Gendering Civil War - (Edinburgh Studies in Modern Arabic Literature) by Mireille Rebeiz (Hardcover)

About the Book

Provides new and original analysis on how Lebanese francophone women authors wrote about the Lebanese civil war

Book Synopsis

Writers in contemporary Lebanon stand at the crossroads of challenging and often violent dynamics in a multi-ethnic postcolonial society where competing cultural and political forces present specific and pressing problems for women. This book examines French-language narratives published between the 1970s and the present day by Lebanese women writers focusing on the civil war of 1975-1991. Drawing on a corpus of writings by Vénus Khoury-Ghata, Etel Adnan, Evelyne Accad, Andrée Chedid, Hyam Yared, and Georgia Makhlouf, some of which has previously received little or no scholarly attention, the book examines in innovative ways the use of distinctive narrative forms to address inter-linked questions of violence, war trauma, and gender relations.

From the Back Cover

Examines how Lebanese francophone women authors wrote about the Lebanese civil war Writers in contemporary Lebanon stand at the crossroads of challenging and often violent dynamics in a multi-ethnic postcolonial society, where competing cultural and political forces present specific and pressing problems for women. This book analyses French-language narratives published between the 1970s and the present day by Lebanese women writers focusing on the civil war of 1975-91. Drawing on a corpus of writings by Vénus Khoury-Ghata, Etel Adnan, Evelyne Accad, Andrée Chedid, Hyam Yared and Georgia Makhlouf, the book examines the use of distinctive narrative forms to address inter-linked questions of violence, war trauma and gender relations. Key Features - Studies the intersection between narratology, trauma and gender in the context of non-western literature - Examines Lebanese francophone novels by first- and second-generation women writers from the 1970s to today - Advances new theories on the body, narratology and trauma Mireille Rebeiz is Assistant Professor of Francophone Studies and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Dickinson College.

Review Quotes

In this unique book, Dr. Mireille Rebeiz presents an excellent academic analysis of Lebanese women's writing in French. Her research, in which she emphasizes the writers' commitment to Lebanon and to the French language, is a true and clear roadmap of their work.

--Henri Zoghaib "Lebanese Poet and Literary Critic"

This is an unusual approach to the literature; innovative and creatively conducted. The author's reputation is growing and the originality of this book will be sure to surprise and interest scholars and other people in the field.

--Evelyne Accad, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the Lebanese American University in Beirut'

About the Author

Mireille Rebeiz is Assistant Professor of Francophone Studies and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Dickinson College. She is also contributing faculty to the Middle Eastern Studies Program. She earned her Ph.D. in Francophone Studies from Florida State University in the United States and a master's degree in International Law and Human Rights from Université de Rouen in France. Her research focuses on war, trauma, and gender issues in the Levant and North Africa. She published several articles in French and English in peer-reviewed American and international journals.