The Essential Nawal El Saadawi: A Reader

Description

The writings of Nawal El Saadawi are essential to anyone wishing to understand the contemporary Arab world. Her dissident voice has stayed as consistent in its critique of neo.imperialist international politics as it has in its denunciation of women's oppression, both in her native Egypt and in the wider world. Saadawi is a figure of international significance, and her work has a central place in Arabic history and culture of the last half century. Featuring work never before translated into English, The Essential Nawal El Saadawi gathers together a wide range of Saadawi's writing. From novellas and short stories to essays on politics, culture, religion and sex; from extensive interviews to her work as a dramatist; from poetry to autobiography, this book is essential for anyone wishing to gain a sense of the breadth of Saadawi's work. Cover Copyright Contents About Nawal El Saadawi Timeline Preface Introduction: The World of Nawal El Saadawi or Nawal Zaynab PART ONE Articles, Essays and Nonfictional Prose 1 | How to Write and Why 2 | How to Fight against the Postmodern Slave System About my dreams Why are more people going back to religion? How to fight back? 3 | First Trip outside the Homeland 4 | Preface to The Hidden Face of Eve 5 | Women, Creativity and Dissidence Linking women, creativity and dissidence Expanding the understanding of creativity Old forms, new questions: resistance and change Towards a new identity built on human solidarity 6 | Women and the Poor: The Challenge of Global Justice What is development? What is a good government in the South? Religion, the poor and women Women and population control Veiling the mind Unveiling the mind How to empower resistance Notes 7 | God Above, Husband Below Notes 8 | The House of Desolation Note 9 | The Streetwalker and the Woman Writer 10 | Muslim Women in the Market A postmodern Christian and Muslim feminist Books by Muslim feminists Big media stars Virginity and deception Mutilation of the mind Fighting the infidel How to be in the market The pleasure of creativity 11 | Bodour 12 | Writing and Freedom 13 | The Three Universal Taboos: Sex, Religion and Politics Veiling, virginity and the name of the mother The conflict between the two conceptions of God Unveiling the mind 14 | Breeding Terror, or An Uncivilized Clash of Civilizations Unveiling the mind Two faces of the same coin Fighting for peace 15 | Remapping the World 16 | Fear and Writing 17 | Obama’s Speech in Cairo PART TWO Fiction and Poetry 18 | Death of an Ex-Minister The death of His Excellency the ex-Minister The veil The greatest crime Masculine confession A modern love letter In camera A private letter to an artist friend 19 | My Ideal Mother 20 | A Paper that was Never Presented for Publication 21 | Sixteen Short Poems There is a man A half-man Those who saw God Rewarding the culprit and twice punishing the victim An interim husband A different woman Thieves of honour In full view of everyone Arab rulers Arab rulers once again They said you were shame personified The sin suspended in history Inspired by the verdict pronounced by an Al-Azhar sheikh legitimizing the restoration of the hymen Daughter of Egyptian Isis My grandmother My mother 22 | Inspired by the Summit Meeting with the Elite 23 | The Impact of Fanatic Religious Thought: A Story of a Young Egyptian Muslim Woman PART THREE Drama 24 | Twelve Women in a Cell Characters Act One Act Two PART FOUR Interviews 25 | Feminism in Egypt: A Conversation with Nawal El Saadawi Writer and doctor Rural change Working women under Sadat Women and the left 26 | Fed Up with Limited Thinking The novel that was stolen Their heads are veiled but their belly is naked 27 | Conversations with Nawal El Saadawi Bibliography Books by Nawal El Saadawi Published interviews Selected criticism Index