Arab Feminism and the Negotiation of Gender in Contemporary Jordanian Novels
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Arab Feminism and the Negotiation of Gender in Contemporary Jordanian Novels Amani Al-Serhan PhD University of York Women’s Studies January 2016 ABSTRACT Since 2000, Jordanian literature has witnessed a rise in the number of novels that address women’s daily struggles with gender discrimination, marking a shift away from literary texts that overtly focus on Palestine. Yet, despite the rise in Jordanian feminist novels, there has been little cross-fertilisation between literary criticism and the perspectives of Arab women’s movements. This thesis attempts to bring these fields together. My main aim is to use the lens of Arab feminism to investigate how perceptions of womanhood and manhood are negotiated in Jordanian novels (2000– 2012) written by both women and men. I argue that the political debate about how tradition and modernity can advance women’s status in the Arab world influences the ways in which these novelists shape and re/frame notions of womanhood and manhood. I identify three categories of novels, based on the authors’ strategies for conceptualising and overcoming gender inequality. The first advocates a rebellious stance against patriarchal structures, deploying notions of sexuality, escape or suicide as available solutions. The second calls for a return to tradition, and in particular to Islamic Holy Scriptures as texts that endow women with great value and status, viewing this as an alternative to imitating or adopting forms of western feminism. The final group emphasises the need to dissociate from perceiving tradition as the antithesis of modernity. They attempt to bring together useful aspects of both paradigms in ways that help women combat gender inequality. Thus, through their various techniques, these novels offer insightful depictions of women’s and men’s everyday struggles and promote ideas about gender and feminism in ways that are beneficial for women. I conclude by calling for a stance in line with the third category, a middle way based on acknowledging women’s everyday experiences rather than either advocating an Islamic or pro-West ideology. 2 List of Contents Abstract ……………………………………………………………….………….2 List of Contents …………………………………………………………………..3 List of Tables………………………………………………………………...……6 Acknowledgments………………………………………………………………...7 Author’s Declaration …………………………………….………………………8 Chapter One: Introduction……………………………………………....……....9 Chapter Two: Feminism, Modernity and Tradition: Negotiating ‘Positions’ In an Age of Uncertainty……………………………......…….…………….…..…20 Introduction………………………………………………………………….....20 The awakening: A pivotal stage in feminist thought……………….…….……20 Feminism in the Arab world: The dilemma of the tradition versus modernity debate…………………………….………………………..………28 Gender from an Arab perspective………………………………………….32 A feminism of their own: Arab women and their quest for liberation……........37 Conclusion……………………………………………………………...………50 Chapter Three: Jordanian Women: Between ‘Real’ Struggles and ‘Imagined’ Realities……………………………………………………….….........51 Introduction………………………………………………………………..…...51 Feminism or empowerment? Mapping the agendas of the Jordanian Women’s Movement……………………………………………….………...51 The Jordanian ‘feminist’ novel: An exploration of challenges and the theoretical framework of the study………………………………….……….62 Conclusion…………………………………...…………………………………74 Chapter Four: Challenging Patriarchy: The Social Control of Women….....76 Introduction ……………………………………………………………….…...80 3 Patriarchy in the Arab context………………………………………………….80 Sharabi’s neopatriarchy: A useful point of reference…………….………..84 Challenging patriarchy through depictions of sexuality……………….…….....86 Defying normative depictions of sexuality……………………….………..87 Marriage as a protective cover…………………………………….……….90 Pushing small boundaries within a patriarchal system.…………….……...96 Challenging patriarchy through defiance and escape…………………………101 Patriarchy and the emergence of feminist consciousness…………….…..102 Criticising normative depictions of womanhood and manhood……….…107 Female virginity (honour) as a turning point………………………….….110 Deconstructing normative images of womanhood…………………….…116 A lost battle with patriarchy………………………………………………121 The West as a safe haven for women…………………………………….127 Conclusion………………………………………………………….……..…..132 Chapter Five: Renegotiating Gender and Islam: The Ambivalence of Religious Rhetoric…………………………………………………....…..……….135 Introduction……………………………………………………..…………….136 Progressive Islamic rhetoric in Asya Abdel Hadi’s The Bitter Winter…….....137 Qiwamah: The roots of a contested debate on male superiority………….146 The polemic against western feminism…………………………………..155 The role of Islam in Jordanian society…………………………………....162 A call for Islamic feminism………………………………………….…...166 Conclusion……………………………………………………………...……..170 4 Chapter Six: The Emergence of a New Feminist Consciousness………..….172 Introduction…………………………………………………………….….….175 Gender as a shift from the passive to the active: A valid approach……….….177 Tradition versus modernity: The inevitable debate……………………....194 Gender inequality: An overarching theme……………………………………201 Conclusion…………………………………………………………….…..…..216 Chapter Seven: Conclusion……………………………………………...…….218 References…………………………………………………………………...….230 5 List of Tables Table 1: Recurrent themes in the novels……………………………………..69 6 Acknowledgments I dedicate this thesis to my father and mother for always believing in me and in my potential. Their unconditional love and support is what kept me going. I would like to express my deep gratitude to Dr. Ann Kaloski Naylor and Professor Ziad El Marsafi for their guidance and support and for the joyful supervisions and invaluable insights. I would like to express my deep appreciation for my examiners: Professor Stevi Jackson and Professor Wen-chin Ouyang for their critical feedback and suggestions. I would also like to extend my appreciation to Harriet Badger for her unwavering kindness and help. I would like to thank all my friends in the Centre for Women’s Studies and I give my appreciation in particular to my dear friend, Manel Zouabi for the great moral support and for her generous efforts of reading through my thesis and providing me with useful comments and critical questions to consider. I am also thankful for the kind friendship of Ting Fang Chin and for all the lovely gatherings that we enjoyed together. I am also grateful to have had a remarkable neighbour, Blessing Chidimuro and her non-stop words of encouragement. I also feel lucky to have met Joy Ogbemudia and I thank her for uplifting my spirit and for her lovely friendship. I would also like to acknowledge the tremendous support and encouragement of my colleagues at CWS in Jordan. I thank all my friends in the UK and Jordan for their friendship and for making the journey of a PhD a delightful one. This research would not have been possible without the funding of The University of Jordan, and for that, I am forever indebted to them. Last but not least, I would like to thank my two beautiful sons, Sanad and Ma’en for their patience and for providing me with joy and laughter. I would also like to thank my husband for his continuous support and understanding and my lovely brothers, Yezan, Yazeed and Anwar, who I know are very proud of their elder sister. I extend my thanks to all my family in Jordan and anyone who made this project come to fruition. 7 Author's Declaration I declare that this thesis is an original contribution to the relevant knowledge. It has been carried out maintaining the regulations of the University of York. The primary and secondary references used in the thesis have been fully cited. This work has not been submitted for any other award at this or any other institution. No part of the thesis is published anywhere else. 8 Chapter One: Introduction Following four years of vigorous searching for scholarships in Jordan and abroad, this project was eventually born. I had been granted the opportunity of a lifetime: a post as teaching assistant at the Centre for Women’s Studies at the University of Jordan. This meant that I could pursue my PhD at any respectable higher education institution abroad, a dream I had long harboured. With excitement, I began my search for a high-ranking British university with an independent centre for women’s studies. As a member of the Centre for Women’s Studies in Jordan, consisting of three academics who specialise in women in law, sociology and anthropology, I set out to explore a different field, and one I regard as immensely significant – literature. However, my choice stems not only from personal interest and from my previous academic background, it is part of the centre’s policy, which aims to appoint academics from different fields of knowledge. The goal of having diversity in academic disciplines with a special interest in women is part of the centre’s integral vision, which cuts across various academic fields. For myself, I have always been fascinated by the ability of literature to present and critique certain aspects of life in an innovative style. It is unfortunate that, despite literature’s significance in tackling a wide array of themes pertaining to women, it is not given great attention in Jordan. Nonetheless, I was determined to explore how literature is deployed in the debate about women by investigating contemporary Jordanian novels. Growing up in Jordan, I was always attentive to the social bias against women. From a young age, I would particularly notice the differential treatment of boys and girls. The males are endowed