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" تمثيلات العمالة المنزلية في الرواية العربية المعاصرة "
Aldhamen, Samaher
Kahf, Mohja
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Latin Dissertation
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English
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| Record Number
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1052348
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| Doc. No
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TL51465
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| Main Entry
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Aldhamen, Samaher
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| Title & Author
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تمثيلات العمالة المنزلية في الرواية العربية المعاصرة\ Aldhamen, SamaherKahf, Mohja
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| College
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University of Arkansas
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| Date
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2019
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| Degree
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Ph.D.
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2019
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| Note
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163 p.
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| Abstract
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In this study, I have examined the representations of domestic workers in a number of Arabic mid-century and contemporary novels, using feminism and intersectionality as my overarching framework. I employed several scholarships of feminism such as Marxist and postcolonial feminism to examine the discourse on working-class women. The initial assumption of this study is that there is a noticeable invisibility of domestic workers in Arabic novels. If these characters manage to find their way into a text, they are typically ahistorical figures whose subjectivity is not centered. Among the Arabic novels I have examined, I found that the tradition of underrepresenting domestic workers appears in iconic texts of the mid-century. In Naguib Mahfouz’ Trilogy, domestic workers function as either signs of class, subaltern figures, or loyal servants. In The Open Door of Latifa al-Zayyat and Sha’rawi’s Muthakkirat of Huda Sha’rawi, working-class characters are used as the others who emphasize the superiority of upper and middle-class communities. In contemporary novels, however, this tradition no longer seems to be the norm; domestic workers are given more space in the narrative. The new generation of Arab writers tackles more issues related to marginalized groups, such as slavery, anti-Black racism, and sexuality. Most of these texts speak to the notion of intersectionality that calls for the examination of representations of women from multiple dimensions of oppression. Al-Bahriyyat by Omima Alkhamis and Wojhat al-Bawsala by Noura al-Ghamdi, for instance, tackle the matter of slavery as a multi-faceted form of oppression that involves gender, class, and color rather than one-dimensional oppression be it patriarchy or color alone. I also find that contemporary novels such as Najwa Bin Shatwan’s Zarayib al-‘Abeed and Samar Yazbek’s Ra’ihat al-Qirfa provide distinctive narrative regarding interracial and cross-class relationships. Such relationships are perceived in these texts as a means of class mobility and empowerment for working-class female characters. Nevertheless, dominant stereotypes of domestic workers are still popular as shown in some texts such as Ali Badr’s Papa Sartre and Fatiha Murshid’s Almulhimaat. Key words: Modern Arabic literature, Domestic workers, Intersectionality, Gender, Marxist feminism, Postcolonial feminism, Slavery, anti-Black racism, Sexuality.
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| Descriptor
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Gender studies
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Literature
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Sexuality
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Kahf, Mohja
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University of Arkansas
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