Arab and Muslim Women Writers

At a time of heightened political conflict between the United States and the Arab/Muslim world, gender issues and the oppression of women have been invoked to justify military intervention. Contemporary writings by Arab and Muslim women, increasingly available in English translation, have often challenged these assumptions and enriched our understanding of women’s lives. Focusing on contemporary literary works by Arab, Iranian, and Afghani women from the Middle East and the Diaspora, this program will examine the intersections of literary production, women’s issues, national struggles, religion, war, globalization, and immigration. This program seeks to foster greater understanding of the region and its peoples. Students will have the opportunity to read several writers’ works, and attend Seattle Arts & Lecture talk by Moroccan writer Leila Lalami.

We will read novels, poetry, essays, and memoirs by Arab (Christian, Jewish, Muslim), Iranian, and Afghani women writers, focusing on issues of nationalism, feminism, postcolonialism, war, imperialism, and societal change. We will situate our literary analysis within the historical and political events that shape Arab and Muslim women’s texts, and examine their critique of masculinist narratives that justify violence and exclude women’s voices. We will also view films by and about women in the Middle East and in the Diaspora. Students will write literary analysis, creative essays, and conduct independent projects that may include either their own creative writing or research on a writer of their choice. Through this study, students will consider the impact of political, economic, cultural and military forces on Arab and Muslim women's lives and literary production, and examine literary and film representations as sites of resistance. Students will also gain a greater understanding of postcolonial, Third World, transnational, and Islamic feminist movements.