Why insanity is not subversive in Hanan Al-Shaykh's short story ‘season of madness’

Dalya Abudi maintains that in many female Arab texts ‘madness serves as a metaphor for female victimisation on the one hand and for female resistance on the other’. This paper contends that the representation of women as insane in Hanan Al-Shaykh's ‘Season of Madness’ is not subversive. I draw...

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Main Author: Balaa, Luma (author)
Format: article
Published: 2015
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10725/7750
https://doi.org/10.1080/08164649.2014.990776
http://libraries.lau.edu.lb/research/laur/terms-of-use/articles.php
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08164649.2014.990776
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author Balaa, Luma
author_facet Balaa, Luma
author_role author
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Balaa, Luma
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2015
2018-05-02T12:41:26Z
2018-05-02T12:41:26Z
2018-05-02
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv 1465-3303
http://hdl.handle.net/10725/7750
https://doi.org/10.1080/08164649.2014.990776
Balaa, L. (2014). Why Insanity Is Not Subversive in Hanan Al-Shaykh's Short Story ‘Season of Madness’. Australian Feminist Studies, 29(82), 480-499.
http://libraries.lau.edu.lb/research/laur/terms-of-use/articles.php
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08164649.2014.990776
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv en
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv Australian Feminist Studies
dc.rights.*.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Why insanity is not subversive in Hanan Al-Shaykh's short story ‘season of madness’
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv Article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
info:eu-repo/semantics/article
description Dalya Abudi maintains that in many female Arab texts ‘madness serves as a metaphor for female victimisation on the one hand and for female resistance on the other’. This paper contends that the representation of women as insane in Hanan Al-Shaykh's ‘Season of Madness’ is not subversive. I draw on Camineor-Santangelo's approach to feminist criticism, which argues that a madwoman cannot speak. Camineor-Santangelo explains that madness is complicit with de Lauretis’ technologies of gender because it gives the illusion of power but at the same time the mad (non)-subject is located outside any ‘sphere where power can be exerted’. I illustrate how in this story female madness is mainly represented as witchcraft and evil, stigma, a female malady, a denied subjectivity, social control, illusional power, self-sabotage and a final surrender.
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
format article
id LAURepo_34bd8010b3c0ae0c9bb1228eddf856b0
identifier_str_mv 1465-3303
Balaa, L. (2014). Why Insanity Is Not Subversive in Hanan Al-Shaykh's Short Story ‘Season of Madness’. Australian Feminist Studies, 29(82), 480-499.
language_invalid_str_mv en
network_acronym_str LAURepo
network_name_str Lebanese American University repository
oai_identifier_str oai:laur.lau.edu.lb:10725/7750
publishDate 2015
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
repository.name.fl_str_mv
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spelling Why insanity is not subversive in Hanan Al-Shaykh's short story ‘season of madness’Balaa, LumaDalya Abudi maintains that in many female Arab texts ‘madness serves as a metaphor for female victimisation on the one hand and for female resistance on the other’. This paper contends that the representation of women as insane in Hanan Al-Shaykh's ‘Season of Madness’ is not subversive. I draw on Camineor-Santangelo's approach to feminist criticism, which argues that a madwoman cannot speak. Camineor-Santangelo explains that madness is complicit with de Lauretis’ technologies of gender because it gives the illusion of power but at the same time the mad (non)-subject is located outside any ‘sphere where power can be exerted’. I illustrate how in this story female madness is mainly represented as witchcraft and evil, stigma, a female malady, a denied subjectivity, social control, illusional power, self-sabotage and a final surrender.PublishedN/A2018-05-02T12:41:26Z2018-05-02T12:41:26Z20152018-05-02Articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/article1465-3303http://hdl.handle.net/10725/7750https://doi.org/10.1080/08164649.2014.990776Balaa, L. (2014). Why Insanity Is Not Subversive in Hanan Al-Shaykh's Short Story ‘Season of Madness’. Australian Feminist Studies, 29(82), 480-499.http://libraries.lau.edu.lb/research/laur/terms-of-use/articles.phphttps://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08164649.2014.990776enAustralian Feminist Studiesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:laur.lau.edu.lb:10725/77502021-03-19T10:43:16Z
spellingShingle Why insanity is not subversive in Hanan Al-Shaykh's short story ‘season of madness’
Balaa, Luma
status_str publishedVersion
title Why insanity is not subversive in Hanan Al-Shaykh's short story ‘season of madness’
title_full Why insanity is not subversive in Hanan Al-Shaykh's short story ‘season of madness’
title_fullStr Why insanity is not subversive in Hanan Al-Shaykh's short story ‘season of madness’
title_full_unstemmed Why insanity is not subversive in Hanan Al-Shaykh's short story ‘season of madness’
title_short Why insanity is not subversive in Hanan Al-Shaykh's short story ‘season of madness’
title_sort Why insanity is not subversive in Hanan Al-Shaykh's short story ‘season of madness’
url http://hdl.handle.net/10725/7750
https://doi.org/10.1080/08164649.2014.990776
http://libraries.lau.edu.lb/research/laur/terms-of-use/articles.php
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08164649.2014.990776