Constructing women and femininity in 20th century Egyptian novels : a comparative study of Nawal El Saadawi's Imraʾtani fi imraʾa and Naguib Mahfouz's Al-Shahhadh

Abstract

The following dissertation explores the literary constructions of women and the gendered reality they inhabit in the modern Egyptian novels Imraʾtani fi imraʾa by Nawal El Saadawi and al-Shahhadh by Naguib Mahfouz. These two high-profile 20th century novelists who achieved international attention are revisited through a close reading of their texts, which adopts feminist theory influenced by poststructuralism and postcolonialism. Recent scholarship has moved into giving a more nuanced discourse on the status of Arab women within their varied societies in order to move away from previous Orientalist interpretations of women as passive victims of an extra-brutal kind of oppression. Before presenting the analysis, the novels and novelists are initially placed within their literary and historical contexts, which boast of a rich literary tradition charged with gender-conscious thought. The close readings and analysis of this text show how women in text are not simply constructed as passive victims of an all-encompassing and rigid patriarchy, but that various experiences of Arab womanhood exist and that different social conditions allow for different modes of negotiating one’s identity and struggles. The gender identity of the authors is taken into account and the analysis observed that El Saadawi’s text was more involved in specific issues pertaining to women’s oppression but gave more attention to ways in which women may express agency. On the other hand, Mahfouz’s text presented the struggles that women faced as more limiting and allowed his characters less expression of agency.