CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Notes on Translation and Transliteration

Introduction

Chapter One Modern Arabic Fiction in Kuwait: Emergence and Development

Introduction

Kuwait in History

Literary Tradition in Kuwait: the Beginnings (mid-1840s–late 1920s)

Emergence of Kuwaiti Fiction: the Formative Stage (late 1920s–mid-1950s)

The Mature Stage: late 1950s to the contemporary period

Conclusion

Chapter Two The Kuwaiti Female Literary Tradition: an Overview

Introduction

The Rise of the Feminist Movement in Kuwait

Kuwaiti Women and Literary Writing

Kuwaiti Women's Fiction: the Journey so far

Images of Women in some Kuwaiti Short Stories

Conclusion

Chapter Three Male Domination, Female Fury in Kuwaiti Women's Short Stories

Introduction

"Al-Intiqäm al-rahïb"

Preamble

Alienation, Repression, and Female Defiance

Female Patriotism

Male Violence, Female Revenge

"Min milaff imra'a"

Preamble

Forced Marriage

Women and Childlessness

Sex and Murder

Conclusion

Chapter Four Subverting Patriarchy: Women's Defiance and Solidarity in Laylä al-'Uthmän's Wasmiyya takhruj min al-bahr

Introduction

Wasmiyya: A 'Feminine' or 'Feminist' Text?

Defiance and Violation of Patriarchal Social Order

Minor acts of defiance

Dating

The major act of defiance

Evasion of Societal Chastisement

Women's Solidarity

Conclusion

Chapter Five Race, Class, War, and Gender in Tayyiba al-Ibrähïm's Mudhakkirät khädim

Introduction

Race, Class, and Gender in Pre-War Kuwait

Can women and immigrant workers in Kuwait speak?

Gender and marital fidelity

Gender and Kuwaiti family law

Race, Class, and Gender during the Iraq-Kuwait War

Women's struggle for 'dual liberation'

Kuwaiti women as double victims of war and the ideology of faḍïḥa

House raid

Is leaving one's homeland during conflict an unpatriotic act?

War and Female Subjectivity

Disruption of social hierarchy during the war

Interracial Marriage

Servant marries mistress

War of words and war of rockets

"Can the subaltern be heard?": race, class, and gender in post-war Kuwait

Conclusion

Chapter Six Culture and Gender: Sexuality, Femininity, and Identity in Fawziyya S. al-Sälim's Muzün

Introduction

Culture and Sexuality

East meets West

Culture, society, and individual freedom

Zayäna: Subverting and Evading Patriarchy

Evasion of physical and social destruction

'Evasion' of the institution of the family

Femininity and Gender Socialisation

De-interpellating the interpellated

Women as victims of conflicting socialisations

Female (Self-)Identity: Muzün as a Quest Story

Conclusion

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index

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