The Warrior Women of Islam: Female Empowerment in Arabic Popular Literature

by Remke Kruk

Overview

Colloquial Arabic storytelling is most commonly associated with The Thousandvand One Nights. But few people are aware of a much larger corpus of narrative texts known as popular epic. These heroic romantic tales, originating in the Middle Ages, form vast cycles of adventure stories whose most remarkable feature is their portrayal of powerful and memorable women. Wildly appreciated by medieval audiences, and spread by professional storytellers throughout the cities of the Muslim world, these fictions were printed and reprinted over the centuries and comprise a vital part of Arab culture. Yet virtually none are available in translation, and so remain almost unknown to a non-Arab public. Remke Kruk at last makes these neglected romances available to a Western audience. She recounts the story of Princess Dhat al-Himma, brave and undefeated leader of the Muslim army in its wars against the Byzantines; of Ghamra, brought up as a boy to become a fearless leader of men; and of cool-headed Qannasa, raiding from her mountain fortress to capture and seduce her enemies before putting them pitilessly to the sword.The Warrior Women of Islam puts a bold new complexion on gender roles and the wider perception of women in the Middle East.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781848859272
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	01/29/2014
Series:	Library of Middle East History
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Remke Kruk is Professor Emeritus of Arabic at the University of Leiden. Starting with The Arabic Version of Aristotle's Parts of Animals: Books XI-XIV of the KitAZab al-HayawaAZn (1979), she has published on a wide range of subjects, notably in the field of Graeco-Arabic natural philosophy. She was the editor, with Gerhard Endress, of The Ancient Tradition in Christian and Islamic Hellenism (1997). She has translated various classical Arabic texts and is co-editor of the series Aristoteles Semitico-Latinus.

Table of Contents

Preface
A Note on Transliteration
Abbreviations
A Note on the Illustrations
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements

Chapter I
Arabic popular epic: an introductory note

Chapter II
Warrior women in the Arabic tradition

Chapter III
Sîrat Dhât al-Himma I: Princess Dhât al-Himma and her many battles

Chapter IV
Sîrat Dhât al-Himma II

Chapter V
Sîrat Dhât al-Himma III

Chapter VI
Warrior women in Sîrat 'Antar I

Chapter VII
Warrior women in Sîrat 'Antar II

Chapter VIII
Prince H'amza al-Bahlawân: in praise of traditional womanhood

Chapter IX
Sîrat Baybars I: Lionesses

Chapter X
Sîrat Baybars II: Warrior queens

Chapter XI
King Sayf ibn Dhî Yazan, the soft hearted I: Qamarîya

Chapter XII
King Sayf ibn Dhî Yazan II: T'âma

Chapter XIII
King Sayf ibn Dhî Yazan III: Munyat an-Nufûs

Chapter XIV
Final observations

Notes
List of illustrations
Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

'Remke Kruk has written a delightful and indispensible study on a tradition of popular Arab story telling little known or appreciated beyond its indigenous cultural and religious borders. It does not, therefore, deal with that perennial western favourite, A Thousand and One Nights. This book deals with an even broader, multi-faceted, tradition of the popular epic or heroic romance. Transmitted both orally to large audiences in medieval times and in written form down to the present, these stories bear an uncanny resemblance to the modern soap opera of western TV. But best of all is that the protagonists of these epic romances are young, beautiful women, educated and expert in martial arts and ready to take on the world. Kruk expertly guides the reader through stories that should challenge common western perceptions of the Middle Eastern woman, medieval or modern.' – David Waines, Professor Emeritus of Islamic Studies, Lancaster University

'Remke Kruk's new book, The Warrior Women of Islam, is a groundbreaking scholarly examination of a topic that has long deserved more detailed study. The book offers a fascinating and insightful investigation into the representation of women warriors as found in a major narrative genre of pre-modern Arabic literature, the popular epic. These characters, of whom the author cites many examples from the numerous narratives that pre-modern Arabic popular literature offers, are not the quiet and meek damsels who fit roles considered stereotypical of women in Islamic societies. Rather, these are activist women and martial leaders who took up arms and themselves led men into battle to defend their tribes and honour. Professor Kruk's impressive portrayal of this narrative theme sheds new light on a subject that is significant for literary history in general and provides insight into the diverse roles women were imagined to play in Arab society. The author's incisive analysis is unique in that it encompasses every major example the genre and hence provides a panoramic view of the subject. The summation of decades of study by the author, this is a major contribution to the field.' – Peter Heath, Chancellor, American University of Sharjah, UAE

From the Publisher