ABSTRACT

This paper examines the postcolonial concept of “writing back to the self” in relation to two novels authored by two female Arab novelists, namely Leila Aboulela’s Minaret (2005) and Fadia Faqir’s My Name is Salma(2008). After defining the concept of “writing back to the self” and drawing from the works of postcolonial writers such as Fanon, Said, Ashcroft, Hassan and Ghazoul, the paper argues that both authors emphasize “writing back to the self” in the sense of criticizing their communities, social system, and patriarchal traditions alike without ignoring to criticize the colonizer. Their works resist patriarchal system and male dominance. Faqir uses the following strategies of writing back to the self: (1) the use of the single female narrator; (3) the non-linear narration; (4) pregnancy; (5) women transforming into strong characters, enriching themselves, and relating to each other as source of solace and strength to each other. Yet Faqir’s condemnation to Arab patriarchy is harsher. Aboulela is, however, able to find a solution to her own tragedy through a spiritual journey to Islam in which she finds safety and security. Although Faqir does not attack Islam per se as an oppressor, she does not defend it as a solution. The paper is a call for moving away from the endless and futile circle of 'writing' and 'writing back' in order to gaze into our own limitations toward improvement.

摘要

本文考察了“写回自我”的后殖民概念与两位阿拉伯女性小说家所著的两部小说的关系，即莱拉·阿布莱拉 (Leila Aboulela) 的尖塔(2005) 和法迪亚·法奇尔 (Fadia Faqir) 的《我的名字叫萨尔玛》( My Name is Salma )(2008)。在界定“写回自我”的概念后，借鉴法农、赛义德、阿什克罗夫特、哈桑和加祖尔等后殖民作家的作品，本文认为两位作者都强调“写回自我”的意义。批评他们的社区、社会制度和父权制传统，同时也不忽视批评殖民者。他们的作品反抗父权制度和男性统治。Faqir使用以下写回自我的策略：（1）使用单身女性叙述者；(3)非线性叙述；(4) 怀孕；(5) 女性转变为坚强的性格，充实自己，将彼此联系作为彼此安慰和力量的源泉。然而，法基尔对阿拉伯父权制的谴责更为严厉。然而，Aboulela 是 能够通过伊斯兰教的精神之旅找到解决自己悲剧的办法，在伊斯兰教中她找到了安全和保障。尽管 Faqir 并没有将伊斯兰教本身当作压迫者来攻击，但她也没有将其作为一种解决方案来捍卫。这篇论文呼吁摆脱“写作”和“回写”的无休止和徒劳的循环，以凝视我们自身的局限性以进行改进。