Orientalism and Feminism in Betty Mahmoody’s Not Without My Daughter (1987) and Zana Muhsen’s Vendues (1992)
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Date
2023
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Publisher
Université Mouloud Mammeri
Abstract
This research paper examines the Orientalist representations in Betty Mahmoody’s Not Without My Daughter (1987) and Zana Muhsen’s Vendues (1992). It aims to provide how the East and Easterners are seen and portrayed in both works. It also aims to show the different forms of oppression that Eastern women encounter in both Iran and Yemen. To achieve our purpose, we have relied on Edward Said’s well known work Orientalism (1978), and Chandra Talpade Mohanty’s theory Under Western Eyes : Femenist Scholarship and colonial discourses (1984). In the first chapter of the dissertation, we have dealt with the representation of the West and Westerners ‘ the self’ versus the East and Easterners ‘the Other’. The second chapter has been devoted to the representation and double oppression of Oriental women. The latter analyzes how women suffer from male domination and religion rules. We have concluded that both Betty Mahmoody and Zana Muhsen tackle the same issue of the Orient. Both of them believe and accept on Western superiority. This research shows also that male’s authority over females and religious laws dominate Eastern women’s lives, denigrating them to a lower statut and subjecting them to physical and psychological abuse.
Description
73 p. ; 30 cm. (+CD-Rom)
Keywords
East, Easterners, Islam, Male domination, Oppression, Orientalism, Other, Physical and psychological abuse, Religion, Self, Superiority, West, Westerners
Citation
Littérature générale et comparée