Constructions of Masculinity in the Middle East and North Africa: Literature, Film, and National Discourse

by Mohja Kahf (Editor), Nadine Sinno (Editor)

Overview

A multi-disciplinary exploration of how masculinity in the MENA region is constructed in film, literature, and nationalist discourse

Constructions of masculinity are constantly evolving and being resisted in the Middle East and North Africa. There is no "before" that was a stable gendered environment. This edited collection examines constructions of both hegemonic and marginalized masculinities in the MENA region, through literary criticism, film studies, discourse analysis, anthropological accounts, and studies of military culture. Bringing together contributors from the disciplines of linguistics, comparative literature, sociology, cultural studies, queer and gender studies, film studies, and history, Constructions of Masculinity in the Middle East and North Africa spans the colonial to the postcolonial eras with emphasis on the late twentieth century to the present day. This collective study is a diverse and exciting addition to the literature on gender and societal organization at a time when masculinities in the Middle East and North Africa are often essentialized and misunderstood.

Contributors:

• Jedidiah Anderson, Furman University, Greenville, South Carolina, USA
• Amal Amireh, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA
• Kaveh Bassiri, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, USA
• Oyman Basran, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, USA
• Alessandro Columbu, University of Manchester, England
• Nicole Fares, independent scholar
• Robert James Farley, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
• Andrea Fischer-Tahir, independent scholar
• Nouri Gana, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
• Kifah Hanna, Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, USA
• Sarah Hudson, Connors State College, Warner, Oklahoma, USA
• Mohja Kahf, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, USA
• John Tofik Karam, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA
• Kathryn Kalemkerian, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
• Ebtihal Mahadeen, University of Edinburgh, Scotland
• Matthew Parnell, American Universityin Cairo, Egypt
• Nadine Sinno, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789774169755
Publisher:	American University in Cairo Press, The
Publication date:	04/06/2021
Pages:	354
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Mohja Kahf is a poet and professor of comparative literature and Middle Eastern studies at the University of Arkansas. She is the author of Western Representations of the Muslim Woman from Termagant to Odalisque (1999) and the novel The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf (2007). 

Nadine Sinno is an associate professor of Arabic in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures at Virginia Tech. She is the translator of Nazik Saba Yared’s novel Canceled Memories (2009) and co-translator of Rashid al-Daif’s novel Who’s Afraid of Meryl Streep? (2014) from Arabic to English. 

Table of Contents

Contributors
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Constructions of Masculinity in Southwest Asia and North Africa
Mohja Kahf

1. Exotic and Benighted, or Modern yet Victimized? The Modern Predicament of the Arab Queer
   Jedidiah Anderson
2. Of Heroes and Men: the Crisis of Masculinity in the Post-Oslo Palestinian Narrative
   Amal Amireh
3. The Precariousness of Hegemonic Masculinity in Rashid Al-Daif’s Who’s Afraid of Meryl Streep,
   Nadine Sinno
4. Crises of Masculinity in Hudā Barakāt’s War Literature
   Kifah Hanna
5. Mahfouz, al-Mutanabbi, and the Canon: Poetics of Deviance from the Masculine Nationalist Discourse of al-Sukkariyya
   Robert James Farley
6. Diasporic Queer Arabs in Europe and North America: Sexual Citizenship and Narratives of Inclusion and Exclusion
   Nicole Fares
7. Shaken Masculine Identity and the Persistence of Male-centered Narrative in Zakariyya Tāmir’s Latest Work
   Alessandro Columbu
8. Romancing Middle Eastern Men in North and South America: Two Mid-Century Texts
   John Tofik Karam
9. Tracing Masculinity in Iranian Cinema
   Kaveh Bassiri
10. Men and Modernity in Postcolonial Tunisian Cinema
    Nouri Gana
11. Constructions of Masculinity in Palestinian Film
    Sarah Hudson
12. Gendered Politics in Late Nineteenth-century Egyptian Nationalist Discourse
    Matthew B. Parnell
13. Men at Work: The Politics of Professional Pride in Ottoman Beirut
    Kathryn Kalemkerian
14. “You Are Like A Virus:" Dangerous Bodies and Military Medical Authority in Turkey
    Oyman Basran
15. Gendered Memories and Masculinities: Kurdish Peshmerga on the Anfal Campaign in Iraq
    Andrea Fischer-Tahir
16. Militarist Masculinity, Militarist Femininity: A Gendered Analysis of Jordan’s War on the Islamic State
    Ebtihal Mahadeen

Editorial Reviews

Finally, a pioneering study on the construction of masculinity in the MENA region that spans medieval to contemporary times historically, crossing intellectual and geographical borders ranging from the Arab world, Iran, and Turkey to North American and South American Middle Eastern diasporas. A must-read for scholars invested in challenging the 'masculinity in crisis' discourse in literature and film, and in reimagining Middle Eastern heteronormative and queer masculinities across genres, colonial and postcolonial eras, as well as nationalist rhetorics of militarized and authoritarian regimes."—Hanadi Al-Samman, University of Virginia

"Constructions of Masculinity in the Middle East and North Africa offers a profound contribution to the study of configurations and constructions of masculinity in contemporary Middle Eastern societies. The editors deserve high praise for bringing together fresh perspectives on a highly relevant topic in this fascinating edited volume. As such, it is an important contribution to the field of gender and Middle Eastern studies."—Tim Epkenhans, University of Freiburg

From the Publisher