Both Right and Left Handed: Arab Women Talk about Their Lives - Softcover

Shaaban, Bouthaina

Softcover

ISBN 10: 025320688X ISBN 13: 9780253206886

Publisher: Indiana University Press, 1991

Synopsis

Excellent Book

About this title

About the Author:

Bouthaina Shaaban is a professor of English literature at Damascus University and Political and Media Advisor to President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. Ziad Hamzeh's 2008 film, Woman, based on Shaaban's life and work, was awarded the Golden Palm for best film at the 2008 Beverly Hills Film Festival. Shaaban lives in Damascus, Syria.

From Library Journal:

" . . . The real Muslim is the one 'who doesn't let his left hand know what his right hand has given."' How better to describe the selflessness of Arab women in their daily lives in a society of constant oppression by their fathers, husbands, brothers, and even sons. Shaaban, a Syrian with a Ph.D. from Warwick University (U.K.), interviewed numerous Syrian, Lebanese, Palestinian, and Algerian women from all walks of life. Almost without exception, they described their lives with bitterness, anger, and frustration. Many had fought alongside men as equals in wars of independence and survival, only to be relegated to their former servile status once the wars ended. Many have advanced degrees and teach in universities but still hold subservient positions at home. Almost all have had no say in the major events of their lives: marriages, childbirth, divorce. However, these women are far from passive; from Shaaban's interviews, there emerges a profile of a strong-willed, intelligent, extraordinary Arab woman, dissatisfied with her lot and determined to make changes. Unlike some compilations of interviews, Shaaban's is a coherent, smooth, very readable work that includes a useful glossary of Arabic terms. Highly recommended, particularly for women's studies and Middle East collections in academic and public libraries.
- Ruth K. Baacke, Bellingham P.L., Wash.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 025320688X
• ISBN 13: 9780253206886
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 252