Woman's Body, Woman's Word: Gender and Discourse in Arabo-Islamic Writing

Woman's voice and body are closely entwined in the Arabo-Islamic tradition, argues Fedwa Malti-Douglas in this pioneering book. Spanning the ninth through twentieth centuries and covering a wide range of texts--from courtly anectdote to mystical and philosophical treatises, from works of geography to autobiography--this study reveals how woman's access to literary speech has remained mediated through her body.
Malti-Douglas first analyzes classical texts (both well-known works like The Thous...