Women, Writing and the Iraqi State

Traces the history of ba'thist discourses on women and state patronage of the novel, and explores secular and religious literary responses

In an effort to expand its readership and increase support for its pan-Arab project, the Iraqi Ba'th almost completely eradicated illiteracy among women. During the country's continuous wars, female writers found the state presenting them with both opportunities and obstacles, as the 'woman question' became a site of contention between those who would advocate the progressiveness of the Ba'th and those who would stress its repressiveness and immorality. By exploring discourses on women in both propaganda and high art fictional writings by Iraqis, this book offers an alternative narrative of the literary and cultural history of Iraq.

Key Features
¿ Includes hitherto marginalised voices in Arabic literary scholarship, such as religious writings by Iraqi Shia women
¿ Challenges canonical views of modern Arabic literature by studying propaganda texts such as the novels of Saddam Hussein and the state-sponsored novels of the Iran-Iraq War
¿ Uses the concept of 'paratexts' in order to better understand how political works circulate and function as either resistance or collaboration
¿ Relates to broader regional issues such as national identity and the status of women in Arabic societies

Hawraa Al-Hassan is Research Associate at the Centre of Islamic Studies, University of Cambridge.