Opening the Gates

The second edition of this highly successful anthology of feminist writings by Arab women-essays, poems, folktales, short stories, memoirs, and speeches-includes a generous selection of texts produced since publication of the first edition in 1990. These new selections expand upon the themes of awareness, rejection, and activism that marked the multiple forms of Arab women's feminist expression over the course of the late 19th and 20th centuries.

ISBN 0253217032   Pages 514 ISBN13 9780253217035 (What's this?)   Volumes 1 Publisher Indiana University Press   Weight (grammes) 747 Imprint Indiana University Press   Published in Bloomington, IN Format Paperback   Height (mm) 229 Publication date 01 Sep 2004   Width (mm) 152 Library of Congress HQ1784.O64   Spine width (mm) 29 DEWEY 305.4209174927   Academic level Professional / Scholarly DEWEY edition DC22

"In this second edition of their anthology, Badran (Northwestern Univ.) and Cooke (Duke Univ.) make available not only the materials that appeared in the 1990 volume but also material written in the decade since. The first edition included some 60 contributions from women across the Arab world, materials representing a century and a half of engagement with women's issues. At a time when the term feminism was still controversial, both in Euro-America and the Middle East, Badran and Cooke emphasized its relevance to Arab women's stories. The original volume was organized according to stages or levels of feminism--with sections titled Awareness, Rejection, Activism--and included poetry, fiction, pamphlets, and public statements. Each document was prefaced with a bio-bibliographical account of its author/s. The present edition retains these features but adds a fourth section, Transitions, which includes similar documents from the 1990s--documents bearing witness to the changes wrought during the decade, both regionally and globally, and their consequences for Arab women's lives at home and in the public sphere. Libraries that do own the previous volume will certainly want this one. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and graduate students." --B. Harlow, University of Texas at Austin , Choice, April 2005 "As a result, reading this book is a must for anyone interested in feminist studies or gender issues in general, whether a scholar or a member of a broader audience. The book is also very timely as it highlights a new stage in the development of feminisms in Arab societies, and it gets us past divisive or degrading stereotypes that freeze off genuine communication and allow a more positive and accurate image to be built." --Al Ahram Weekly online "Opening the Gates succeeds not because of its methodology, but because of the stories the women tell."--Voice Literary Supplement Praise for the first edition: "Anyone interested in good writing should read [Opening the Gates]. Here are first-class stories with the energy and freshness we expect from a beginning." Doris Lessing, The Independent "An impressive collection of more than 50 pieces--essays, poems, folktales, short stories, memoirs, film scripts, lectures/speeches--by Arab women challenging the widely accepted view of Middle Eastern women as submissive non-thinkers to whom feminism is a foreign concept." Booklist "This collection of stories, speeches, essays, poems and memoirs bears fierce testimony to a tradition of brave Arab feminist writing in the face of subjugation by a Muslim patriarchy."--Publishers Weekly "This impressive collection of writings by Arab women ... Represent[s] a powerful series of vignettes by women who were both insightful and gifted, into the lives of women who have lived 'behind the veil' over the last 100 years."--Arab Book World

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