A study of female solidarity in the postcolonial and contemporary novels of Salih’s Season of migration to the North, Faqir’s Pillars of salt, and Saadawi’s Zeina -

Abstract

This thesis exposes the progress (or lack of) female solidarity in three novels of different temporal and geographical locations in the Arab World. The first chapter is a summary of the thesis and a brief explication of the methodology that stresses what factors influence the formation female collectivities. The second chapter is dedicated to Salih’s Season of Migration to the North. It investigates how the process of decolonization from British rule took its toll on women’s body, particularly through the practice of cliterodectomy. Women’s voices are not heard due to the consolidation of one form of hegemony – colonization – with another – patriarchy. The third chapter tackles Faqir’s Pillars of Salt. The novel is put in the context of the 1993 Jordanian elections to highlight the plight of women to become involved in the political arena. Different versus of the Quraan are explicated to demonstrate patriarchal men’s misuse of religion to empower their status. It emphasizes that if women are not granted their civil and human rights in the legislative system, the nation’s progress is but limited. The fourth chapter explores Saadawi’s novel Zeina. It is discussed in the light of pre-revolutionary Cairo. Close readings of specific passages are employed to suggest how violence is used to maintain power and control women’s voices. It stresses the need for a sexual revolution and the establishment of secular grounds to achieve national liberation. The fifth chapter concludes that unless women speak a language of difference that unites them within the same region, cross-cultural and universal female solidarity will continue to be an aim not achieved.