@misc{10481/107596,
year = {2025},
url = {https://hdl.handle.net/10481/107596},
abstract = {This dissertation explores the politics of desire, power, and subjectivity in Arab Anglophone women’s
literature, with a focus on how emotions shape agency, resistance, and identity. Through an affective
framework informed by Sara Ahmed’s theory of emotions, alongside feminist conceptualizations of
desire, sexuality, and power, this research examines how contemporary writers Salma El Wardany
and Alya Mooro navigate the intersections of gender, sexuality, cultural identity, and emotional
regulation within Arab and Western socio-cultural contexts. By analyzing their narratives, this study
highlights the ways in which taboo, secrecy, and silence structure experiences of sexuality and
gendered expectations, addressing themes such as virginity, halal sex, premarital relationships,
pleasure activism, family honor, and double standards. The Islamic feminist perspective on sexuality
and power further informs the exploration of how these authors challenge restrictive discourses and
carve out spaces for alternative expressions of desire and agency. Additionally, the research considers
how their works engage with the politics of affect, examining how emotions such as shame, fear,
pleasure, and longing operate within gendered power structures. This dissertation ultimately argues
that Arab Anglophone women’s literature constructs an affirmative politics of desire, in which
emotion and sexuality function as transformative forces that contest normative frameworks of gender
and identity. By foregrounding the affective dimensions of their writing, this study contributes to
feminist discussions on sexual agency, gendered emotions, and the politics of pleasure in
contemporary Arab women’s narratives.},
organization = {Tesis Univ. Granada.},
publisher = {Universidad de Granada},
title = {Loving in Secrets and Whispers: an Affirmative Reading of the Politics of Desire in Contemporary Arab Anglophone Women’s Literature},
author = {El Ghaddar, Kamelia Sofia},
}