Seen and Heard: A Century of Arab Women in Literature and Culture
New York University professor Mona Mikhail's new collection of essays casts a wide net over literature, film, popular culture, and the law in order to investigate the living, often rapidly changing, reality of Arab women and their societies. Whether she examines Egyptian wedding customs, contemporary rewritings of the Shahrazad story, or women in North African novels, Mikhail sheds valuable light on the role of Arab women within Islam and within the Arab world.
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Twelve essays written by Mikhail (Arabic and comparative literature, New York U.) or translated by her from other Arabic writers consider images of Arab women in literature, film, and popular culture. Illuminating the role of women within Islam and the Arab world, the essays discuss such topics as wedding customs, feminism, and the history and impact of the hijab (veil). The volume does not contain an index. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, ORLibrary JournalOn the heels of Azar Nafisi's immensely popular Reading Lolita in Tehran, Mikhail (Arabic & comparative literature, NYU; Images of Arab Women: Fact and Fiction) makes a significant contribution to a growing body of work on Arab women's cultural experience with this collection of thought-provoking essays. Drawing parallels to contemporary Western materialistic marriage rites, Mikhail provides a fascinating examination of Arab women's roles in popular culture as well as of rituals and customs still practiced by educated Arab women today. While most of the essays are written by Mikhail herself, included also are pertinent writings by authors like Iqbal Barraka (editor in chief of the women's magazine Hawa), who addresses what Mikhail calls "the tired question of the veil." Overall, Seen and Heard sheds much-needed light on the changing roles, experiences, values, and expression of women in the Arab world. A welcome addition to academic libraries and larger public libraries.-Robin Imhof, Univ. of the Pacific Lib., Stockton, CA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
1Growing up in Egypt at the turn of the 20th century12The mother of the bride frantically prepares : Egyptian wedding customs113I want a solution : films and social change304I light ten candles : women and vow-making395"A new vision of the veil," by Iqbal Barraka6"Women in the discourse of crisis," by Nasr Hamid Abu-Zeid587Nabawiyya Musa and al-Tahir al-Haddad in a virtual debate with Anwar al-Guindi818Al-Sitt Hoda : a comedy in defense of women899Modern-day Shahrazads9410Ambiguity and relevance in the works of Khannatha Bannuna10011Images of women in North African literature : myth or reality?11212Masculine ideology or feminine mystique : a study of writings on Arab women12413Women, love, and sex in Yusuf Idris's city : an existential dilemma14114A compromise on the road to happiness : love in Naguib Mahfouz's repetoire159
\ Library JournalOn the heels of Azar Nafisi's immensely popular Reading Lolita in Tehran, Mikhail (Arabic & comparative literature, NYU; Images of Arab Women: Fact and Fiction) makes a significant contribution to a growing body of work on Arab women's cultural experience with this collection of thought-provoking essays. Drawing parallels to contemporary Western materialistic marriage rites, Mikhail provides a fascinating examination of Arab women's roles in popular culture as well as of rituals and customs still practiced by educated Arab women today. While most of the essays are written by Mikhail herself, included also are pertinent writings by authors like Iqbal Barraka (editor in chief of the women's magazine Hawa), who addresses what Mikhail calls "the tired question of the veil." Overall, Seen and Heard sheds much-needed light on the changing roles, experiences, values, and expression of women in the Arab world. A welcome addition to academic libraries and larger public libraries.-Robin Imhof, Univ. of the Pacific Lib., Stockton, CA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.\ \
