Loving in Secrets and Whispers: an Affirmative Reading of the Politics of Desire in Contemporary Arab Anglophone Women’s Literature

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.