Gender Relations in the Arab World a Rhetorical Criticism of Naguib Mahrouz's Awlad Haratina
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GENDER RELATIONS IN THE ARAB WORLD A RHETORICAL CRITICISM OF NAGUIB MAHROUZ'S AWLAD HARATINA Hoda Al-Mutawah A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY December 2005 Committee: Alberto Gonzalez, Advisor Sherlon Brown Graduate Faculty Representative John Warren Nancy Brendlinger Awad Ibrahim ii ABSTRACT Alberto Gonzalez, Advisor This study examined the novel by Nahjib Mahfouz, Awlad Haratina, or Children of the Alley. The goal of this examination was to reveal how gender relations are rhetorically created within the Arab cultural context. This study found that two rhetorical strategies mediated gender relations and provided a path for improving gender relations. The strategies were Lamentation and Muruwa. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thanks to the Great God for making this world so beautiful and harmonious. Thanks to my little island Bahrain, which gave me its eternal beauty as a child, and made me an eternal ambassador for peace wherever my path takes me. Special thanks to Dr. Alberto Gonzalez, my Chair and his family, Jo Beth, Monica, V. and Grandpa Sil Gonzalez for being important part of my life in Bowling Green. Special thanks to my committee members, Dr. John Warren, Dr. Nancy Brendlinger, Dr. Sherlon Brown, Dr. Bettina Heinz, and Dr. Awad Ibrahim for their belief in me. Thank you, Dwayne Beggs, Sarah Jeffers, and Beth Kelly for your help preparing this manuscript. Special thanks to my family who kept their faith in me despite our differences: My father who planted a good seed in each of us, his eight children, leaving us to carve our way in this life bare- handed. And by our own nails we built a family that our little country could easily count on as an example for the astonishing quality of our people in Bahrain: My mother who survived the hard tradition of being forced to be a mother when she herself was a child, but who remains faithful to the traditions of fulfilling her role as a mother, even when she became a widow at thirty years old. My sister Layala and her husband Jassem who brightened up our life with their children, and who always lived very close to our family, extending my father's traditions of establishing a family that contributes to the growth of our country; my sister, Najat, who took the responsibility of nurturing the family, keeping it together after I flew to the States in 1984 to gain my Master's degree, while taking care of her students as a teacher and later as a Director first, for Al-Hoora High School, then for Jidhafs High School; my brother Ahmed, the Lieutenant Colonel and Staff Officer at Bahrain Defense Force, who never gave up expanding his knowledge in his field, even when the chance to get promoted is out of question in certain areas ; my brother Mohammad, the iv successful Director of Al-Amin Bank; my sister Jameela, the Professor of Bio- Chemistry at the University of Bahrain; my brother Abdulla, the Medical Doctor at Salmanya Hospital who remained faithful to his country despite the seven years of delay after his graduation with honor from Safarik University in Slovakia; and finally, to Reem, the architect at Bahrain Municipality who thought that life was furnished with flowers, because her dedicated family never let her feel down, and she herself proved that she deserved the distinguished treatment she got by being successful in her work and in her personal life as a mother of three beautiful children that became the new smile in our family life. Special thanks to Mr. Jeff Grilliot, the Director of the International Program for providing a big heart for International Students at Bowling Green State University, not only as part of his duty, but also because of the warmth, charm and big heart that he shares with foreign students Thanks to my host family, Jenise and Bob Fouts and their children for their warmth, support and kindness. Jenise, thank you for being my friend, sister, and host mother, and for the time you and the beautiful Aerial spent with me. I will always adore your family, especially Aerial who was only five when I met first her, and kept growing prettier, sharper and kinder every year. Special thanks to my friends and colleagues wherever they are: Nasrin Mir Saleh, Jameel Al-Zayyani, Pat Russell, Ruth Pfailor, Sarah Otten, Hassan Al-Khatib, Linda Cantu, Teffany Hesson, Vincent Theraisnathan, Teresa Kasperick-Postellon, Barbara Tooth, Amy Hueman, Dr. Nancy Patterson, Dr. Jeannie Lowdlow, Jeanine Pfahler, Manal Al-Sheikh, A. Wahab Soliman, Georgina Gabor, Jane Barton, Souhad Kahil, Jackie Webber, Christopher Lugo, Klevor Abu, Wen Shu Lee, Kathy Wing, Diana Woods, Mark Henkel, Dr. Abdul Latif Al-Mahmoud, Badreya Al-Jenaibi, all the staff of BGSU administration, graduate school and Student Health Center and v many others from the past and from the present whom I might not mention here, but who will always stay in my memory either because of their kindness or because of the challenge they contributed to my growth because my path intersected with theirs. Those who thought of themselves as my friends or enemies are equally important, because without them, life won't have the meaning it has. It is true that one could wish for kinder friends and enemies, but we do learn equally from both. We learn how to remain positive when things get tougher and harder, and this is an important quality for those who want to be teachers or educators, especially in the field of Communications. Special thanks to all those who work to bridge the different cultures, and to promote peace to save humanity from its evils, believing that our education and intellectuality will be wasted if we find no home to host our free souls. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER ONE: GENDER AND ARABIC RHETORIC............................................. 1 Introduction.......................................................................................................... 1 Arab Gender Issues.............................................................................................. 2 Awlad Haratina.................................................................................................... 3 Lamentation ......................................................................................................... 14 Critical Questions................................................................................................. 23 Rationale .................................................................................................. 23 Arab Identity............................................................................................ 23 The Arab Female.................................................................................................. 27 Situating Myself in the Study of Arab Rhetoric .................................................. 32 My Childhood in Bahrain .................................................................................... 34 The Novel and the Author.................................................................................... 39 An Overview of the Novel and its Implications Regarding Gender Relations.... 45 Alwad Haratina as a Key to Understanding Arab Identity.................................. 58 Symbolization through Storytelling..................................................................... 59 The Defeated Arab Self ....................................................................................... 63 Muruwa as a Critical Perspective ........................................................................ 65 Outline of Chapters.............................................................................................. 68 CHAPTER TWO: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND METHODOLOGY............ 72 Rhetoric................................................................................................................ 73 Contemporary Rhetoric............................................................................ 74 vii Contemporary Critical Perspective of Rhetoric....................................... 75 Cultural Rhetoric...................................................................................... 75 Post-Colonial Criticism............................................................................ 76 Arab Rhetoric....................................................................................................... 81 Pre-Islamic Rhetoric................................................................................ 82 Islamic Rhetoric....................................................................................... 85 The Holy Quran ....................................................................................... 86 Arab Rhetorical Forms............................................................................. 87 The Rhetoric of Abbasee’s Modernism ................................................... 89 Modern Arabic Rhetoric .......................................................................... 90 Modern Rhetorical Theory From an Arabic Perspective......................... 91 Arab Discourse about Gender Relations.............................................................. 96 Myth of Gender: What is Gender?........................................................... 96 The Arab Self versus the Jewish Other....................................................104 Power, Personality and Sexuality ............................................................107 Femininity, Masculinity and the Concept of the Father