Rizvi Executive Editor Shirley Rizvi

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication DataA catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

Contents

Acknowledgements 91 | Feminist Endeavours and the Arabic Novel 111.1 |Introduction 111.2 | FeminismandFeministTheory 131.2.1 | Anglo-American vs FrenchFeministTheory 141.2.2 | OtherSchoolsofFeministTheory 171.2.3 | TheEvolutionofFeminismintheArabWorld 191.2.3.1 | Colonialism,ModernityandtheNewMother 201.2.3.2 |TheHistoricalProgressionofFeminismintheArabWorld 211.2.3.3 |IslamandFeminism 241.2.3.4 |Problemswith‘Feminism’asaConcept 251.3 |ElaineShowalter’sA Literature of Their Own 261.4 |TheDevelopmentoftheNovelFormintheArabWorld 291.4.1 |TheOriginoftheArabicNovel 291.4.1.1 |ContactwiththeWest 301.4.1.2 |TranslationofWesternFiction 311.4.2 |TheNahçdahandtheRevivaloftheMaq¢ amah 321.4.3 |TheArabisationoftheNovel 331.4.4 |TheArabicHistoricalNovel 331.4.5 |TheProgressofArabFictionandtheGrowthofthe

EgyptianNovel 341.4.6 |TheInfluenceofRealismandNationalism 341.4.7 |EgyptianModernists:Naj³bMa® hf¢ u® z 351.4.8 |TheContemporaryArabicNovel 361.4.9 |TheBirthoftheFeministNovel 36 Notes 38

2 | Feminine 43

2.1 |ElaineShowalter’sFeminine 432.1.1 |FeminineHeroesandHeroines 472.1.2 |Bront¦ eandal-ôUthm¢ an:QuintessentialFeminineNovelists 492.2 |CharlotteBront¦ e 492.2.1 |CharlotteBront¦ e’sWork 492.2.1.1 |Jane Eyre 502.2.1.2 |Villette 512.2.2 |TheVictorianPrinciple:SettingCharlotteBront¦ e’sWork

inItsSocio-HistoricalBackground 522.2.3 |TheAutobiographicalNovel 532.2.4 |InternalDialogues:TheToolofFirst-PersonNarration 542.2.5 |TheLanguageofEmotion 562.2.6 |TheFeminineMaleIdeal 572.2.7 |TheNewGothic:AToolforFeministExploration 602.2.8 |SplittingthePsyche:The Mad Woman in the Attic 612.2.9 |TheRoleofReligion:SubvertingtheMaleGod 622.2.10 |FamiliesandMarriage:ADouble-EdgedSword 632.2.11 |TheSocialistImplicationsoftheNovel 642.2.12 |TheControversyofSocialConvention 652.2.13 |ClaimstoFeminism 652.2.14 |DefeatingtheFeministAgenda 672.2.15 |LiteraryMerits:SoftAnger 692.3 |Layl¢ aal-ôUthm¢ an 702.3.1 |Layl¢ aal-ôUthm¢ an’sWork 702.3.1.1 |The Woman and the Cat 702.3.1.2 |Wasmiyyah Emerges from the Sea 712.3.2 |FromCamelstoCadillacs:SettingLayl¢ aal-ôUthm¢ an’s

WorkinItsSocio-HistoricalBackground 712.3.3 |TheAutobiographicalNovel 732.3.4 |InternalDialogues:TheToolsofaFeminineAuthor 732.3.5 |TheLanguageofEmotion 752.3.6 |TheFeminineMaleIdeal 752.3.7 |WomanagainstHerself:KuwaitiGenderRoles 762.3.8 |MortifyingtheFlesh:TheDilemmaofArabWomen

Writers 772.3.9 |FeminineExploration:TheGothicElements 792.3.10 |SplittingthePsyche:TheAngelintheHouse 802.3.11 |TheMissingGodintheWorkofLayl¢ aal-ôUthm¢ an 822.3.12 |FamiliesandMarriage:ADouble-EdgedSword 832.3.13 |TheSocialistImplicationsoftheNovels 842.3.14 |TheControversyofSocialConvention 842.3.15 |ClaimstoFeminism 872.3.16 |DefeatingtheFeministAgenda 882.3.17 |LiteraryMerits:SoftAnger 89

2.4 |Conclusion 902.4.1 |PhysicalandEnvironmentalSimilarities 902.4.2 |StylisticSimilarities 912.4.3 |Differences 91 Notes 923 | Feminist 99

3.1 |ElaineShowalter’sFeminist 993.1.1 |EarlierandLaterFeminists 1013.1.2 |Suffrage 1023.1.3 |Grandandal-Saôd¢ aw³:RepresentationsoftheFeminist 1033.2 |SarahGrand 1033.2.1 |SarahGrand’sWork 1033.2.1.1 |The Heavenly Twins 1043.2.1.2 |The Beth Book 1053.2.2 |PlacingSarahGrand’sWorkinItsSocio-Historical

Background 1063.2.3 |TheNewWoman 1073.2.4 |FeministAutobiography:TheArtistasaYoungWoman 1093.2.5 |PoliticalDiatribes:SocialandLegalIssuesintheNovelsof

SarahGrand 1113.2.6 |BreakingtheSilence:TaboostotheFore 1123.2.7 |FeminismandtheMarriageQuestion 1143.2.8 |BearingtheFruitsofFeministThought:MaleHypocrisy

andFemaleServility 1163.2.9 |AndrogynyandtheAnnihilationoftheFemaleBody 1193.2.10 |TheFightforFreedom:UnresolvedIssues 1203.2.11 |LiteraryMerits:RageAgainsttheMachine 1233.3 |Naw¢ alal-Saôd¢ aw³ 1243.3.1 |Naw¢ alal-Saôd¢ aw³’sWork 1253.3.1.1 |Memoirs of a Female Physician 1253.3.1.2 |WomanatPointZero 1263.3.2 |PlacingNaw¢ alal-Saôd¢ aw³’sWorkinItsSocio-Historical

Background 1283.3.3 |Womanvs Man:RadicalFeminisminNaw¢ alal-Saôd¢ aw³’s

Novels 1303.3.4 |BreakingtheBondsofTradition 1313.3.5 |PanderingtotheWesternReader 1333.3.6 |FeministVictories 1363.3.7 |PenisEnvy:Naw¢ alal-Saôd¢ aw³andtheDesiretobeMale 1383.3.8 |InvertingPatriarchalCodes 1393.3.9 |LiteraryMerits:RageagainsttheMachine 1413.4 |Conclusion 1423.4.1 |Similarities 1423.4.2 |Contrasts 144 Notes 145

4 | Female 1514.1 |ElaineShowalter’sFemale 1514.1.1 |EarlyFemaleandLateFemale 1544.1.2 |VirginiaWoolfand® Han¢ anal-Shaykh:FemaleModels 1554.2 |VirginiaWoolf 1554.2.1 |VirginiaWoolf’sWork 1564.2.1.1 |Mrs Dalloway 1574.2.1.2 |To the Lighthouse 1584.2.2 |PlacingVirginiaWoolf’sWorkinItsSocio-Historical

Background 1594.2.3 |Doubles,MirrorsandMadness:FemaleEvolutionthrough

FeministRevolution 1604.2.4 |TheFlightintoAndrogyny 1624.2.5 |TheObsessionwithInnerSpace:AnAlternativeReality 1644.2.6 |LesbianismandFemaleSelf-Discovery 1674.2.7 |ClaimstoFeminism 1694.2.8 |DefeatstotheFeministCause 1704.2.9 |LiteraryMerits:AngrySoftness 1734.3 |Han¢ anal-Shaykh 1744.3.1 |Han¢ anal-Shaykh’sWork 1744.3.1.1 |The Story of Zahra 1744.3.1.2 |Women of Sand and Myrrh 1764.3.2 |Placing® Han¢ anal-Shaykh’sWorkinItsSocio-Historical

Background 1774.3.3 |FromBabushkastoBarbies:TheProblematicStatusof

WomeninLebanon 1784.3.4 |WarasLiberatorintheNovelsofLevantineWomenWriters 1804.3.5 |MadnessandDesire:FemaleCodesintheSearchfor

SelfIdentification 1824.3.6 |LebanonthroughtheLookingGlass:SelectiveRealism 1854.3.7 |ClaimstoFeminism 1874.3.8 |Anti-FeministStrategies 1884.3.10 |LiteraryMerits:AngrySoftness 1904.4 |Conclusion 1904.4.1 |Similarities 1924.4.2 |Differences 193 Notes 1945 | Angry Words Softly Spoken 2015.1 |Conclusion 201 Notes 215Bibliography 219Index 229