Reconciling Arabo-Islamic culture and feminist consciousness in North African women’s writing: Silence and voice in the short stories of Alifa Rifaat and Assia Djebar

Tydskrif vir Letterkunde

卷:45

Naomi Nkealah¹ 

[1] University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg;

关键词: Alifa Rifaat;    Assia Djebar;    Islam;    women;    short story;    feminism;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

This article sets out to explore the theme of silence and voice in selected short stories by two North African women writers, AlifaRifaat and Assia Djebar. In their representations of women’s lives in Egypt and Algeria, respectively, both Rifaat and Djebarpresent different strategies employed by women to counter gender oppression. Although the female characters portrayed by bothwriters encounter diverse, and sometimes opposing, circumstances, they tend to share a common plight – the need to break freefrom the constricting fetters of patriarchy. A comparative reading of selected stories reveals that Rifaat’s characters resort to silenceas a means of self-preservation, while Djebar’s characters, on the other hand, use techniques ranging from writing to outrightprotest to show their rejection of gender-based segregation. In spite of this difference in approach, it can be said that both Rifaatand Djebar have made a great contribution to feminist literary creativity in North Africa.

【 授权许可】

Unknown