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394039

“Of loss and of remembrance”: Harem as Home in Leila Ahmed’s A Border Passage

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Last updated: 21 Dec 2024

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Abstract

This paper traces Leila Ahmed's remembrance in A Border Passage; a memoir recollecting her family home as a space haunted by sounds and shadows, and imbued by a lyrical tone. The memoirs explore the motif of loss as experienced by the text's female protagonist; unexpectedly missing the harem lifestyle she grew up to cherish. The recollections celebrate harem as home, bonding women together; a place of respite and sanctuary without which loneliness and insecurity prevail. The memoirs are, thus, written as a form of healing. The protagonist oscillates between the sense of loneliness and molestation in her father's house; a symbol of the absence of human bond, and her mother's family home; a place of female solidarity and a benign rhythmic lifestyle. As such, the memoirs are a counter narrative to harem life as oppressive and reductive, to one that is empowering and sustaining; a means to fend off paternal tyranny and celebrate maternal bondage. Such ideas run counter to Western feminist discourse, opting for Eastern concepts like the harem lifestyle which empowers women and their female bond.    

DOI

10.21608/cpijlt.2024.394039

Keywords

Border Passage, harem, counter narrative, loss, feminist discourse

Volume

1

Article Issue

1

Related Issue

51767

Issue Date

2024-09-01

Receive Date

2024-11-28

Publish Date

2024-09-01

Page Start

8

Page End

28

Print ISSN

3009-7592

Online ISSN

3009-6510

Link

https://cpijlt.journals.ekb.eg/article_394039.html

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https://cpijlt.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=394039

Order

394,039

Type

Original Article

Type Code

3,316

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Crossroads: Pharos International Journal of Languages and Translation

Publication Link

https://cpijlt.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

“Of loss and of remembrance”: Harem as Home in Leila Ahmed’s A Border Passage

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Article

Created At

21 Dec 2024