A study of intertextuality in Mohja Kahf's E-mails from Scheherazad : the "odalisque" gazes back / Hamida Riahi.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Riahi, Hamida, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Kahf, Mohja, 1967- E-mails from Scheherazad.

Kahf, Mohja.

Kahf, Mohja, 1967---Criticism and interpretation.

Muslim women in literature.

Genre:

Literary criticism.

Physical Description:

vii, 109 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Bloomsbury Academic, 2025.

Summary:

In this book, Hamida Riahi explores the powerful use of intertextuality in Mohja Kahf's E-Mails from Scheherazad, focusing on how parody and allusion work to deconstruct Orientalist discourses surrounding Muslim women. Through a parodic rewriting of The Thousand and One Nights, the Shakespearean sonnet genre, and Matisse's paintings, Kahf dismantles reductive stereotypes imposed on Muslim women and revises the dominant Western narratives that portray Muslim women as oppressed and voiceless. Riahi explores how the Kahf draws upon allusion to Islamic history and the Qur'an, invoking iconic figures such as Aisha, Khadija, Esther, Zuleika, and others, to offer a counter-narrative that challenges both Western feminist perspectives and entrenched patriarchal views. Through this dual approach, Kahf not only critiques the historical and cultural misconceptions imposed by the West but also affirms the rich, complex identities of Muslim women. The author's examination provides a fresh perspective on the intersection of postcolonial feminism, Islamic feminism, and literary innovation.

Contents:

Islamic feminism

Parody : dismantling the paradigm of the oppressed Muslim female

Allusion : the journey back in time.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 101-105) and index.

ISBN:

9781666969894

1666969893

OCLC:

1499216262

Publisher Number:

CIPO000253063