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Distant View of a Minaret and Other Stories
"More convincingly than any other woman writing in Arabic today, Alifa Rifaat lifts the vil on what it means to be a women living within a traditional Muslim society." So states the translator's foreword to this collection of the Egyptian author's best short stories. Rifaat (1930-1996) did not go to university, spoke only Arabic, and seldom traveled abroad. This virtual immunity from Western influence lends a special authenticity to her direct yet sincere accounts of death, sexual fulfillment, the lives of women in purdah, and the frustrations of everyday life in a male-dominated Islamic environment.
Translated from the Arabic by Denys Johnson-Davies, the collection admits the reader into a hidden private world, regulated by the call of the mosque, but often full of profound anguish and personal isolation. Badriyya's despariting anger at her deceitful husband, for example, or the hauntingly melancholy of "At the Time of the Jasmine," are treated with a sensitivity to the discipline and order of Islam.
Translated from the Arabic by Denys Johnson-Davies, the collection admits the reader into a hidden private world, regulated by the call of the mosque, but often full of profound anguish and personal isolation. Badriyya's despariting anger at her deceitful husband, for example, or the hauntingly melancholy of "At the Time of the Jasmine," are treated with a sensitivity to the discipline and order of Islam.
116 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
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About the author
Alifa Rifaat
11books24followersFatimah Rifaat (Arabic: أليفة رفعت; June 5, 1930-January 1996), better known by her pen name Alifa Rifaat, was an Egyptian author whose controversial short stories are renowned for their depictions of the dynamics of female sexuality, relationships, and loss in rural Egyptian culture. While taking on such controversial subjects Fatimah Rifaat’s protagonists remained religiously faithful and passive feelings towards their fate. Her stories did not attempt to undermine the patriarchal system; rather they were used to depict the problems inherent in a patriarchal society when men do not adhere to their religious teachings that advocate for the kind treatment of women. Fatimah Rifaat used the psydonymn Alifa to prevent embarrassment on the part of her family due to the themes of her stories and her writing career.
(from Wikipedia)
(from Wikipedia)
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October 22, 2019
At first sight the brevity of the stories indicates lack of depth, but it did not take long to correct the initial impression as I read through the first few of the total fifteen stories in the collection. These mostly first-person narratives are independent portraits that give the impression of a miniature painting in writing and pack so much in so few pages.
It is impossible to doubt the authenticity of each of her female protagonists as they relate their stories with an economy of emotions not usually seen in other contemporary works in the same tradition. These women are up against injustice - injustice as they perceive it - that limits their happiness, their desires and dreams, and confines them to a simple life-formula that can best be described as birth, marriage and death.
But even though they struggle against the injustice of tradition without opting for the self-conscious all-out rebellion, a template that modern readers expect women feminist writers to follow, Alifa Rifaat has still touched on many sensitive taboos that threaten the patriarchal worldview more than if it had been written in the said vein of the much-loved but ineffectual total rebellion.
It is far more ‘problematic� when women openly dismiss their hard existence as a great injustice by Allah than deny the existence of the same Allah, which would kill the debate and just be laughed at. Likewise, writing about a wife’s frustrated sexuality because her husband is a heart patient and can’t satisfy her needs with the passion a young women demands and who, after mechanical coitus, hides herself in the bathroom to rub herself to orgasm with a view of a phallic minaret from the window is a much more 'scandalous' affair than writing about respectable wives fucking their husband’s best friend.
Sexuality and subversive action are two themes that run most strongly through all the stories. In An Incident in the Ghobashi Household a woman hides the pregnancy of her unwed daughter by sending her away and enacting an elaborate drama as if she were herself pregnant, to claim the baby as her own when the time comes. In Me and My Sister a dutiful daughter left to support her family after her father takes a second wife fulfills her dreams of romance in what in hindsight is a dreadful manner. All stories are alike except one, My World of the Unknown, which is a highly erotic fantastical tale of a woman who falls in love with a djinn that changes form into a beautiful snake. It can be read as a fanciful metaphor for female homosexuality and its eventual fulfillment despite the attempts of the good husband and a well-meaning cleric to stem it, who, in a way, represent two pillars of patriarchal power.
Some readers have noted that these stories are not written from a feminist perspective! This raises questions about the very definition of feminism and its expression. The underlying assumption is that feminist writers in the developing world should imitate their Western counterparts if they want to be considered feminist. I don't need to say that it is a patronising and culturally insensitive position to take, something to which the translator, Denys Johnson-Davies, has himself succumbed in his incredibly smug little preface. According to him, Lebanese women writers are braver because their feminism is inspired by their Western counterparts whereas Alifa Rifaa's reading has been restricted to Arab writers and her struggle is merely against certain man-made interpretations of Islam!
Many leading feminist movements in the developing world do not want agendas dictated to them by their Western peers, and want to prioritise their struggles on issues in consonance with local problems. As it often happens, foreign interference hinders rather than helps when women are expected to follow prescriptive feminism of the Western world. It then becomes difficult for local progressives to argue for change when they are seen as foreign puppets, and all sorts of questions about colonialism, racism and cultural imperialism come up to frustrate genuine female voices fighting, as Ms Rifaat would put, the injustices of tradition. In 1994 a conference on population and development was held in Cairo where...
I understand why the subtly subversive power of these stories might be lost on readers accustomed to more explicit writing. As it is, Ms Rifaat is not interested in setting down clear answers to the issues she has raised. Her purpose is to draw realistic portraits and through those compel us to ask hard questions.
* Feminist Theory: From Center to Margin by Bell Hooks cited in Feminism by Margaret Walters.
August '16
It is impossible to doubt the authenticity of each of her female protagonists as they relate their stories with an economy of emotions not usually seen in other contemporary works in the same tradition. These women are up against injustice - injustice as they perceive it - that limits their happiness, their desires and dreams, and confines them to a simple life-formula that can best be described as birth, marriage and death.
But even though they struggle against the injustice of tradition without opting for the self-conscious all-out rebellion, a template that modern readers expect women feminist writers to follow, Alifa Rifaat has still touched on many sensitive taboos that threaten the patriarchal worldview more than if it had been written in the said vein of the much-loved but ineffectual total rebellion.
It is far more ‘problematic� when women openly dismiss their hard existence as a great injustice by Allah than deny the existence of the same Allah, which would kill the debate and just be laughed at. Likewise, writing about a wife’s frustrated sexuality because her husband is a heart patient and can’t satisfy her needs with the passion a young women demands and who, after mechanical coitus, hides herself in the bathroom to rub herself to orgasm with a view of a phallic minaret from the window is a much more 'scandalous' affair than writing about respectable wives fucking their husband’s best friend.
Sexuality and subversive action are two themes that run most strongly through all the stories. In An Incident in the Ghobashi Household a woman hides the pregnancy of her unwed daughter by sending her away and enacting an elaborate drama as if she were herself pregnant, to claim the baby as her own when the time comes. In Me and My Sister a dutiful daughter left to support her family after her father takes a second wife fulfills her dreams of romance in what in hindsight is a dreadful manner. All stories are alike except one, My World of the Unknown, which is a highly erotic fantastical tale of a woman who falls in love with a djinn that changes form into a beautiful snake. It can be read as a fanciful metaphor for female homosexuality and its eventual fulfillment despite the attempts of the good husband and a well-meaning cleric to stem it, who, in a way, represent two pillars of patriarchal power.
Some readers have noted that these stories are not written from a feminist perspective! This raises questions about the very definition of feminism and its expression. The underlying assumption is that feminist writers in the developing world should imitate their Western counterparts if they want to be considered feminist. I don't need to say that it is a patronising and culturally insensitive position to take, something to which the translator, Denys Johnson-Davies, has himself succumbed in his incredibly smug little preface. According to him, Lebanese women writers are braver because their feminism is inspired by their Western counterparts whereas Alifa Rifaa's reading has been restricted to Arab writers and her struggle is merely against certain man-made interpretations of Islam!
Many leading feminist movements in the developing world do not want agendas dictated to them by their Western peers, and want to prioritise their struggles on issues in consonance with local problems. As it often happens, foreign interference hinders rather than helps when women are expected to follow prescriptive feminism of the Western world. It then becomes difficult for local progressives to argue for change when they are seen as foreign puppets, and all sorts of questions about colonialism, racism and cultural imperialism come up to frustrate genuine female voices fighting, as Ms Rifaat would put, the injustices of tradition. In 1994 a conference on population and development was held in Cairo where...
Third World women complained that the agenda had been hijacked by European and American women who were only interested in contraception and abortion; and that when they did tackle "Third World" issues, they sounded both patronising and racist. Even at Beijing in 1995, there were complaints that endless discussions by Westerners of reproductive rights and sexual orientation meant that the urgent concerns of women from less developed nations were ignored.*
I understand why the subtly subversive power of these stories might be lost on readers accustomed to more explicit writing. As it is, Ms Rifaat is not interested in setting down clear answers to the issues she has raised. Her purpose is to draw realistic portraits and through those compel us to ask hard questions.
* Feminist Theory: From Center to Margin by Bell Hooks cited in Feminism by Margaret Walters.
August '16
January 6, 2014
“Daughter, I’m not crying now because I’m fed up or regret that the Lord created me a woman. No, it’s not that. It’s just that I’m sad about my life and my youth that have come and gone without my knowing how to live them really and truly as a woman.�
- Alifa Rifatt, View From a Minaret
This was a great short story collection by Alifa Rifatt, part of the amazing Heinemann African Writer’s Series (). Set in Egypt with a strongly feminist theme, a lot of the stories were very moving to me as a woman. Rifatt captured the feeling of being trapped as a woman in society, so strongly that it made me feel a bit claustrophobic. The stories explored themes like sexuality, loveless marriages, death, childhood
As a woman I of course I couldn’t help but feel empathy with the women in these stories. Being trapped in loveless marriages, having to put up with being cheated on, having little fulfillment in life; some of the stories were extremely sad and depressing. The stories show women not in charge of their destiny, women controlled by society, women who are solitary and lonely and had nobody to confide with.
The theme of Islam permeates the book and the faith is seen as a comfort to these women, as well as a major part of their everyday lives. I loved reading about the Muslim culture, the calls to prayer, the preparations to prayer, and the cultural aspects of funerals and so on; it was really fascinating:
“Soon the call to dawn prayers will float like clouds of sands across the sleeping city. I shall hear it from three different mosques that surround our building.�
The stories are on the whole extremely short and are unrelated, but in total you can get a strong picture of a male-dominated society, especially as it relates to women and young girls.
- Alifa Rifatt, View From a Minaret
This was a great short story collection by Alifa Rifatt, part of the amazing Heinemann African Writer’s Series (). Set in Egypt with a strongly feminist theme, a lot of the stories were very moving to me as a woman. Rifatt captured the feeling of being trapped as a woman in society, so strongly that it made me feel a bit claustrophobic. The stories explored themes like sexuality, loveless marriages, death, childhood
As a woman I of course I couldn’t help but feel empathy with the women in these stories. Being trapped in loveless marriages, having to put up with being cheated on, having little fulfillment in life; some of the stories were extremely sad and depressing. The stories show women not in charge of their destiny, women controlled by society, women who are solitary and lonely and had nobody to confide with.
The theme of Islam permeates the book and the faith is seen as a comfort to these women, as well as a major part of their everyday lives. I loved reading about the Muslim culture, the calls to prayer, the preparations to prayer, and the cultural aspects of funerals and so on; it was really fascinating:
“Soon the call to dawn prayers will float like clouds of sands across the sleeping city. I shall hear it from three different mosques that surround our building.�
The stories are on the whole extremely short and are unrelated, but in total you can get a strong picture of a male-dominated society, especially as it relates to women and young girls.
March 2, 2016
Like many wonderful short story writers, Rifaat works with a light touch, keeping herself modestly out of her work to let her characters emerge fully into view as believably autonomous. She tells brief tales from a wide range of perspectives: unmonied, wealthy, elderly, young, woman, man, struggling, comfortable. But perhaps most protagonists are middle aged women.
Superficially the stories are simple, but they gave me a glance of deep, ineffable complexities of desire and motivation. Women hide their passionate longings for sexual fulfilment and wider opportunities; whether they are thwarted by selfish, heartless husbands, social conventions or their own inhibitions.
The protagonist in Bahiyya's Eyes weeps that she was born a girl, blaming the practice of female circumcision and her arranged marriage for her unhappy life. But a young woman who made a love marriage fares no better as her man is unfaithful and funds his smoking and drinking on her wages without offering love or help to her.
In another story a man persuades himself not to feel for his father until a sympathetic community gives permission for the expression of grief at his death. Though this idea isn't made explicit, it suggests how masculine toughness and stolidity is culturally instilled and maintained. The painful consequences are made clear.
My World of the Unknown is perhaps the most idiosyncratic piece. Highly erotic, it's told from the viewpoint of a woman in a harmonious marriage who moves to an old house in a small town, where she unexpectedly has a passionate affair with a female djinn, who tells her, as does the sheik who comes to exorcise the building, that their contact is sanctioned and watched over by Allah. When the human woman objects that 'but it is natural for you to be a man' the djinn replies 'perfect beauty is found only in woman'.
Prayer and devotion are important to most of Rifaat's folks. In one of the most touching stories, The Kite, an uneducated, poor widow kisses her hand to give thanks to god, unable to perform her prayers in the prescribed way without guidance.
I can't recommend this edition, translated by this fellow, Denys Johnson-Davies, because of his grotesquely patronising orientalist introduction, which says things like 'her reading has been restricted to Arab writers�' and that while she speaks for women's rights, 'Rifaat's revolt is merely against certain man-made interpretations [of Islam]', in contrast to 'the women writers of Beirut' whose 'Arab form of women's lib. is inspired by its Western counterpart'. What this entails is left for the reader to assume, given our superior Western understanding and access to the great(!) Western tradition of describing and interpreting Islam and Muslim societies(!!!!)
He does drop a hint though: 'For her there is nothing romantic about adultery: it is, quite simply, a sin'. So 'Western women's lib.' is about promoting and romanticising adultery, perhaps. I'm not sure, at this point, if this admirer and champion(!!!) of Rifaat is actually making an antifeminist point. In any case, it totally belies the complexity and richness of Rifaat's handling of love and sex in her stories. I don't recognise Johnson-Davies description of her work at all. But perhaps in 1983 it was inconceivable to him, as to many Western women's libbers(!) that a practicing Muslim could actually be a feminist.
Superficially the stories are simple, but they gave me a glance of deep, ineffable complexities of desire and motivation. Women hide their passionate longings for sexual fulfilment and wider opportunities; whether they are thwarted by selfish, heartless husbands, social conventions or their own inhibitions.
The protagonist in Bahiyya's Eyes weeps that she was born a girl, blaming the practice of female circumcision and her arranged marriage for her unhappy life. But a young woman who made a love marriage fares no better as her man is unfaithful and funds his smoking and drinking on her wages without offering love or help to her.
In another story a man persuades himself not to feel for his father until a sympathetic community gives permission for the expression of grief at his death. Though this idea isn't made explicit, it suggests how masculine toughness and stolidity is culturally instilled and maintained. The painful consequences are made clear.
My World of the Unknown is perhaps the most idiosyncratic piece. Highly erotic, it's told from the viewpoint of a woman in a harmonious marriage who moves to an old house in a small town, where she unexpectedly has a passionate affair with a female djinn, who tells her, as does the sheik who comes to exorcise the building, that their contact is sanctioned and watched over by Allah. When the human woman objects that 'but it is natural for you to be a man' the djinn replies 'perfect beauty is found only in woman'.
Prayer and devotion are important to most of Rifaat's folks. In one of the most touching stories, The Kite, an uneducated, poor widow kisses her hand to give thanks to god, unable to perform her prayers in the prescribed way without guidance.
I can't recommend this edition, translated by this fellow, Denys Johnson-Davies, because of his grotesquely patronising orientalist introduction, which says things like 'her reading has been restricted to Arab writers�' and that while she speaks for women's rights, 'Rifaat's revolt is merely against certain man-made interpretations [of Islam]', in contrast to 'the women writers of Beirut' whose 'Arab form of women's lib. is inspired by its Western counterpart'. What this entails is left for the reader to assume, given our superior Western understanding and access to the great(!) Western tradition of describing and interpreting Islam and Muslim societies(!!!!)
He does drop a hint though: 'For her there is nothing romantic about adultery: it is, quite simply, a sin'. So 'Western women's lib.' is about promoting and romanticising adultery, perhaps. I'm not sure, at this point, if this admirer and champion(!!!) of Rifaat is actually making an antifeminist point. In any case, it totally belies the complexity and richness of Rifaat's handling of love and sex in her stories. I don't recognise Johnson-Davies description of her work at all. But perhaps in 1983 it was inconceivable to him, as to many Western women's libbers(!) that a practicing Muslim could actually be a feminist.
July 11, 2016
মিশরের লেখিকা আলিফ� রিফাতে� জীবন সম্পর্কে খু� বেশি কিছু জানা যায় না.. ১৯৩০-� জন্ম, নবী� ছোটগল্পকার হিসেবে পঞ্চাশের দশকে কায়রো� সাহিত্যাঙ্গন� বে� সুনা� অর্জ� করেছিলেন� পরিবার যাতে বিব্রত না হয�, তা� ছদ্মনামে লিখতেন (আস� না� ছি� ফাতিমা রিফা�)� উচ্চপদস্� এক পুলি� অফিসারের সাথে বিয়� হয়ে যাবা� পর স্বামী� অনুরোধ� বা আদেশ� গল্প ছাপা বন্ধ কর� দেন। তব� আফটা� অল লেখক যেহেতু, কল� থামিয়� রাখত� পারেনন�, লুকিয়� লুকিয়� নিজে� মত কর� ঠিকই লেখা চালিয়� গিয়েছিলেন� স্বামী� ছি� বদলি� চাকর�, তা� রাজধানী থেকে বহুদূর� নীলনদে� কো�-ঘেঁষ� ছো� শহ� গঞ্জ আর গ্রামে কাটিয়েছেন বছরে� পর বছ�, খু� কাছে থেকে দেখেছে� গ্রামে� মানু�, বিশে� কর� প্রান্তি� নারীদে� জীবন�
পনের� বছ� নীরবতা� পর সত্তরে� দশকে পুনরায� সাহিত্যি� পরিচয়� আত্মপ্রকাশ করেন� এইবা� তা� গল্পগুলো নজরে পড়ে যায় ডেনি� জনসন-ডেভিসে� - জনসন-ডেভি� যিনি কিনা বিংশ শতকে� আরবী সাহিত্যে� ইংরেজি অনুবাদ� পথিকৃত� মিশরের নোবে� বিজয়ী নাগি� মাহফুজের প্রথ� ইংরেজি অনুবাদ� তো বটেই, তাছাড়াও বহির্বিশ্বের পাঠকদে� কাছে উন্মোচ� করেন আধুনিক আর� সাহিত্যে� অন্যতম শ্রেষ্� লেখকদে� কা� - তাইয়ে� সালি�, তওফি� হাকি�, সোনাল্লা� ইব্রাহিম, ইউসু� ইদ্রিস, জাকারিয়� তামে�, ইয়াহিয়� তাহে� আব্দুল্লাহ সহ আর� অনেকে।
জনসন-ডেভি� খোঁজ কর� আলিফ� রিফাতে� সঙ্গ� যোগাযো� করেন, এব� অনুরোধ করেন যে তা� ছোটগল্পগুল� তিনি ই��রেজিত� অনুবাদ করতে চান। রিফা� সাগ্রহ� রাজি হয়ে যা� - মধ্যশতাব্দী� রক্ষণশী� মিশরী পরিবার� জন্ম বিধায় তিনি আরবী ছাড়� আর কো� ভাষা জানতেন না, সাহিত্� যা কিছু পড়েছে�, সব� আরবীতে বা আরবী অনুবাদে। তিরাশি সালে এই সংকলনট� পশ্চিম� প্রথ� প্রকাশ পায় এব� ছোটখাট� হইচই ফেলে দেয়� আর� মুসলিম সমাজের অন্দরমহল থেকে এম� অকপট জবানবন্দী এর আগ� আর আসেনি। পরবর্তীতে ইউরোপে� অন্যান্য ভাষায় অনূদিত হয়েছে�, তব� ইংরেজিতে রিফাতে� এই একটি বই-� সম্ভবত প্রকাশিত হয়েছে, তেত্রি� বছ� পরেও যা� নতুন নতুন সংস্কর� বেরুচ্ছে�
*
তা� লেখা� কিভাবে বর্ণনা দেয়� যায়? আম� নিজে যেহেতু বাঙালি মুসলমা� সমাজ� বড� হয়েছি, এই পনেরোট� গল্পের নারী চরিত্রদে� যে� ছোটবেল� থেকে� দেখে আসছি� আমার মা, খালা, নানী, গ্রামে� বাড়িত� পাঁচ ফুফু, এব� আশপাশে আর� অসংখ্য মহিল� চরিত্রদে� কথাই তো আসলে বলেছেন রিফাত। ঘর�-বাইর� যতটুকু মর্যাদাই জুটু� না কে�, শে� বিচারে সকলে� পুরুষতান্ত্রিক সমাজের উচ্ছিষ্টভোগী, যেখানে শিক্ষা� অভাব� নারীকে অর্থনৈতিকভাব� অপরে� প্রত� নির্ভরশী� বা মুখাপেক্ষী হত� হয�, যা� একমাত্� দায়িত্ব স্বামী সেবা, সন্তান প্রস� � লালন পালন� আর কপাল যদ� মন্দ হয� তব� বুড়� বয়স� কোনমতে খাবল�-খুবল� বেঁচ� থাকা� সার। এম� সমাজ যেখানে অনাদিকাল ধর� ধর্মবিশ্বা� এব� আচার-ব্যবহা� পুরুষে� পদতল� নারীকে পিষে রাখা� হাতিয়ার হিসেবে ব্যবহৃ� - হয়ত� সবচেয়� কার্যক� হাতিয়ার! ইদানিং হয়ত� পরিস্থিত� কিছুটা বদলাচ্ছে - আমার সমবয়সী সবাই যেমন চাকুরীজীবি, বৃহত্ত� পরিসরে নারী� ব্যাপক কর্মসংস্থা� ইত্যাদি। কিন্তু অতীতে� পরিচিত মানুষগুলোর সাথে রিফাতে� গল্পের বাহিয়�, জাইনাত, বাদ্রিয়�, জেনুবা, আজিজ�, মানসুরার কতটুকু পার্থক্য? মানসুর� ছি� আমার সবচেয়� প্রিয় সেজো খালা� না� - সে� ১২ বছ� আগ� গত হয়েছে� কর্ক� রোগে� কৈশো� থেকে অকাল মৃত্যু পর্যন্� যে কষ্টভো� করেছিলেন, তা এই বইয়ের যে কো� চরিত্রের থেকে কম নয়।
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যা� হোক।
তো রিফাতক� নারীবাদী লেখক হিসেবে সহজে� সংজ্ঞায়িত কর� যায়� কিন্তু তা� নারীবা� গতানুগতি� পশ্চিম� নারীবাদে� পথ� চল� না� নামগল্� থেকে� যেটা পরিস্ফুট - লেখিকা� ধর্মবিশ্বা� অত্যন্� দৃঢ়, তা� চরিত্রদে� প্রাত্যহিক জীবনের কাঠামো তৈরি কর� দেয় মসজিদে� মিনা� থেকে ভেসে আস� মুয়াজ্জিনের ডা�, আর দিনে-রাতে পাঁচবা� নামা� আদায়ক� ঘিরে� বাকি দিনে� সমস্� কর্মসূচী� ("Her five daily prayers were like punctuation marks that divided up and gave meaning to her life.") তাহল� তা� নারীবাদী বিদ্রোহট� কা� বিরুদ্ধে, কিসে� বিরুদ্ধে? খু� স্পেসিফিকালি আলিফ� রিফাতে� প্রতিবাদ পুরুষে� বিরুদ্ধে, পুরুষে� অবহেলা ঔদাসীন্� কাপুরুষত� এব� কপ� ভণ্ডামির বিরুদ্ধে� শরীরী নির্যাতন যত না, তা� থেকে ঢে� বেশি ক্ষো� শরীরী অনাদরে� অর্থাৎ সঙ্গমে� অতৃপ্ত�, সম্ভোগের অপূর্ণতা, অক্ষ� পুরুষে� এক মিনিটব্যাপী স্বার্থপরতা।
"When they were first married she had tried to will her husband into sensing the desire that burned within her and so continuing the act longer; she had been too shy and conscious of the conventions to express such wishes openly. Later on, feeling herself sometimes to be on the brink of the experience some of her married women friends talked of in hushed terms, she had found the courage to be explicit about what she wanted. At such moments it had seemed to her that all she needed was just one more movement and her body and soul would be quenched, that once achieved they would between them know how to repeat the experience. But on each occasion, when breathlessly imploring him to continue, he would � as though purposely to deprive her � quicken his movement and bring the act to an abrupt end. Sometimes she had tried in vain to maintain the rhythmic movements a little longer, but always he would stop her. The last time she had made such an attempt, so desperate was she at this critical moment, that she had dug her fingernails into his back, compelling him to remain inside her. He had given a shout as he pushed her away and slipped from her: "Are you mad, woman? Do you want to kill me?"
বইয়ের প্রথ� গল্পের প্রথ� পৃষ্ঠায় এই অং� পড়ে স্তম্ভিত হয� পাঠক� কি ধরণে� সমাজ� বস� কি সাদামাটা সাহসেই না এই কথাগুল� লিখেছিলেন। নারী� যৌ� অধিকার বিষয়ে লেখিকা� দাবী সুস্পষ্ট - এক স্কলারের ভাষায় "a woman's Islamic right to a fulfilled emotional and sexual life." ব্যক্তিগ� ধর্মবিশ্বাসে� সাথে এই যৌ� অধিকারের আদ� কো� সংঘর্ষ দেখে� না রিফা�, বিবাহে� বাইর� যৌনমিলনও তিনি অনুমোদ� করেন না� তা� চিন্তাভাবন� অনুযায়ী ব্যভিচার স্রে� সীমালঙ্ঘ� ছাড়� কিছু নয� - স্পষ্টতই ওরকম রোমাঞ্চে তা� কো� আগ্র� নেই। কিন্তু বিয়� নামে� এই খাঁচার ভেতর� থেকে তা� শারীরি� এব� মনস্তাত্বি� চাহিদা মেটা� চান্� যে প্রায় শূন্�, সেটা জেনেশুনে� তিনি স্বামী সন্তানের প্রত� দায়িত্ব, সর্বোপরি ধর্মের প্রত� তা� আনুগত্� বিসর্জ� দিতে একদম নারাজ। অসম্পূর্�-আংশি� এই জীবন� সৃষ্টিকর্তার সাথে সম্পর্কটিই তা� ভরসা� স্থল, সবচেয়� বড� সহায়। এট� কি স্রে� স্টকহো� সিনড্রোম? নাকি তা� থেকে গভী� কো� আত্মিক যোগাযো�?
তুমু� সে� প্রথ� গল্পের বক্ত� অসফল সঙ্গ� শেষে আসরে� আজান শুনে গোসল করতে চল� যান। নামা� পড়ে ধীরে সুস্থে কফ� বানা�, অনেক নীচে রাস্তা থেকে ভেসে আস� কায়রো শহরে� নিরন্ত� কোলাহল� কফ� বানিয়� শোবা� ঘর� ঢুকে দেখে� তা� মাঝবয়েসী স্বামী বিছানায় বাঁক� হয়ে স্থি� শুয়� আছে। বুঝত� পারে� হয়ত� হার্� এটাক হয়েছে, হয়ত� আর বেঁচ� নেই। ডাক্তা� ডাকা� ব্যবস্থা করতে ফে� বসার ঘর� চল� যা�, নির্লিপ্� কফির কাপে চুমু� দেবা� নিমিত্তে� মাত্� চা� পৃষ্ঠা� গল্প কিন্তু তা� ভেতর আছ� সেক্�, আছ� ধর্ম আর মৃত্যু - হ্যাঁচকা টানে তা� মান্ধাতা সমাজের মুখাবর� খুলে ফেলেছে� লেখিকা�
একটি� পর একটি গল্প� তিনি এই মিরাকে� ঘটিয়েছেন। হাতেগোণা দু� একটি বা� দিলে আর সবগুলো গল্পের বক্তাই নারী চরিত্র� এব� পনেরোট� গল্পের মধ্য� অর্ধেক� শুরু হয� বিছানায় হঠাৎ চো� খুলে, সকাল বা বিকালে� ঘু� ভেঙে, প্রধান চরিত্রের ইন্টেরিও� মনোলোগের মাধ্যম� - "Zeinat woke to the strident call of the red cockerel from the rooftop" অথবা "Aziza woke from the nap she usually took in the heat of the afternoon" অথবা "Rubbing the sleep from her eyes Widad got up from the mattress in the corner.."
পছন্দে� কিছু গল্প নিয়� বল� যা� --
* Bahiyya's Eyes - অন্ধত্বে� দোরগোড়ায় দাঁড়িয়� নিজে� জীবনের অং� কষছে গ্রামে� দরিদ্র বুড়� বাহিয়� - কিন্তু কিছুতে� কো� হিসে� মেলাতে পারছ� না.. এই কি ছি� তা� জীবন? ছোটবেলায� যেদি� � মহিলাগুল� এসেছিল তা� কাছে, সেদিনই কি সব শে� হয়ে গেছি� চিরতরে - "They left me with a wound in my body and another wound deep inside me, a feeling that a wrong had been done to me, a wrong that could never be undone." Female genital mutilation নিয়� অনেক শুনেছি, আর� দে� থেকে অভিবাসনে� ফল� এট� এখ� পশ্চিম� দেশে� বিরা� সমস্যা হয়ে দেখা দিয়েছ�, কিন্তু বাস্তব� সে� অভিজ্ঞতা কেমন, তা� গা-শিউরান� বিবর� এই প্রথ� পড়লাম�
* Thursday Lunch - কয়েকট� গল্পের মূ� প্রসঙ্� হিসেবে এসেছ� মা-মেয়ের সম্পর্�, তেমন� একটি গল্প� স্থা� কায়রো� সম্ভ্রান্ত এলাক� জামালে�, অনেকটা ঢাকা� গুলশানের মত�, সুমসাম, গা�-গাছালিতে ভরা। তা� এক মাথায় থাকে বুড়� বিধব� মা, অপ� মাথায় বয়স্ক বিবাহি� মেয়ে। প্রত� বৃহস্পতিবারে অনুষ্ঠিত হয� তাদে� নিরন্ত� শীতল যুদ্ধে� আর� এক রাউন্ড�
(জামালে�-কে ঘিরে আমার কিছু সুখস্মৃত� আছ�... জীবন� একবারই গিয়েছিলাম মিশর� - আট সালে� রোজা� মাসে, ঈদের ঠি� আগ� দিয়� অল্প কয়ে� দিনে� জন্যে। ইফতা� শেষে একদি� নতুন-পুরাতন মিশরীয়/ভারতীয় বন্ধুদের সাথে বস� দেখেছিলা� অমিতাভের "শোলে" সিনেমাটি - জামালেকে� এক বিলাসবহু� ফ্ল্যাটে� গল্পটি পড়ে আবার ফিরে গেলা� সেদিনে...)
* An Incident in the Ghobashi Household - আরেকটি মা-মেয়ের গল্প� বাড়ির কর্ত� ঘোবাশি গেছে লিবিয়ায� কামল� খাটতে। গ্রামে� বাড়িত� রেখে গেছে বৌ-বাচ্চা� কিন্তু এদিক� অঘটন ঘট� গেছে - কিশোরী অবিবাহিত� মেয়েট� পোয়াত� হয়েছে� বা� যদ� ফিরে এস� জানত� পারে, তাহল� মেয়েটির মৃত্যু অবধারিত। এই দুরূ� সমস্যা কিভাবে সামা� দেবে ঘোবাশি� বৌ জাইনাত? গল্পের শে� বাক্যে লুকিয়� আছ� দুরন্ত টুইস্ট�
* Badriyya and Her Husband - টুইস্টময� আরেকটি গল্প, শহুর� নিম্নবিত্ত জীবনের পটভূমিতে সাজানো� বাদ্রিয়ার স্বামী ওম� জে� থেকে ফিরে এসেছে। অনেক আশ� বাদ্রিয়ার - সংসারট� বো� হয� জোড়� লাগল� অবশেষে, আরেকটু স্বচ্ছলতার মু� দেখা যাবে, হয়ত� ফুটফুট� একটি সন্তান� হব� অদূর ভবিষ্যতে� কিন্তু কিসে� কি? স্বামী যে� কেমন হয়ে গেছে, জে� থেকে ফিরে আর� দূরে সর� গেছে� বল� বাহুল্�, শেষে আকাশ ভেঙে পড়ব� - কিন্তু কোনদিক থেকে কিভাবে তা পাঠকের ধারণাতীত।
* Me and My Sister - এই গল্পটা পড়ত� পড়ত� মন� হচ্ছিল যে� আশির দশকে� বিটিভি� কো� নাটক দেখছ� - মধ্যবিত্� জীবনের ক্লাসি� সু�-দু:খে� গল্প� পরনারী� সাথে ভেগেছে বা�, পেছন� রেখে গেছে পরিত্যক্তা মা আর চা�-চারট� কন্যা। মেয়েগুল� সোমত্ত হচ্ছে। বড� মেয়ের না� দালা�, না বল�-কয়ে গাড়িওয়াল� পোলা মাহমুদের সাথে নিয়মি� ডেটি�-� যায়� কারো যে� সন্দেহ না জাগে, তা� সাথে নিয়� যায় ছো� বোনটিকে। পেছনের সী� থেকে কি সব আওয়াজ কর� ওর�, পিচ্চি বুঝে পায় না� এম� সম্পর্� থেকে আদ� কি কিছু পাবে দালা�? যুগে যুগে কিছু কি পেয়েছ� দালালেরা?
* The Long Night of Winter - দুর্ধর্ষ ওপেনিং, ততোধিক দুর্ধর্ষ গল্প�
"In an instant between sleep and wakefulness, an instant outside the bounds of time, that gave the sensation of being eternal, the sounds of night, like slippery fishes passing through the mesh of a net, registered themselves on Zennouba's hearing, filtering gradually into her awakening consciousness: the machine-like croaking of frogs, and the barking of dogs in the fields answered by the dogs of the village on the other bank in a never-ending exchange of information in some code language."
ঘু� থেকে উঠছে জেনুবা কিন্তু পাশে তা� স্বামী নেই। প্রায় রাতে� হাওয়া হয়ে যায়, ফিরে অনেক ভোরে, সন্তর্পণে। জেনুবা জানে কোথায় যায়, কে� কিছুদি� পরপর বাড়ির কাজে� মেয়� বদলায়� সহ্য হয়ে গেছে� কিন্তু আজ ভোরে আর পারব� না জেনুবা - আজ সে জানত� চাইব�, সরেজমিনে, কি আছ� এই ঝিয়ের শরীরে...
* My World of the Unknown - আমার সবচেয়� ফেভারি� না হলেও নারী� স্বকামের এই গল্পটি সম্ভবত রিফাতে� সবচেয়� বিখ্যা� এব� বিতর্কিত গল্প�
* শে� দিকে� দুটি গল্প At the Time of the Jasmine এব� The Kite গ্রামে� জীবনের অত্যন্� বিশ্বস্ত রূপায়ণ। মানে কায়রো থেকে হাজা� মাইল দক্ষিণ�, নীলনদে� উৎসে� কাছে, যে� অঞ্চলট� Upper Egypt নামে পরিচিত, সে� শাশ্বত মিশর� Jasmine গল্পের নায়� হাসা�, বাপে� মৃত্যু� খব� পেয়� বহ� বছ� পর বাড়� ফিরছ�, ট্রেনে চেপে� বা� ছিলে� হাজী মানু�, গ্রামে� সবচেয়� মান্যগণ্� লোক। তা� দাফন যথায� মর্যাদায� দিতে হব�, বলার অপেক্ষ� রাখে না - কিন্তু এককালে এই বাপে� সাথে যে অনতিক্রম্য দূরত্ব সৃষ্টি হয়েছি�, তা কি কর� ঘোঁচাব� হাসা�?
আর The Kite গল্পের প্রথ� চা� পৃষ্ঠায় গ্রামে� বৃদ্ধা উইদা�-এর জীবন থেকে একটি দিনে� যে অনুপুঙ্খ বিবর� রেখে গেছে� রিফা�, তা এক কথায� অপূর্ব, তুলনাহীন। বিক্রমপুরে� গ্রামে আমার সেজো ফুপু� কথ� মন� পড়ে যাচ্ছি� - একাত্তরে স্বামীহারা হয়েছিলে�, সাতট� এতিম সন্তানকে মানু� করার চাপে নিজে� দিকে তাকানো� ফুরস� হয়ন� কোনদিন� উইদা�-এর মত� সযত্নে উঠোন ঝাড়� দিতে�, কু-কু-কু ডা� দিয়� মুরগিগুলোর খাবা� দিতেন। কিন্তু উইদা� যে একটি সেকেন্� চান্� পাবে, তা ফুপু� কপাল� আর আসেনি।
"There, on the raised stone bench beside her house, she sat down to watch the village life pass by. It was the only time of the day when she was in touch with the outside world: men passing, their hoes resting on their shoulders; women in groups, interrupting their chatter to say a word of greeting to her; some children, playing and chasing after each other, the ends of their galabias held between their teeth; and animals being led to the canal to be immersed in its cool waters after the heat of the day."
ফেরাউনের সময় থেকে আর কত� বা বদলেছে? এই আপার ঈজিপ্ট নিয়� কত জায়গায় পড়েছি - পেনেলোপি লাইভলি'� স্মৃতিকথায�, জ্যানি� এলিয়টের উপন্যাসে, শোঁপোলিও'� রোসেটা রহস্যে� সমাধানে। আফসো� যে আট সালে সময়ের অভাব� কায়রো আর আলেক্সান্দ্রিয়া� চক্ক� থেকে বেরুতে পারিনি, দক্ষিণের এই অবিনশ্বর মিশর অচেনাই থেকে গেছে�
(হৃদয়ে� পর্দায� আইকনিক গ্রামাঞ্চল বলতে হাতেগোণা কয়েকটাই বুঝি - জীবনানন্দে� বরিশাল, পেদ্রো পারামো'� মেক্সিকা� মৃত্যুউপত্যক�, প্রোভোন্সে� প্রখ� সূর্যে� নীচে ভ্যা� গখের হলদে গমক্ষে� পাহারায় ঋজ� সাইপ্রেস গা�, তুর্গেনেভে� আদিগন্� খামারবাড়ি আর রাশিয়ার অথ� অসীমে হারিয়� যাওয়া চেখভের চিড়বিড়� চরিত্রগুলো� কল্পনা� আপার ঈজিপ্ট তেমন� এক স্থা� - টাইমলে�, ৫০০০ বছরে� প্রায়-অপরিবর্তিত� ইচ্ছ� কর� আমিও একদি� নীলনদে� বুকে ফেলুকা নৌকা� শ্বে�-শুভ্� পা� তুলে দিবো..কো� একদি�..)
শে� দুটো গল্প ছেয়� আছ� লেখিকা� মৃত্যুচিন্তা� The Flat in Nakshbandi Street চমৎকার সাজানো কিন্তু তা� থেকে� স্বার্থক Just Another Day� এই গল্পটি পড়ত� গিয়� মন� হচ্ছিল এহেন দৃশ্� এর আগ� কোথায় পড়েছি� স্মৃতি হাতড়ে মন� পড়ল� সে� ভার্সিটি জীবন� - পেনেলোপি লাইভলি'� বুকা�-জয়ী উপন্যা� মু� টাইগার� সে� বইয়ের শে� অংকে প্রধান চরিত্র ক্লডিয়া হ্যাম্পটনে� মৃত্যু আমাক� আচ্ছন্� কর� রেখেছি� বহুদিন� তারই প্রতিধ্বনি পেলা� এতকা� পর আলিফ� রিফাতে� এই গল্পে।
*
"ওরিয়েন্টালিজম" বিবর্জিত স্বার্থক এক সাহিত্� সৃষ্টি করেছেন রিফাত। আজকে� দিনে "নেটি� ইনফরম্যান্�" বা খোচর� ভর� গেছে বিশ্বসাহিত্য� না মানে, সাদা চামড়া� কাছে চেনাতে হব� তো� আলিফ� রিফা� যে� সময়� যে� সমাজ� লেখালেখি করেছিলেন, এইসব খোচরবৃত্তি� কো� অবকা� ছি� না� নিজে� জন্য�, নিজস্ব পাঠকের জন্যেই লেখা� এব� হয়ত� একারণে� এই গল্পগুলো অমরত্ব পেয়� গেছে� দুর্দান্� মর্মস্পর্শী অনুবাদের জন্য� ডেনি� জনসন-ডেভিসক� যথারীতি সাধুবাদ।
January 17, 2018
Alifa Rifaat’s collection of 15 short stories in is a quiet, subtle, and delicately nuanced collection of mostly first-person narratives that take place in Egypt. The stories are short, but what they lose in length they more than make up for in depth and penetrating insight. Rifaat has an uncanny ability to elevate ordinary acts of daily life into the level of ritual.
With few exceptions, the first-person narratives are in the voices of women at different stages in life. For example, in “Distant View of a Minaret� we meet a married woman whose husband makes her feel ashamed for seeking sexual fulfillment. “Bahiyaa’s Eyes� is in the voice of an aging woman with failing eyesight who wants to feast her eyes on her daughter one last time before completely losing her vision. In “An Incident at the Ghobashi Household,� a mother protects her daughter by pretending her daughter’s illegitimate child is her own. In “Just Another Day,� peace descends upon a woman as she is invited to enter the Gardens of Paradise while her body is being prepared for burial.
The strength of these stories lies in the poignant and perceptive manner in which Rifaat handles life’s disappointments, situations, oppressions, and challenges. Several of the stories depict wives struggling to come to terms with their husbands� prolific infidelities. Although many of the women recognize the injustice perpetrated against them, they do not rage against a patriarchal system that oppresses, discriminates, and marginalizes them. They do not seek divorce or retaliate against their husbands� infidelities by committing adultery. Instead, they exercise an agency that manifests itself in a different form. They are practicing Muslims who derive sustenance from their Islamic faith.
What is impressive about these stories is the feminist consciousness that emerges. It is not a Western style feminism. Instead, the women operate within the precepts of their Islamic faith. Their stories are punctuated by the muezzin’s call to prayer. As each woman makes her prostrations in prayer, a peace and calmness descends upon her, enabling her to better handle life’s challenges and accept her fate with poise and equanimity. Her thoughts are peppered with references to God and His mercy. In “The Kite�, for example, a poor, uneducated widow who followed her husband’s lead in prayer because she never learned to memorize verses from the Qur’an finds herself unable to perform prayers after his death. But she does what she can. She remembers to thank God for His generosity by performing a simple and tender gesture of raising her hand to her lips repeatedly to give thanks.
Through her depiction of women as conscious agents who find refuge in their faith, Rifaat quietly exposes the double standard and systemic injustices characteristic of a patriarchal society. Eastern and/or Islamic feminists demand justice but seek it on their own terms. Their methods may be more effective than strident rebellion, which can be alienating. Many non-Western women resent the paternalistic attitude of some Western feminists who seek to impose their world-view and methodology for addressing injustice while simultaneously discrediting the world view of feminists from Eastern and/or Islamic countries.
Alifa Rifaat exposes injustice with subtlety, sensitivity, and poignancy. She shows us how some women of the Islamic faith confront injustice. We don’t have to agree with their methods of coping with challenges, but we should at a minimum respect the right of all women to exercise agency by choosing their own paths for dealing with oppression.
Highly recommended.
With few exceptions, the first-person narratives are in the voices of women at different stages in life. For example, in “Distant View of a Minaret� we meet a married woman whose husband makes her feel ashamed for seeking sexual fulfillment. “Bahiyaa’s Eyes� is in the voice of an aging woman with failing eyesight who wants to feast her eyes on her daughter one last time before completely losing her vision. In “An Incident at the Ghobashi Household,� a mother protects her daughter by pretending her daughter’s illegitimate child is her own. In “Just Another Day,� peace descends upon a woman as she is invited to enter the Gardens of Paradise while her body is being prepared for burial.
The strength of these stories lies in the poignant and perceptive manner in which Rifaat handles life’s disappointments, situations, oppressions, and challenges. Several of the stories depict wives struggling to come to terms with their husbands� prolific infidelities. Although many of the women recognize the injustice perpetrated against them, they do not rage against a patriarchal system that oppresses, discriminates, and marginalizes them. They do not seek divorce or retaliate against their husbands� infidelities by committing adultery. Instead, they exercise an agency that manifests itself in a different form. They are practicing Muslims who derive sustenance from their Islamic faith.
What is impressive about these stories is the feminist consciousness that emerges. It is not a Western style feminism. Instead, the women operate within the precepts of their Islamic faith. Their stories are punctuated by the muezzin’s call to prayer. As each woman makes her prostrations in prayer, a peace and calmness descends upon her, enabling her to better handle life’s challenges and accept her fate with poise and equanimity. Her thoughts are peppered with references to God and His mercy. In “The Kite�, for example, a poor, uneducated widow who followed her husband’s lead in prayer because she never learned to memorize verses from the Qur’an finds herself unable to perform prayers after his death. But she does what she can. She remembers to thank God for His generosity by performing a simple and tender gesture of raising her hand to her lips repeatedly to give thanks.
Through her depiction of women as conscious agents who find refuge in their faith, Rifaat quietly exposes the double standard and systemic injustices characteristic of a patriarchal society. Eastern and/or Islamic feminists demand justice but seek it on their own terms. Their methods may be more effective than strident rebellion, which can be alienating. Many non-Western women resent the paternalistic attitude of some Western feminists who seek to impose their world-view and methodology for addressing injustice while simultaneously discrediting the world view of feminists from Eastern and/or Islamic countries.
Alifa Rifaat exposes injustice with subtlety, sensitivity, and poignancy. She shows us how some women of the Islamic faith confront injustice. We don’t have to agree with their methods of coping with challenges, but we should at a minimum respect the right of all women to exercise agency by choosing their own paths for dealing with oppression.
Highly recommended.
August 13, 2023
3.5 stars
This is the first read of the women in translation challenge (that I just learned not so long ago happens every August, or at least has been happening for the past few years) I joined as a way to challenge myself to read more widely. It is a collection of short stories by Alifa Rifaat, an Egyptian writer, and was translated from Arabic by Denys Johnson-Davies.
The protagonists of these stories are isolated women, some of them widowed, and young girls. The impositions and limitations from their expected roles and positions in their society looms throughout the book, and their acceptance of the fate that’s handed to them is rendered beautifully by Rifaat more as a form of grace than resignation and simple acceptance. Rifaat writes of these ordinary lives with compassion and with clarity and simplicity.
This is the first read of the women in translation challenge (that I just learned not so long ago happens every August, or at least has been happening for the past few years) I joined as a way to challenge myself to read more widely. It is a collection of short stories by Alifa Rifaat, an Egyptian writer, and was translated from Arabic by Denys Johnson-Davies.
The protagonists of these stories are isolated women, some of them widowed, and young girls. The impositions and limitations from their expected roles and positions in their society looms throughout the book, and their acceptance of the fate that’s handed to them is rendered beautifully by Rifaat more as a form of grace than resignation and simple acceptance. Rifaat writes of these ordinary lives with compassion and with clarity and simplicity.
June 4, 2015
This work is especially relevant when applied to feminism in Arab countries,
and particularly when it comes to feminist writers in Egypt, an Arab country
which had seen a major feminist movement emerge in the latter part of the
nineteenth century and acquire true recognition in the past fifty years or so.
i read Another evening at the club and two other stories. the author tries to illustrate the world of feminism
in Arab world.
and particularly when it comes to feminist writers in Egypt, an Arab country
which had seen a major feminist movement emerge in the latter part of the
nineteenth century and acquire true recognition in the past fifty years or so.
i read Another evening at the club and two other stories. the author tries to illustrate the world of feminism
in Arab world.
January 5, 2025
It's a slice of life approached filled with so much nuance and a rich insight into the different experiences of women (and men) in Egypt. It's so well written and fascinating to read.
December 12, 2015
This is a collection of short stories, that are by and large short, set in Egypt (mostly Cairo), and told from the viewpoint of women. To say that Rifaat is a feminist, at least in the board Western use of the term wouldn’t quite be right. The stories are not advocating women moving out of the household, but more
Quite frankly Rifaat reminds me of Jane Austen. Not in the sense of writing manners and marriage, but in the sense of writing about the quiet things, in the sense of being able to do so much with a simple turn or phrase of a sentence.
A large portion of the stories focus on marriage or coming to terms with what a marriage is, in particular, how a woman is forced to adapt to a marriage where her wants (sexual and emotional) are not the primary focus. There are also a few stories about how society forces women to act a certain way.
Still, Egyptian Austen, at least in terms of the wonderful writing.
August 14, 2015
Alifa Rifaat takes you into the world of the 1980's Egyptian woman with excellence. This collection of short stories, told mostly through the point of view of old (and sometimes lonely)Egyptian women is a timeless example of the similarity in the experience of women across cultures.
For a society such as hers, it is surprising how Alifa describes acts such as lesbianism and zoophilia in positive (at least, non-condemning) tones.
This is my first experience with North African writing, and it has whetted my appetite for more.
Full review
For a society such as hers, it is surprising how Alifa describes acts such as lesbianism and zoophilia in positive (at least, non-condemning) tones.
This is my first experience with North African writing, and it has whetted my appetite for more.
Full review
February 5, 2013
A peek in the window of womens' lives from a culture I must admit not understanding. Still their stories, are many womens'...
This is a thin book of clear, honest(the book begins with a woman bored and embittered by her husband...in the middle of intercourse), concise, relateable- but mostly sad- short short stories written by an arab woman untainted by western influence, (according to the back cover). Important book imo.
This is a thin book of clear, honest(the book begins with a woman bored and embittered by her husband...in the middle of intercourse), concise, relateable- but mostly sad- short short stories written by an arab woman untainted by western influence, (according to the back cover). Important book imo.
October 26, 2011
Aching. Egyptian women, whole lives or just moments, in two, five pages.
February 20, 2017
A number of reviews take care to point out that these short stories are not feminist, which is true enough; they are closely-observed pictures of (mostly) women's lives in Egypt. Some of the settings are urban, some rural; all the main characters are subject to the constraints placed on women in this society. The women are oppressed, but the focus is on how they come to terms with and find meaning in their lives, not on whether the structure of society is right or wrong. If you come to these stories as a feminist (as I am), you'll leave with those values reinforced, because Rifaat does such a wonderful job conveying the realities of her characters' lives.
February 20, 2022
Another hidden treasure from @forkedroadpress from Egyptian writer (more artist, actually) #alifarifaat in this stunningly beautifully written series of #shortstories that for me, deeply disturbed for its realism. Islamic society through the lens of these tales was (is?) unforgiving and harsh towards women in its communities, revealed in happenstance rhetoric as not only chattel for their men but as desperately lonely souls, silo’ed even in the company of other women. Very hard for me to read throught to the end, given how foreign its lifeconcepts were to MY schema.
June 12, 2012
This reminded me more of Chekhov than anything else - a female, Egyptian, devoutly Muslim Chekhov. Really, truly excellent.
November 4, 2017
The collection of stories in this book is amazing. Found some gems I remember from a high school set book (Half a Day and Other Stories) and somewhere else.
Highly recommended!
Highly recommended!
February 13, 2020
Stories of women, their lives and deaths - punctuated by the calls to prayer by the muezzin. Sharing the lives of a variety of muslim women, with a traditional mindset. Many of these the stories of older to elderly women - so not much of the (un)happy ever after that follows weddings, more of the "life after the children have grown up, and perhaps without a husband. Taking stock or just feeding chickens.
July 3, 2019
Lyhyitä novelleja musliminaisen näkökulmasta Egyptissä. Naisten elämä on sangen rajoittunutta ja miesten täydellisessä ohjauksessa. Kirjailija kuvaa elinympäristöä hyvin elävästi. Rakkautta, kuolemaa, rukoushetkiä.
June 12, 2017
Reviewing short story collections is always difficult, even when it's a collection by a single author, because content and quality can vary so much between stories. Reviewing this particular collection was even more...not difficult, exactly, but perhaps unusual, because this is a work in translation. As a reader I tend to shy away from translated works because they almost always don't cross over naturally; the words seem stiff and distant and I have no way of knowing whether this is the fault of the translator or a different style of writing.
The case of this book was a little different, since it has been translated from its original Arabic, a language I am fluent in. The stories are all about Egyptians, and so I came into this book with familiarity and understanding. I wonder, though, if I may have enjoyed this more had I read it in the original Arabic.
Anyway, the stories in this collection are less stories than vignettes, most of them depressing and hopeless. Rifaat writes about miserable women and awful men. While her stories ring true, it became wearying to read one vignette after another about a woman who hates her life. Since these vignettes were so short, it was also difficult to really identify with any of the characters, since there was so little time to get to know them.
My favorite story in the collection was - surprise, surprise - the only story with a speculative element. In "My World of the Unknown" a woman seemingly begins a love affair with a female djinn who is in the guise of a snake. It's a very strange story without a conclusive ending, but I liked its plot and its potential.
All the other stories were very realistic and down-to-earth. It seems like a book that was written by an Egyptian for other Egyptians, though, as I'm not really sure how accessible these stories are to non-Egyptians (or non-Arabs in general). They are raw and gritty and personal in a very culturally specific way, and I can see the casual Western reader feeling off-put and alienated by their content.
I wouldn't say I enjoyed the stories in this book, but I did enjoy reading it, if only for the familiarity. I always enjoy reading books set in Egypt or about Egypt, but I probably wouldn't have finished a book like this otherwise.
The case of this book was a little different, since it has been translated from its original Arabic, a language I am fluent in. The stories are all about Egyptians, and so I came into this book with familiarity and understanding. I wonder, though, if I may have enjoyed this more had I read it in the original Arabic.
Anyway, the stories in this collection are less stories than vignettes, most of them depressing and hopeless. Rifaat writes about miserable women and awful men. While her stories ring true, it became wearying to read one vignette after another about a woman who hates her life. Since these vignettes were so short, it was also difficult to really identify with any of the characters, since there was so little time to get to know them.
My favorite story in the collection was - surprise, surprise - the only story with a speculative element. In "My World of the Unknown" a woman seemingly begins a love affair with a female djinn who is in the guise of a snake. It's a very strange story without a conclusive ending, but I liked its plot and its potential.
All the other stories were very realistic and down-to-earth. It seems like a book that was written by an Egyptian for other Egyptians, though, as I'm not really sure how accessible these stories are to non-Egyptians (or non-Arabs in general). They are raw and gritty and personal in a very culturally specific way, and I can see the casual Western reader feeling off-put and alienated by their content.
I wouldn't say I enjoyed the stories in this book, but I did enjoy reading it, if only for the familiarity. I always enjoy reading books set in Egypt or about Egypt, but I probably wouldn't have finished a book like this otherwise.
January 21, 2016
I would never refuse to pick up any book in the African Writers Series from a secondhand bookshop. It is just a non-negotiable. Unless I've already read it, I would just clean it up. But I did not expect to pick up a book written by an Egyptian woman who talks explicitly talks about societal taboos considering her background as a Muslim. It is absolutely courageous writing. It is a sort of writing that would enforce and gain the respect of other women, but arguably it is more of value to be read by men, like me, who are obliviously to all these things.
It reveals plenty about women's place in Muslim society, which is similar to other Asian societies, such as Cambodia. There is a clear imbalance of rights between men and women, especially in regards to societal expectations. Most of the stories are really unremarkable, as they describe the daily lives of its characters, but they betray this banality from a shock event, such as literally, a shock. Sometimes there is something trivial in death which seems unimportant and commonplace. It is like Rifaat described in view of a little girl witnessing her baby rabbits killed, that there are different degrees of death between humans and animals, but as one grew older, such things are also true between humans. It is the kicker which got me: "...that only a very few of us become capable of viewing our own death with equanimity". It is a cold and charged sentence, true to the bone, that most of us would not be able to accept our own deaths as a commonplace occurrence.
It reveals plenty about women's place in Muslim society, which is similar to other Asian societies, such as Cambodia. There is a clear imbalance of rights between men and women, especially in regards to societal expectations. Most of the stories are really unremarkable, as they describe the daily lives of its characters, but they betray this banality from a shock event, such as literally, a shock. Sometimes there is something trivial in death which seems unimportant and commonplace. It is like Rifaat described in view of a little girl witnessing her baby rabbits killed, that there are different degrees of death between humans and animals, but as one grew older, such things are also true between humans. It is the kicker which got me: "...that only a very few of us become capable of viewing our own death with equanimity". It is a cold and charged sentence, true to the bone, that most of us would not be able to accept our own deaths as a commonplace occurrence.
October 30, 2015
Distant View of a Minaret presents short stories from a point of view you rarely get in fiction (or anywhere else for that matter) that of Egyptian women. Much is said rather patronizingly in the West of the way women are treated in the Arab world, but rarely do we listen to what they have to say about it themselves. Though this is a lot of pressure to put on an unassuming collection of stories, Rifaat's stories feature women who are impressive in their humanity, power, and sexuality. It approaches issues like genital mutilation, sexual dissatisfaction, lesbian eroticism, etc. with candor and without fear.
Even without the weight of social issues upon its shoulders, Rifaat's stories are surprising, endearing, and stick with you after you have finished them. I'd compare her to Alice Munro, but this is probably only because they both write short stories featuring women going about their lives as people. It's a short read and much more than a cultural curiosity.
Even without the weight of social issues upon its shoulders, Rifaat's stories are surprising, endearing, and stick with you after you have finished them. I'd compare her to Alice Munro, but this is probably only because they both write short stories featuring women going about their lives as people. It's a short read and much more than a cultural curiosity.
May 22, 2018
A truly excellent collection of short stories. Skip the translators introduction: apparently brown women still need white men to introduce them and attest to their authenticity for the Western gaze, an Orientalist intermediary if there ever was one. The readings of these texts that juxtapose them with more Western feminist perspectives also miss the point. Rifaat is deeply concerned with women’s circumscribed roles in her society. She simply does not believe that working for wages, embracing the secular individual over a religious community, and sex with many partners will be particularly liberating. These are actually common themes among many different strains of women’s feminisms even in the West; they just do not line up with the white Second Wave Feminism that has somehow become a metonym for the movement.
April 18, 2012
Heartbreakingly honest about the inner person, sexuality, death, family dynamics and daily living of traditional Muslim women. It's hard to comprehend that the author does not have any formal literary training and in fact lived a very cloistered life.
Some might find her boundaries of sex and sexuality off-putting because of her obviously religious background but in my opinion, I find her discussion of these subjects very refreshing and still relatable to all women whether they're religious or not.
Some might find her boundaries of sex and sexuality off-putting because of her obviously religious background but in my opinion, I find her discussion of these subjects very refreshing and still relatable to all women whether they're religious or not.
March 6, 2013
I absolutely loved this collection of short stories. It was feminist in a geomodernist sense; the Egyptian women within the stories believe in feminism of their own sort, not Western modernism. The mix of stories show the diversity among the women and their beliefs. It's fantastic and definitely made me second guess my judgments of women in other cultures.
September 17, 2015
I'm really glad I didn't let the ridiculously orientalist tone of the blurb and translator's foreword dissuade me from reading this very interesting collection of short stories. Now I really want to read the stories in the original Arabic.
November 21, 2018
Like Diane, I'm also rating five stars. What a terrific little book of short stories. A wonderful writer writing about what she knows, focusing mainly on Egyptian women and their lives.
August 6, 2019
Short, succinct stories that are entirely heartbreaking on their own and inspiring in the collective.
One of the finest short story collection I've read in recent times.
One of the finest short story collection I've read in recent times.
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January 17, 2021This is a collection of very short stories (most lasting only a few pages) centering mainly on the lives of middle aged Egyptian women. The effect of the rapid pace is that a pastiche (auto)biography emerges of the woman trapped in her fate, often in her house, regardless of class. The prose is stark in a way that reflects the everyday pains of life and our reactions to them. First, there is the primacy of our own pain, and the mismatched lack of care that the world shows. Realizing there are more pains than there are listening ears, we learn to silently withstand. These simple and painful stories captured this aspect of life; the problems presented are intractable, and the resolution is often simply to defer hope to the afterlife, or find solace in the daily prayers. I was surprised at the boldness with which Rifaat discusses certain sexual matters. She may write about the action of sex euphemistically, but the related emotional and spiritual struggles are tackled head on. Again, nothing is overstated; it is simply seen clearly. I found this to be a very honest and impressive collection. The cumulative effect of reading about these characters was such that the ordinary passage below suddenly brought it all down on my head in the final story:
When I was young I'd take my children to play in the park, where I'd see groups of old women sitting on the wooden benches under the trees. They would chatter away amongst themselves, sometimes all of them talking at once. Some of them knitted as they talked or watched the children playing. I used to tell myself that one day I would spend my time like them. But it seems there aren't any more parks in Cairo. The children and the elderly are not catered for in a city that is unable even to provide its citizens with homes because of the way they are increasing so rapidly.
During the last few years, as I get older, I notice myself spending more time in bringing to mind past memories, especially during the short period between waking up and getting out of bed. Sometimes I remember incidents from way back that I'd completely forgotten. It seems that, although every single moment of one's life is stored away in the depths of one's mind, it is the happy moments that lie nearest the surface and are most easily recalled. No wonder old people like to live in the past.
Today, I told myself, I'd stay on in bed. What was the point of getting up? (114-115)
December 6, 2021
This interesting collection of stories by Alifa Rifaat opened my eyes to the everyday lives of women in Egypt in ordinary yet dramatic ways. The writing was slim but deep, providing fully fleshed women living their lives in domestic Egyptian life. It was touching and personal.
February 9, 2022
Amazing. I found one or two stories a bit obvious, but besides that this collection really moved me. I had to stop reading a few times to catch my breath. I don't usually read short stories, but these were wonderful and I'm glad to have experienced them.
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