The Representation of Women in Youssef Ziedan’s Azazeel: A Feminist Study

Authors

  • Mohammad Salem AlMostafa Al al-Bayt University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18533/journal.v5i3.918

Keywords:

Patriarchy, gender stereotypes, male gaze, patriarchal religion

Abstract

This study is a feminist exploration of Ziedan’s Azazeel that unmasks the patriarchal ideology, the limitations faced by women because of the male gaze, women’s other-ing stereotypes, and the societal codes that define women’s roles in the Arab world, in general, and Egypt, in particular. Ziedan gives special attention to the interrogation of patriarchy, transgression of gender boundaries, and objectification of women, thereby highlighting the crisis of women in his society. He complicates this perception by presenting women figures (Octavia, Martha and Hypatia) as angelic, heroic, enlightening, and admirable in their pursuit of independence and freedom. The distinct voices/acts of these women are especially significant in terms of their particular contributions to chaffing, demystifying, and disturbing the patriarchal dominant certainties of their society.

Author Biography

  • Mohammad Salem AlMostafa, Al al-Bayt University
    Assistant Professor of English Literature at Al al-Bayt University, Jordan. Doctorate in English Literature & Criticism (Indiana University of Pennsylvania, USA) in 2012. Six published articles on Shakespeare’s King Henry V, John Keats & Malik Ibn Ar.Rayb, Arundhati, Ishiguro, Renaissance Arab and British poets, & Feminist Politics of Location, El Guindi, and Shamieh. Research interests: Postcolonial/Feminist theory, Renaissance drama, English/Arabic poetry & Arab American literature.

References

Abu Baker, Ahmad M.S. (2015). The Problematics of Identity and Identity Erasure in Yossef Ziedan’s Azazeel. Journal of Arts and Humanities. 4 (12), 37-49.

Alsop, Rachel, Annette Fitzsimons, & Kathleen Lennon (2002). Theorizing Gender. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Beauvoir, Simon de (2010). The Second Sex (Trans.) Constance Borde and Sheila Malovany- Chevallier. New York: Alfred A. Knope.

Clark,P.,“Youssef Ziedan’s Azazeel”. Retrieved May 2, 2015, from http://www.thetls.co.uk/tls/public/article1200495.eceWeb.

Daiches, David (1969). Critical Approaches to Literature. London: Longmans, Green & Co. Ltd.

Dzuhayatin, Siti Ruhaini, (2006). Gender in Contemporary Islamic Studies in Indonosia. In Pye Michael, Edith Franke etal (Eds.), Religious Harmony: Problems, Practice, and Education (pp.27-40). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG.

El Saadawi, Nawal (1997). The Nawal El Saadawi Reader. London; New York: Zed Books.

Frankenberry, Nancy (1998). Philosophy of Religion in Different Voices. In Kourany Janet A. (Ed.), Philosophy in A Feminist Voice: Critiques and Reconstructions (pp.173-203). Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Foucault, M. (1977). Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. London: Tavistock.

Gilbert, Sandra & Susan Gubar (2004). The Mad Woman in the Attic. In Rivkin Julie and Michael Ryan (Eds.), Literary Theory: An Anthology (pp.812-825). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Ghoussoub, Mai. (2005) Feminism— or the Eternal Masculine— in the Arab World. In Moghissi Haideh (Ed.), Women and Islam: Critical Concepts in Sociology, 3, (pp.29-46). London; New York: Routledge Taylor& Francis Group.

Guerin, Wilfred L., et al. (1979). A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc.

Irigaray, Luce, (1977). This Sex Which Is Not One (Porter Catherine and Carolyn Burke, Trans.). New York: Cornell University Press.

Jaggi,M. Azazeel by Youssef Ziedan [Review of Azazeel]. Retrieved May 29, 2015, from

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/may/04/azazeel-youssef-ziedan-reviewWeb.

Kennedy, X. J. (1995). An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama. New York: HarperCollins College Publishers.

Kipling, Rudyard (1913). Kim. London: Macmillan and Co. Ltd.

Little,T., Azazeel by Youssef Ziedan [Review of Azazeel]. Retrieved May 29, 2015, from

http://sugarstreetreview.com/literature/fiction/azazeel-by-youssef-ziedan Web.

Mahmood,S. Azazeel and the Politics of Historical Fiction in Egypt, from http://complit.dukejournals.org/content/65/3/265.refs?relatedurls=yes&legid=ddclj;65/3/265Web.5/8/2015.

Mernissi, Fatima (1987). Beyond the Veil: Male-Female Dynamics in Modern Muslim Society. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.

Phyllis, Rose (1978). Woman of Letters: A Life of Virginia Woolf. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

Ranshaw, Sal (2009). The Subject of Love: Helene Cixous and the Feminine Divine. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Rich, Adrienne, (1972). When We Dead Awaken: Writing as Re-Vision. College English 34 (1). Retrieved March 6, 2015, from http://www.westga.edu/~aellison/Other/Rich.pdf.

Stangor Charles, Mark Schaller (1996). Stereotypes and Collective Representation. In Macrae Neil & Charles Stangor etal (Eds.), Stereotypes and Stereotyping (pp.3-39). New York: The Guilford Press.

Tyson Lois (2006). Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide (2ndEd.). New York: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.

Zeidan, Y. (2012). Azazeel. (Trans.) Jonathan Wright. London: Atlantic Books Ltd. Print.

Downloads

Published

2016-03-28

Issue

Section

Article

Similar Articles

1-10 of 123

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.