Liberating Shahrazad: Feminism, Postcolonialism, and Islam

(Paperback)

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Shahrazad, the legendary fictional storyteller who spun the tales of the 1,001 Arabian Nights, has long been rendered as a silent exotic beauty by Western film and fiction adaptations. Now, she talks back to present a new image of Muslim women. In Liberating Shahrazad, Suzanne Gauch analyzes how postcolonial writers and filmmakers from Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia have reclaimed the storyteller in order to portray Muslim women in ways that highlight their power to shape their own destinies. Gauch looks at Maghrebian works that incorporate Shahrazad's storytelling techniques into unexpected and unforeseen narratives.

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Shahrazad has staged a comeback. But this legendary storyteller is not the desperate, wily victim of a murderous tyrant that Western writers have depicted. Instead, in recent Maghrebian versions, she is a powerful Arab woman representing other powerful women with alternative visions for their societywomen who are not afraid to speak truth to power. Pointing out that storytelling is intricately bound up with violence and identity, freedom and survival, Gauch examines the ways in which contemporary Arab Muslim womens voices are made possible and effective. This is an engaging study of Francophone North African intellectuals various invocations of this medieval muse. Choice
Drawing on a rich variety of texts, Gauch has assembled an erudite, multifarious compilation of critical analysis and cultural knowledge. Liberating Shahrazad is a model of scholarly pursuitrequired reading not only for those interested in Islamic patrimony and culture but also for anybody seeking insight into North African literature. Womens Review of Books
Cogently articulated, well supported, and convincing. This scholarly work will appeal to a wide-ranging audience in comparative literature, literary and film studies, womens studies, and francophone studies. Research in African Literatures