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Tilburg University "Is the voice of a woman shameful?" Kurani, Martin Publication date: 2021 Document Version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Link to publication in Tilburg University Research Portal Citation for published version (APA): Kurani, M. (2021). "Is the voice of a woman shameful?": A linguistic anthropological study of the multinormativity of Jordan's society. [s.n.]. 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Download date: 03. okt. 2021 “Is the voice of a woman shameful?” A linguistic anthropological study of the multinormativity of Jordan’s society “Is the voice of a woman shameful?” A linguistic anthropological study of the multinormativity of Jordan’s society PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan Tilburg University op gezag van de rector magnificus, prof. dr. W.B.H.J. van de Donk, in het openbaar te verdedigen ten overstaan van een door het college voor promoties aangewezen commissie in de Portrettenzaal van de Universiteit op dinsdag 9 maart 2021 om 13.30 uur door Martin Kurani geboren te Šaľa, Slowakije Promotores: prof. dr. J.M.E. Blommaert †, Tilburg University prof. dr. H.L. Beck, Tilburg University Copromotor: dr. A.C.J. de Ruiter, Tilburg University Overige leden van de promotiecommissie: prof. dr. A.M. Backus, Tilburg University prof. dr. M.W. Buitelaar, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen prof. dr. K. Van Nieuwkerk, Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen dr. J. Wagemakers, Utrecht University ISBN 978-94-6416-468-8 Cover design by Leyla Amal Cho Cover photo by Silke Anders© Layout / editing by Moon Street Studio Printed by Ridderprint BV, the Netherlands © Martin Kurani, 2021 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any other means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without permission of the author. “What we have once enjoyed deeply we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.” ‒ Helen Keller Acknowledgements I count it as one of the greatest blessings that Provide e.V., the organisation I have worked with for almost two decades, saw the usefulness of this research and was willing to support me throughout this long journey. It was the host of people who kept supporting our work through their loving contributions who made this research possible. The fact that prof. dr. J.M.E. Blommaert accepted me as an external Ph.D. student remains a miracle to me to this day and one for which I shall always be utterly grateful. Jan, you took me places I would not have found myself. You were a godsend – eine unverhoffte Gottesgabe. Rest in peace! Due to prof. dr. Blommaert’s worsening medical condition, the need arose for somebody else to step in, and I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to prof. H.L. Beck for being willing to take on this responsibility. In this context, I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to prof. dr. Odile Heynders, the Head of the Department, for the fact that she was always immensely supportive and helpful in any way she could and facilitated the process in such difficult times. Only my wife knows the degree of gratefulness I feel towards dr. A.C.J. de Ruiter and how much I came to appreciate him throughout these years. Jan Jaap, I am sorry, I lack the words, but you are simply the best! Members of the doctoral committee, prof. dr. A.M. Backus, prof. dr. M.W. Buitelaar, prof. dr. K. Van Nieuwkerk, and dr. J. Wagemakers, thank you very much for your willingness amidst a busy schedule to assess my manuscript and to serve on the Ph.D. committee. At this point, I should list all the names of the wonderful people in Jordan who were willing to sit down with me and to share with me. Even though your names must remain a secret, my gratitude does not. I am honored by your trust, and I can only hope that I have proven to be worthy of it. I am very grateful to all the people who were willing to help me find informants by vouching for me. Thank you, Thomas Stocker, Sarah Harpending, Muhammad M., and Nairy Markarian. Jamal A., your transcription services made my job so much easier. viii ‘Is the voice of a woman shameful?’ Thank you to all the members of Academics Anonymous in Amman, who so lovingly encouraged and supported me and many others walking the lonely walk of being an external Ph.D. student. I want to mention in particular, Ekkhardt Sonntag, Georgie Hett, and Rochelle Johnston. Thank you, Carine, for doing such a fantastic job editing this publication and giving it the professional look it now has. Thank you, Leyla Cho, for designing the cover. All people mentioned so far will certainly agree when I say that my indebtedness to all of them combined is dwarfed by the one I owe to you, my dearest Esther. I am sure that I have forgotten to mention somebody who deserves to be mentioned for his or her wonderful contribution. I can only hope that you will forgive me!! The most important thing remains: S.D.G. Table of content Transcription 1 1 Introduction 3 1.1 What it is not about 3 1.2 What it is about 4 1.3 The ethnographic nature of the research 5 1.4 The rich points shaping the dissertation’s focus 7 1.4.1 Type II incidents 7 1.4.2 Gender-specific restrictions 8 1.4.3 Change of society in recent decades 8 1.5 Overview 10 2 Norms and multinormativity 11 2.1 Dangerous rules and perilous habits 11 2.2 Multinormativity 14 2.2.1 A plethora of normative systems 14 2.2.2 Polyglossia 16 2.2.3 Heteroglossia 16 2.2.4 Polynomic situations 17 2.3 The nature of norms 18 2.3.1 A precursory overview 18 2.3.2 Bicchieri’s approach to norms 19 2.3.3 Parsons’ approach to norms 21 2.3.4 Garfinkel’s approach to norms 22 2.4 Conclusion 26 3 Methodological chapter 29 3.1 Conceptual toolbox 29 3.1.1 Goffman’s dramatism and theory of stigma 29 3.1.2 The narrative nature of human thought 32 3.1.3 Chronotopes 35 3.1.4 Scales 37 3.1.5 Mediated Discourse Analysis (MDA) 40 3.1.6 Indexical orders 44 3.1.7 Definition of voice 46 x “Is the voice of a woman shameful?” 3.2 Research questions 48 3.3 Designing the research 49 3.3.1 Strategy one: Ethnographic interviews using grand tour questions 50 3.3.2 Strategy two: Semi-structured interviews using a list of questions 51 3.3.3 Strategy three: Semi-structured interviews using historic pictures 55 3.3.4 Disclaimer 57 3.4 Interviews 58 3.4.1 Overview 58 3.4.2 Conducting the interviews 59 3.4.3 Challenges in the process of acquiring data 60 3.4.4 Degree of privacy during the interviews 61 3.5 Informants 65 3.5.1 Finding informants 65 3.5.2 Demographic overview over the informants 65 3.6 Processing and analyzing the data 68 3.6.1 Transcribing the interviews 68 3.6.2 Anonymizing data 69 3.6.3 Analyzing data 70 4 A chronotopic history of Jordan 71 4.1 Chronotopes of religion 71 4.2 Ottoman chronotope 74 4.3 Local chronotopes 78 4.4 The state chronotope of (Trans)Jordan 84 4.5 Nationalism and the national chronotope 94 5 On ᶜayb, ḥarām, and mamnūᶜ 101 5.1 Question 1: Is there a difference between ᶜayb, ḥarām, and mamnūᶜ? 102 5.2 Ḥarām: What does God say? 102 5.2.1 Examples of ḥarām. 104 5.2.2 Focus on sexual conduct and related illicit behavior 104 5.2.3 The concept of ᶜawra 106 5.3 ᶜAyb: What do the people say? 110 5.4 Mamnūᶜ: What do the powers-that-be say? 113 5.5 Question 2: Do the different terms show a gender difference? 114 5.5.1 Gender difference in mamnūᶜ 114 5.5.2 Gender difference in ḥarām 115 5.5.3 Gender difference in ᶜayb 116 5.5.4 It’s nature, stupid: Gender roles and inequality 119 5.6 How ᶜayb restricts and limits women but not men 122 5.6.1 Not mentioning her name 122 5.6.2 Leaving the house is ᶜayb 123 Table of content XI 5.6.3 Prolonging the outside stay is ᶜayb 125 5.6.4 Certain places are ᶜayb 125 5.6.5 Coming home late is ᶜayb 128 5.6.6 To be alone and without supervision is ᶜayb 129 5.6.7 Specific actions or behavior are ᶜayb 130 5.6.8 Romantic relationships outside marriage are ᶜayb 130 5.6.9 Divorce is ᶜayb 132 5.6.10 Raising her voice to defend herself in public is ᶜayb 134 5.6.11 Actively searching for a partner is ᶜayb 135 5.7 Question 3: Do you find this difference fair or just? 136 5.8 Question 4: About resisting women 138 5.8.1 Are there women who revolt? 138 5.8.2 How do they or could they revolt? 141 6 Images of the past 145 6.1 Description of clothing style in the pictures 145 6.1.1 Men’s clothes in the pictures 145 6.1.2 Women’s clothes in the pictures 146 6.2 Memories and responses 147 7 Jordan’s multinormativity: The integral picture 155 7.1 Insights regarding Jordan’s normative codes 155 7.1.1 Comparison of field sturctures 156 7.1.2 Ḥarām 157 7.1.3 Mamnūᶜ 160 7.1.4 ᶜAyb 162 7.2 Insights regarding Jordan’s multinormativity 167 7.2.1 The absence of the state chronotope outside Amman 167 7.2.2 The dominance of the ᶜayb chronotope 170
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