Contemporary criticism on the representation of female travellers of the Ottoman harem in the 19th century: a review
A common problem that needs addressing in the study of narratives concerning the Orient and the Ottoman harem in the 19th century, through an emphasis on gender, is the popular belief amongst certain groups in postcolonial and feminist scholarships that writings by women on these subjects are th...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IIUM Press
2011
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| Online Access: | http://irep.iium.edu.my/8189/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/8189/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/8189/1/Aimilia_Ramli%27s_paper.pdf |
| Summary: | A common problem that needs addressing in the study of narratives
concerning the Orient and the Ottoman harem in the 19th century, through an
emphasis on gender, is the popular belief amongst certain groups in postcolonial
and feminist scholarships that writings by women on these subjects
are the alternative to hegemonic imperial discourse. Post-colonial and feminist
critics whose research deals with women travel writers to the Middle East and
North Africa�Sara Mills, Reina Lewis, Billie Melman, Susan Meyer and Shirley
Foster�have all argued that since women were not directly involved in the
imperial project, their writings on the Orient and the Ottoman harem should be
considered as articulating alternative views in colonial narratives. One of the
aims of this paper is to present evidence that suggests that narratives by women,
as well as those by men, did not necessarily bear a counter-hegemonic imprint.
It argues that in most cases, they display, through the attention to gender and
race in relation to the Orient and the Ottoman harem, ambivalences that neither
completely support nor subvert the imperialist subject. |
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