Papers by Imene C H A A B A N E Bennani
Re-visiting Hybridity in Text and Context, 2022
Hybridity refers to “cultural mixing and the emergence of ‘impure’, ambiguous identities which re... more Hybridity refers to “cultural mixing and the emergence of ‘impure’, ambiguous identities which reject essentialism and rigid boundaries” (Thomas Hyland Eriksen 153). In fact, as Homi Bhabha pinpoints, hybridity becomes the margin where cultural differences enter into conflict and/or interaction; thus, shaking the belief that identities are fixed or stable. The discussion of cultural hybridity and the concomitant notions of in-betweenness, doubleness, and ‘third space’ become all the more interesting in the context of today’s evolving multiculturalism and the varied discourses on migration and the so called ‘minority’ or ‘migrant literatures. Hence, contemporary Arab American literature lends itself to this debate on cultural hybridity.
This paper proposes to look at the inscriptions of Arab-Americanness in the poetry of Khaled Mattawa. It aims at discussing the implications of the encounter between Arabness and Americanness, rendered in the poetry. In fact, based on the experience of the Libyan American Mattawa who straddles two cultures, complicating the movement back and forth between a deeply ingrained Arab consciousness and a curiously dynamic American sensibility, hybridity, as expressed in the poetry, is a situation which continues to grapple with wholeness. In the poetry, however, there prevails a discourse which underscores the need to transcend rigid labels and ambivalent hyphens in the hope of embracing a global identity.
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Interstudia: Review of Interstud Interdisciplinary Centre for Studies of Contemporary Discursive Forms, 2021
Inspired by researches from the fields of psychology and feminist theory, this paper intends to d... more Inspired by researches from the fields of psychology and feminist theory, this paper intends to discuss the theme of hope in Emna Rmili's Sahtt Larwah (The Spirits' Beach) based on a close reading of the novel's chapters and on its open ending. In fact, both characterization and symbolism help unveil signs of hope which counter the theme of despair and the intimations of failure recurrent in some substantial parts of the novel. Our reading refers to the different chapters in the novel with a particular focus on the ending as a fundamental part of the book, replete with symbols and significations. As the novel unfolds, the theme of despair is highlighted through the characters' accounts of their disappointing journey to find a release from misunderstanding and persecution. Yet, notwithstanding the elements of intrigue and elusive meaning in the ending, there are conspicuous elements that can be read as promising signs of hope.
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Al Jadid Vol 24. No. 78, 2020
The Cholera
The night became quiet
Listen to the moans’ echoing sound
In the depth of darkness... more The Cholera
The night became quiet
Listen to the moans’ echoing sound
In the depth of darkness, under silence, over the dead
Interrupted, screams rise
Burning, sadness flows
Over it stumble, groans’ echoes
In every heart, it is seething
In the calm cottage, it is grieving
Everywhere, a soul, in darkness, howls
Everywhere, a voice yowls
This is what death has torn apart
O the Nile’s sorrow screaming at what
Death did!
Dawn broke
Listen to the footsteps
Of those walking
In the silence of dawn
Listen, look at the procession of weepers
Ten dead, twenty
Do not count. Listen to the wailers
Hear the poor child’s voice
Dead, dead, the figure got lost
Dead, dead, no tomorrow is left
Everywhere, bodies wailed by mourners
No moment for peace, no silence
This is what the hand of death did
Death, death, death…
Nazik Al-malaika
Translated from Arabic by Imene Chaabane Bennani
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"Bread" by Fawzia Alwi translated by Imene Bennani, 2015
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"Confusion" by Fawzia Alwi, translated by Imene Bennani, 2015
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TWO POEMS BY AMAL DANQAL: Weeping Before Zarqaa Al-Yamama (Excerpt) and Excerpt from the ‘Exit Journey– The Stone Cake Song’ “First Chapter”, 2016
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That is Love, 2012
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Suheir Hammad, a contemporary Arab American poet and Palestinian political activist, writes and p... more Suheir Hammad, a contemporary Arab American poet and Palestinian political activist, writes and performs her poetry in order to answer back marginalization. Her struggle against domineering patriarchal regimes and oppressive colonial structures is a form of holism in the sense that it illustrates the intersection of the personal and the political. The poet's feminist stance, nationalist spirit, and adherence to the values of justice, equality, and freedom, make of her a global poet who is concerned not only with the plight of the Palestinian community, and the agonizing status of Arab Americans, but also with the racism, violence, and denigration that characterize varied ethnic and racial groups in the United States and other parts of the world. Drawing on insights from critical race theory, and some highlights from feminist discourse, this paper proposes to look at holism in relation to the interdependence of the personal and political in the poetry of Suheir Hammad. A selection of poems are meant to provide examples of the correspondence of the poet's immediate needs and aspirations to emerge as an independent, active, and influential feminist Arab writer on the one hand and her frank embracement of a vivid political discourse that places the Palestinian cause and the Arab American community's quest for better visibility at the forefront of her activism on the other. The paper is made up of three parts. The first one delineates the poet's feminism from the perspective of an Arab woman living in the States. The second part tackles the personal aspect versus the political aspect of her writing. The third part brings to the fore the holism that permeates the intersection of the political and the personal in her poetry and which characterizes her ongoing struggle against different forms of discrimination and marginalization.
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Talks by Imene C H A A B A N E Bennani
International Conference in honor of Nawal Al-Saadawi: Arab Women: Agents of Change and Progress. London, November 7th&8th, 2020, 2020
This paper proposes to look at the intersection of race and gender in Emna Rmili's novel: Water a... more This paper proposes to look at the intersection of race and gender in Emna Rmili's novel: Water and Embers in the context of a contemporary Tunisian society. It particularly tries to highlight both the continuity of a domineering patriarchal society and its lasting influence and authority even beyond a local context. In fact, the Tunisian community living abroad especially in Europe, namely, France, Italy and Germany, provides a fitting sample for the study of the complexity of a discourse that fosters hegemony and conservatism. Tunisian families settled in France, in particular, replicate the practices already fostered and perpetuated in Tunisia. These practices sometimes display a subjugating mix of misogyny, racism, and sexism. Structured upon the techniques of storytelling and flashback to narrate the tragedy of a young woman who challenged her conservative, authoritative family, Emna Rmili's novel set in France and peopled with both male and female characters epitomizing complex portraits, relates the plight of Arab women who are killed twice. Like the novel's main protagonist who was the victim of honor killing, Arab women often find themselves symbolically 'killed' during their lives, because of persecution and injustice, and sometimes also literally killed, that is, murdered to somehow erase 'shame'. Relying on gender findings and critical race theory, this paper offers a feminist reading of Rmili's novel Water and Embers. It comprises two major parts. The first part sheds light on the patriarchal discourse in North Africa and Tunisia and the reality of honor killing in that region. The second one focuses on the novel, Water and Embers trying to highlight the intersection of gender and race in a discourse that makes Arab women in general and Tunisian women in particular victims of prejudice, dogma, sexism and staunch conservatism.
References:
Abdulhadi, Rabab, Evelyn Alsultany, and Nadine Naber, eds. Arab and Arab American Feminisms. Gender, Violence, and Belonging. Syracuse: Syracuse UP, 2011.
Darraj, Susan Muaddi. “It’s not an oxymoron: the search for an Arab Feminism”. In: Colonize this: Young Women of Color on Today’s Feminism. Hernandez, Daisy and Bushra Rehman, eds. Emeryville: Seal P, 2002.
Fontaine, Jean and Mounir B.H. Slama. « Arabic-Language Tunisian Literature ». Research in African Literatures. 23:2. Colombus: Indiana UP, 1992.
Golley, Nawar Al-Hassan. Reading Arab Women’s Autobiographies: Shahrazad Tells her Story. Austin: U of Texas P, 2003.
Handhal, Nathalie. “Reflections on Sex, Silence, and Feminism”. On Evelyn Accad: Essays in Literature, Feminism, and Cultural Studies. Ed. By Cheryl Toman. Birmingham, Alabama: Summa Publications Inc., 2007. 207-24.
Husain, Sarra, ed. Introduction. By Sarra. Voices of Resistance: Muslim Women on War, Faith, and Sexuality. 2nd ed. Emeryville: Seal P, 2006. 1-17
Malek, Alia. “Why Are We Always Fighting and What Are We Fighting For? Alternating Defensive. Postures and the Relevance of Rights to Arabs and Arab American Women”. MIT Electronic Journal. 169-81.
Mehta, Brinda. Rituals of Memory in Contemporary Arab Women’s Writing. NY: Syracuse UP, 2007.
Rejwan, Nissim. Arabs in the Mirror: Images and Self-Images from Pre-Islamic to Modern Times. Austin: U of Texas P, 2008.
Sabbagh, Suha, ed. Introduction. By Sabbagh. Arab Women between Defiance and Restraint. NY: Olive Branch P, 1998. Ix-xxvii.
Shakir, Evelyn. Bint Arab: Arab and Arab American Women in the United States. Int. By Shakir. Westport: Praeger, 1997. 1-10.
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Al-Jadid, 2011
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Book Reviews by Imene C H A A B A N E Bennani
The Enchanting Verses Literary Review, 2014
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mgversion2>datura , 2016
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Conference Presentations by Imene C H A A B A N E Bennani
A narrative about the harrowing experiences of clandestine immigration among African communities,... more A narrative about the harrowing experiences of clandestine immigration among African communities, Shatt Larwah, by the contemporary Tunisian writer, Emna Rmili, fittingly lends itself to the discussion of adversity. Set between Tunis, the capital, and the Tunisian South, the novel tells the story of an investigative journalist who witnesses and records the tormenting accounts of Sub-Saharan African women and men, young and old, who took to the sea, illegally, in search for a better life. Here, adversity can be understood in two ways. First, there is the hostile and complex political, economic, and social environments which push people from diverse backgrounds to venture into the unknown, hoping to find release from numerous woes and miseries. These range from doleful tales of refugee camps and tribal wars to frightening accounts about sectarian conflicts, tribal strife, and religious fanaticism. Thus, the unfortunate immigrants are often cast as victims of violence, racism, sexism, poverty, corruption, and terrorism. Second, adversity refers to the traumatic experience of the protagonist herself, before witnessing those stories during her visit to shatt larwah, and after it. In fact, the protagonist goes through some tribulations in her personal life and faces obstacles in her career before enduring the destabilizing truths on the world of illegal immigration during her journalistic 'trip'. What is more meaningful, however, is the reaction to adversity. Despite the relatively dominant discourse of despair and passive surrender to death, there glows a women-led, hopeful resistance to adversity, embodied in the strong willed, and ferociously ambitious protagonist. An unflinching feminist and uncompromising journalist, Behya voices a powerful message on the centrality of activism and the salience of creativity to combat humanity's woes and resist adversity in all its forms. Informed by highlights from psychoanalysis; namely, Snyder's Hope theory, trauma studies and insights from Arab feminism, this paper proposes to discuss the resistance to adversity and the hopes of triumphing over it through active engagement in journalism and writing. Grounded in a contemporary African context, it aims at highlighting the culture-specific experience of illegal immigration and its overarching implications and consequences in the global era.
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Papers by Imene C H A A B A N E Bennani
This paper proposes to look at the inscriptions of Arab-Americanness in the poetry of Khaled Mattawa. It aims at discussing the implications of the encounter between Arabness and Americanness, rendered in the poetry. In fact, based on the experience of the Libyan American Mattawa who straddles two cultures, complicating the movement back and forth between a deeply ingrained Arab consciousness and a curiously dynamic American sensibility, hybridity, as expressed in the poetry, is a situation which continues to grapple with wholeness. In the poetry, however, there prevails a discourse which underscores the need to transcend rigid labels and ambivalent hyphens in the hope of embracing a global identity.
The night became quiet
Listen to the moans’ echoing sound
In the depth of darkness, under silence, over the dead
Interrupted, screams rise
Burning, sadness flows
Over it stumble, groans’ echoes
In every heart, it is seething
In the calm cottage, it is grieving
Everywhere, a soul, in darkness, howls
Everywhere, a voice yowls
This is what death has torn apart
O the Nile’s sorrow screaming at what
Death did!
Dawn broke
Listen to the footsteps
Of those walking
In the silence of dawn
Listen, look at the procession of weepers
Ten dead, twenty
Do not count. Listen to the wailers
Hear the poor child’s voice
Dead, dead, the figure got lost
Dead, dead, no tomorrow is left
Everywhere, bodies wailed by mourners
No moment for peace, no silence
This is what the hand of death did
Death, death, death…
Nazik Al-malaika
Translated from Arabic by Imene Chaabane Bennani
Talks by Imene C H A A B A N E Bennani
References:
Abdulhadi, Rabab, Evelyn Alsultany, and Nadine Naber, eds. Arab and Arab American Feminisms. Gender, Violence, and Belonging. Syracuse: Syracuse UP, 2011.
Darraj, Susan Muaddi. “It’s not an oxymoron: the search for an Arab Feminism”. In: Colonize this: Young Women of Color on Today’s Feminism. Hernandez, Daisy and Bushra Rehman, eds. Emeryville: Seal P, 2002.
Fontaine, Jean and Mounir B.H. Slama. « Arabic-Language Tunisian Literature ». Research in African Literatures. 23:2. Colombus: Indiana UP, 1992.
Golley, Nawar Al-Hassan. Reading Arab Women’s Autobiographies: Shahrazad Tells her Story. Austin: U of Texas P, 2003.
Handhal, Nathalie. “Reflections on Sex, Silence, and Feminism”. On Evelyn Accad: Essays in Literature, Feminism, and Cultural Studies. Ed. By Cheryl Toman. Birmingham, Alabama: Summa Publications Inc., 2007. 207-24.
Husain, Sarra, ed. Introduction. By Sarra. Voices of Resistance: Muslim Women on War, Faith, and Sexuality. 2nd ed. Emeryville: Seal P, 2006. 1-17
Malek, Alia. “Why Are We Always Fighting and What Are We Fighting For? Alternating Defensive. Postures and the Relevance of Rights to Arabs and Arab American Women”. MIT Electronic Journal. 169-81.
Mehta, Brinda. Rituals of Memory in Contemporary Arab Women’s Writing. NY: Syracuse UP, 2007.
Rejwan, Nissim. Arabs in the Mirror: Images and Self-Images from Pre-Islamic to Modern Times. Austin: U of Texas P, 2008.
Sabbagh, Suha, ed. Introduction. By Sabbagh. Arab Women between Defiance and Restraint. NY: Olive Branch P, 1998. Ix-xxvii.
Shakir, Evelyn. Bint Arab: Arab and Arab American Women in the United States. Int. By Shakir. Westport: Praeger, 1997. 1-10.
Book Reviews by Imene C H A A B A N E Bennani
Conference Presentations by Imene C H A A B A N E Bennani
This paper proposes to look at the inscriptions of Arab-Americanness in the poetry of Khaled Mattawa. It aims at discussing the implications of the encounter between Arabness and Americanness, rendered in the poetry. In fact, based on the experience of the Libyan American Mattawa who straddles two cultures, complicating the movement back and forth between a deeply ingrained Arab consciousness and a curiously dynamic American sensibility, hybridity, as expressed in the poetry, is a situation which continues to grapple with wholeness. In the poetry, however, there prevails a discourse which underscores the need to transcend rigid labels and ambivalent hyphens in the hope of embracing a global identity.
The night became quiet
Listen to the moans’ echoing sound
In the depth of darkness, under silence, over the dead
Interrupted, screams rise
Burning, sadness flows
Over it stumble, groans’ echoes
In every heart, it is seething
In the calm cottage, it is grieving
Everywhere, a soul, in darkness, howls
Everywhere, a voice yowls
This is what death has torn apart
O the Nile’s sorrow screaming at what
Death did!
Dawn broke
Listen to the footsteps
Of those walking
In the silence of dawn
Listen, look at the procession of weepers
Ten dead, twenty
Do not count. Listen to the wailers
Hear the poor child’s voice
Dead, dead, the figure got lost
Dead, dead, no tomorrow is left
Everywhere, bodies wailed by mourners
No moment for peace, no silence
This is what the hand of death did
Death, death, death…
Nazik Al-malaika
Translated from Arabic by Imene Chaabane Bennani
References:
Abdulhadi, Rabab, Evelyn Alsultany, and Nadine Naber, eds. Arab and Arab American Feminisms. Gender, Violence, and Belonging. Syracuse: Syracuse UP, 2011.
Darraj, Susan Muaddi. “It’s not an oxymoron: the search for an Arab Feminism”. In: Colonize this: Young Women of Color on Today’s Feminism. Hernandez, Daisy and Bushra Rehman, eds. Emeryville: Seal P, 2002.
Fontaine, Jean and Mounir B.H. Slama. « Arabic-Language Tunisian Literature ». Research in African Literatures. 23:2. Colombus: Indiana UP, 1992.
Golley, Nawar Al-Hassan. Reading Arab Women’s Autobiographies: Shahrazad Tells her Story. Austin: U of Texas P, 2003.
Handhal, Nathalie. “Reflections on Sex, Silence, and Feminism”. On Evelyn Accad: Essays in Literature, Feminism, and Cultural Studies. Ed. By Cheryl Toman. Birmingham, Alabama: Summa Publications Inc., 2007. 207-24.
Husain, Sarra, ed. Introduction. By Sarra. Voices of Resistance: Muslim Women on War, Faith, and Sexuality. 2nd ed. Emeryville: Seal P, 2006. 1-17
Malek, Alia. “Why Are We Always Fighting and What Are We Fighting For? Alternating Defensive. Postures and the Relevance of Rights to Arabs and Arab American Women”. MIT Electronic Journal. 169-81.
Mehta, Brinda. Rituals of Memory in Contemporary Arab Women’s Writing. NY: Syracuse UP, 2007.
Rejwan, Nissim. Arabs in the Mirror: Images and Self-Images from Pre-Islamic to Modern Times. Austin: U of Texas P, 2008.
Sabbagh, Suha, ed. Introduction. By Sabbagh. Arab Women between Defiance and Restraint. NY: Olive Branch P, 1998. Ix-xxvii.
Shakir, Evelyn. Bint Arab: Arab and Arab American Women in the United States. Int. By Shakir. Westport: Praeger, 1997. 1-10.