Hurma
Ali Al-Muqri
Translated by T. M. Aplin (Arabic)
First published 2012, I read ebook of 2015 translation
166 pages, cultural critique, psychological
Many thanks to Darf Publishers for providing a review copy of this book!
A nameless female narrator from Yemen attempts to reconstruct her childhood and youth. Her formerly communist brother, who became a radical Islamist. Her scandalous sister who was allowed free rein because of her high-paying job. The sex tapes she and her friends watched in secret. The fatwas that restricted every part of her life. Her marriage to a jihadi.
This psychologically complex book provides the insider woman’s viewpoint of restrictive Islamist society, jihadis and terrorism. More than that, it examines the thought processes of a “radicalized” female terrorist from childhood to adulthood.
In this novel, women feel the full power of a religiously supported patriarchy. They are expected to follow innumerable fatwas that limit their actions, clothes, speech, and thoughts with the sole purpose of removing their sexuality - but in the same breath they are constantly sexually objectified. It is a no-win scenario, in which the narrator can never find sanctuary from objectification regardless of how hard she tries to follow the rules.
The first memory that the narrator recounts is the extreme punishment she was given for drawing a heart on a piece of paper in school. She was in 4th grade, and had no idea what this symbol meant! She was immediately knocked unconscious by her teacher, after which they summoned her father to school to be reprimanded for not “bringing her up properly.” This, of course, was followed by beatings – and even more beatings when she asked her mother what she had done. Even at such a young age and for such an innocent action, she is made into a sexual object that must be controlled through physical violence.
Ali Al-MuqriTranslated by T. M. Aplin (Arabic)
First published 2012, I read ebook of 2015 translation
166 pages, cultural critique, psychological
Many thanks to Darf Publishers for providing a review copy of this book!
A nameless female narrator from Yemen attempts to reconstruct her childhood and youth. Her formerly communist brother, who became a radical Islamist. Her scandalous sister who was allowed free rein because of her high-paying job. The sex tapes she and her friends watched in secret. The fatwas that restricted every part of her life. Her marriage to a jihadi.
This psychologically complex book provides the insider woman’s viewpoint of restrictive Islamist society, jihadis and terrorism. More than that, it examines the thought processes of a “radicalized” female terrorist from childhood to adulthood.
Sex
In this novel, women feel the full power of a religiously supported patriarchy. They are expected to follow innumerable fatwas that limit their actions, clothes, speech, and thoughts with the sole purpose of removing their sexuality - but in the same breath they are constantly sexually objectified. It is a no-win scenario, in which the narrator can never find sanctuary from objectification regardless of how hard she tries to follow the rules.
The first memory that the narrator recounts is the extreme punishment she was given for drawing a heart on a piece of paper in school. She was in 4th grade, and had no idea what this symbol meant! She was immediately knocked unconscious by her teacher, after which they summoned her father to school to be reprimanded for not “bringing her up properly.” This, of course, was followed by beatings – and even more beatings when she asked her mother what she had done. Even at such a young age and for such an innocent action, she is made into a sexual object that must be controlled through physical violence.
