For more relationships see also L: Love, Lust, and Relationships
- Salwā Bakr’s (1949-, Egypt) short story ‘ʿAn al-Rūḥ allatī Suriqat Tadrījiyyan’ (‘About the spirit that was stolen step by step’, 1989), follows the life of a married couple who already have a flat with plants and a cat, but still feel they need to respond to the communal pressures to purchase all the gadgets that modern life offers. The gradual disenchantment with their excursions and activities, and their increased reliance on television soap-operas comes to symbolize the meaninglessness of a marriage dominated by the demoralizing routines of modern life. The story can be found in a collection by the same title (reference).
- Rashīd al-Ḍaʿīf (1945-, Lebanon) – Taṣṭafil Mīrīl Strīb (2010, English trans. Who’s Afraid of Merlyn Streep?, 2014). This novel is narrated by the newlywed Rashūd, whose wife does not want to leave her parental house to live with him separately. Rashūd, unable to have sex with her, is disappointed with life after marriage and becomes increasingly suspicious of his wife’s sexual experiences before meeting him. He is furthermore shocked when he sees Meryl Streep’s independence in ‘Kramer vs. Kramer’ and disapproves of his tv-addicted wife’s behaviour based on the movies.
- Muṣṭafā al-Fārisī’s (1931 – 2008, Tunisia) short story ‘Man yadrī…? Rubbamā’ (‘Who knows…? Maybe’, 1962) in which two young lovers are brought together in marital bliss after some preliminary jealousies and suspicions have been averted. The short story appeared in the Tunisian journal al-Fikr (volume 2, 1962).
- Fatima Gallaire’s (1944 – 2020, Algeria) play Princesses, ou ah! Vous êtes venus – là ou il y a quelques tombes (1988, English trans. You Have Come Back, 1988). Protagonist of this novel, Lella, returns to her ancestral home in Algeria after 20 years, where she is received with her family’s criticism of her marrying a French man (reference). The villages’ condemnation of her ‘turn away from Islamic law’ leads to a tragic ending for the protagonist (reference). The play uses theatrical methods from both the Algerian and European cultural context. The English translation is to be found in Plays by women: and International Anthology (1988) (also in L: Love, Lust, and Relationships: Inter- religious and ethnic (romantic) relationships: Between Arabs and Westerners)
- Yaḥya Ḥaqqī’s (1905 – 1992, Egypt) short story ‘Imraʾa Miskīna’ describes the strong-willed wife Fatḥīyah, the ‘poor woman’ of the title, who manipulatively contributes to, if not causes, her husband Fuʾād’s mental breakdown. She does not acknowledge her role in the breakdown but is conscious of the fact that she is seen by other as the victim and takes advantage of this to escape her difficult circumstances. Her children, unconsciously, are the only people to see through their mother and recognize the truth (reference). The story was published in the Moroccan journal Majallat Āfāq (volume 12, 1983).
- Janā Fawāz al-Ḥassan (1985-, Lebanon) – Ana, Hiya, wa al-Ukhrayāt (‘Me, she and the other women’, 2012). Heroine of this novel is Saḥar, who leads an unfulfilling married life. The ‘me, she and the others’ in the title refer to Saḥar’s inner world of personalities who represent her different sides, from the subordinate to the rebellious who has an extramarital affair, and to the lives of her female friends (reference). She also reflects on how her life relates to that of her mother, whose life path she tries to avoid for herself. As such, the novel reflects on marriage and love as a cultural phenomenon in a patriarchal society.
- Sārah al-Makīmī’s (?, Kuwait) short story collection al-Qilādah Iyāha (‘The necklace for her’, 2010) includes 18 stories describing Kuwaiti life, especially from the viewpoint of women. It addresses topics such as marriage and infidelity, such as in the short story ‘Firīrū Rūshīh’ (‘Ferrero Rocher’), in which a woman discovers that her cheating husband offers his lover her favorite chocolate.
- Yūsuf Idrīs’ (1927 – 1991, Egypt) short story ‘al-Martaba al-Muqʿara’ (in the collection al-Naddāha, 1969, English trans. ‘The Concave Mattress’ in In the Eye of the Beholder, 1978), portrays a marriage in which the communication between the couple is limited to a nihilistic minimum because the husband is so unhappy with the world that he decides to sleep until it has changed.
- Alīfah Rifaʿat (1930 – 1996, Egypt). Heroine of Rifaʿat’s short story ‘Baʿīdan ʿan al-Mʾidhna’ (English trans. ‘Distant View of a Minaret’) leads an unsatisfactory life with her husband but finds comfort in her religion and the distant minaret she can barely see from her balcony (reference). The short story can be found in an equally titled collection of short stories published in 1984. The English translation, Distant View of a Minaret and Other Stories, was published in 1983.
- Laylā al-Ṣaqr’s (?,- Bahrain) short story collection ʿAindama Tazawwaj Qays Laylā (‘When Qays married Layla’, 2015) tells several stories about married couples. Its title story, ‘ʿAindama Tazawwaj Qays Laylā’, refers to the traditional Arab Bedouin story of Qays and Laylā, and asks the question: would Qays’ love for Layla be as strong if the couple would have married (reference)? In it, their marriage ostracizes them from the tribe, and their hardship leaves Qays no time or inspiration for poetry, while it leaves Laylā feeling that she has lost her beauty (also in L: Cultural and Literary Heritage: Folktales).
- Bahāʾ Ṭāhir’s (1935-, Egypt) title story of his first collection of short stories, Al-Khuṭūba (‘The engagement’, 1972), describes a young man in Egypt going to the father of a female colleague at work to ask for her hand in marriage. But this normal situation turns into an unnerving and at times horrific story, as the father interrogates the young man, and plots and conspiracies are brought to light which extend in time and space beyond the stuffy guest room on a dull afternoon (reference). The story can be read as a confrontation between generations, and the (mis)use of power.
Refrences:
In order of appearance
- Roger Allen. 1995. “The Arabic Short Story and the Status of Women.” in Love and Sexuality in Modern Arabic Literature, eds. Roger Allen, Hilary Kilpatrick, and Ed de Moor. London: Saqi Books, 77-90, p. 79
- Lalita Pandit. 1992/1993. “Multiculturalism as Text and Context: Teaching Fatima Gallaire-Bourega’s ‘You Have Come Back’.” College Literature 19/20(3/1): 201-206, p. 202
- Sabry Hafez and Catherine Cobham ed. 2011. A Reader of Modern Arabic Short Storis. Saqi: London, p. 144-5
- ʿAlī Ḥassan Fawāz. 2015. “Riwāyat Janā Fawāz Ḥassan ‘Ana, Hiya, wa al-Ukhrayāt’ al-ʿĀlim Taṣnaʿuhu Ansāq al-Marāʾah al-Muḍamirrah aydan.” www.alquds.co.uk, 31 January 2015 https://www.alquds.co.uk/%EF%BB%BF%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%AC%D9%86%D9%89-%D9%81%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B2-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%B3%D9%86-%D8%A3%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%8C-%D9%87%D9%8A-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%AE%D8%B1/ (last accessed 24 May 2023)
- Ramzi M. Salti. 1991.“Feminism and Religion in Alifa Rifaat’s Short Stories.” The International Fiction Review 18(2): 108- 112, p. 108
- Ḍiyāʾ ʿAbdallah Khamīs al-Kaʿabī. 2016. “Sardiyyāt: Sardiyyāt Laylā al-Ṣaqr fī ‘ʿAindama Tazawwaj Qays Laylā’.” www.akhbar-alkhaleej.com, 26 March 2016 http://akhbar-alkhaleej.com/news/article/1012417 (last accessed 26 October 2021)
- Sabry Hafez and Catherine Cobham ed. 2011. A Reader of Modern Arabic Short Storis. Saqi: London, p. 24-5