The Women's Awakening in Egypt: Culture, Society, and the PressBetween 1892 and 1920 nearly thirty Arabic periodicals by, for, and about women were produced in Egypt for circulation throughout the Arab world. This flourishing women's press provided a forum for debating such topics as the rights of woman, marriage and divorce, and veiling and seclusion, and also offered a mechanism for disseminating new ideologies and domestic instruction. In this book, Beth Baron presents the first sustained study of this remarkable material, exploring the connections between literary culture and social transformation. Starting with profiles of the female intellectuals who pioneered the women's press in Egypt--the first generation of Arab women to write and publish extensively--Baron traces the women's literary output from production to consumption. She draws on new approaches in cultural history to examine the making of periodicals and to reconstruct their audience, and she suggests that it is impossible to assess the influence of the Arabic press without comprehending the circumstances under which it operated. Turning to specific issues argued in the pages of the women's press, Baron finds that women's views ranged across a wide spectrum. The debates are set in historical context, with elaborations on the conditions of women's education and work. Together with other sources, the journals show significant changes in the activities of urban middle- and upper-class Egyptian women in the decades before the 1919 revolution and underscore the sense that real improvement in women's lives--the women's awakening--was at hand. Baron's discussion of this extraordinary trove of materials highlights the voices of the female intellectuals who championed this awakening and broadens our understanding of the social and cultural history of the period. |
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The Women's Awakening in Egypt: Culture, Society, and the Press Beth Baron No preview available - 1994 |
Common terms and phrases
Abduh al-'Afaf al-'Arabiyya al-Banat al-Fatah al-Hasna al-Jalis al-Jins al-Latif al-Manar al-Matba'a al-Muqtataf al-Nahda al-Nisa al-Rayhana al-Sa'ada al-Sayyidat wa'l-Banat al-Sufur Albert Hourani Alexandra Avierino Annual Report Arabic women's journals argued Beirut British Cairo Census Coptic Copts Cromer culture debate domestic early editors Egyptian University Egyptian women Esther Fatat al-Nil Fatat al-Sharq Fatima Rashid female intellectuals feminism gender girls Hind Nawfal idem Islamic Islamists issues Jam'iyyat Tarqiyat al-Mar'a Jurji Khutba kuttabs Labiba Hashim labor literary Lutfi al-Sayyid Malak Hifni Nasif Malaka Sa'd male marriage Maryam Matba'at Middle Eastern Misr mother Moyal Muhammad Muhammad Abduh Muslim Muslim women nation nationalist newspapers nineteenth century Ottoman periodicals political printed published Qasim Amin Rabbat al-Dar Rashid Rida readers reform religious roles Rosa Antun Sarah al-Mihiyya schools Shajarat al-Durr social Studies Syrian texts University Press waqfs Women of Egypt women writers women's awakening women's press wrote Zaynab Fawwaz