| ID | 125949 |
| Title Proper | Homosexuality and epistemic closure in modern arabic literature |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Hadeed, Khalid |
| Publication | 2013. |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | In this paper I argue that representations of homosexuality in modern Arabic literature have tended to isolate it and contain its threat through a conceptual strai(gh)tjacket that I term "epistemic closure." I begin by analyzing Sa?d Allah Wannus's play Tuqus al-Isharat wa-l-Tahawwulat as an essentialist paradigm of closure, where a language of interiority and essence identifies male homosexuality with passivity and femininity, subordinated a priori to a sexually and socially dominant masculinity. Then, I examine ?Ala? al-Aswani's novel ?Imarat Ya?qubyan as a constructionist example of the same closure, in which homosexuality is explained through a narrative of abnormal development that circumscribes its diffuse potential. Finally, I read Huda Barakat's Sayyidi wa-Habibi as a "queer" novel that links homosexuality to the continuum of male homosocial desire, thereby disrupting the normative distribution of center and margin and suggesting a way out of the epistemic closure imposed on homosexuality. |
| `In' analytical Note | International Journal of Middle East Studies Vol.45, No.2; 2013: p.271-291 |
| Journal Source | International Journal of Middle East Studies Vol.45, No.2; 2013: p.271-291 |
| Key Words | Homosexuality ; Modern Arabic Literature ; Epistemic Literature |