Archive for March 11th, 2013
Zapatistas on women’s rights: Comandanta Ramona
Comandanta Ramona was an officer of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), an indigenous rights movement in Mexico.
“Ramona was said to be the most belligerent, aggressive and intransigent of all the Zapatistas. It was Comandante Ramona on horseback who led the military charge on San Cristobal during the EZLN’s uprising in January 1994.”
The sight of this brave and frail woman defiantly shouting ‘Ya Basta!’ (Enough is Enough!) catapulted her onto the world state.
The media dubbed her “The Petite Warrior” and the Mexican government grew so fearful of her emblematic power that in 1997 they cynically spread false information that she had died.”
After consulting with indigenous communities on the status of women, the EZLN came up with the “Revolutionary Women’s Law,” in commemoration of the international women’s day. The Zapatistas on women’s rights states:
First, Women, regardless of their race, creed, color or political affiliation, have the right to participate in the revolutionary struggle in any way that their desire and capacity determine.
Second, Women have the right to work and receive a just salary.
Third, Women have the right to decide the number of children they have and care for.
Fourth, Women have the right to participate in the matters of the community and have charge if they are free and democratically elected.
Fifth, Women and their children have the right to Primary Attention in their health and nutrition.
Sixth, Women have the right to education.
Seventh, Women have the right to choose their partner and are not obliged to enter into marriage.
Eighth, Women have the right to be free of violence from both relatives and strangers. Rape and attempted rape will be severely punished.
Ninth, Women will be able to occupy positions of leadership in the organization and hold military ranks in the revolutionary armed forces.
Tenth, Women will have all the rights and obligations which the revolutionary laws and regulations give.
SIX PROFILES OF ARAB WOMEN WRITERS:
Egyptian novelist Salwa Bakr: “Bakr suggested that the lack of political support explains the surge of women seeking to express these contradictions through literature, especially in recent decades.”
Palestinian novelist Sahar Khalifeh: “During all those years in which I played the role of a frustrated housewife, I used to read that letter, look around and wonder, ‘Is this what I expected from life? To cook and wash dishes and wait for a husband who believes that I am here to make up for his mistakes?’”
Hanan al-Shaykh
Lebanese novelist Hanan al-Shaykh: “ I remember a professor at one of the American universities and she told me, ‘Oh, Ms. al-Shaykh, I love your work. But I don’t dare to teach it because I don’t want people to think that this is how the Arabs are.’”
Lebanese novelist Hoda Barakat: “I’m never interested about heroes, about men who make history and the characters who believe in something. I don’t have an answer to anything, so when we were on our tour I let the other writers answer the big questions.”
Iraqi novelist Hadiya Hussein: ”Indeed, I feel closer to my country when I’m away. It is like a work of art: It gets clearer the more we step away from it.”
Algerian writer/filmmaker Assia Djebar: “… yes, sometimes fear grips me that these fragile moments of life will fade away. It seems that I write against erasure.”
SIX ARAB WOMEN WRITERS MENTIONED FOR LITERATURE NOBEL PRIZE:
Painting by Etel Adnan
Etel Adnan, (1925 – ). Adnan, a Lebanese author who continues to be a vibrant force in the literary scene, has written a number of pioneering works. You can certainly see her impact in the recently released Homage to Etel Adnan.
Nawal al-Saadawi, (1931 – ). Al-Saadawi, an Egyptian activist, doctor, and novelist, is a bit improbable as a Nobel Prize for Lit winner, although she is certainly an indomitable political force. Her memoirs are perhaps most interesting (more interesting than her fiction); Memoirs from a Women’s Prison in particular.
Assia Djebar, (1936 – ). Djebar, an Algerian author and filmmaker who writes in French, has been a regular on the Nobel list since her Neustadt award. Works in translation include her Women of Algiers in Their Apartment and Fantasia: An Algerian Cavalcade.
Hanan al-Shaykh, (1945 – ). Lebanese-British al-Shaykh is author of the brilliant Story of Zahra, Women of Sand and Myrrh, among others; most of her works are available in English, several translated by Catherine Cobham.
Radwa Ashour, (1946 – ). A wide-ranging Egyptian novelist In translation you can find her meta-fictional Specters, as well as Granada and Siraj, and I understand that her celebrated Farag is forthcoming from BQFP.
Huda Barakat, (1952 – ) Also Lebanese, her Tiller of Waters and Stones of Laughter are beautifully layered and textured, like the fabrics in Tiller, with a wonderful exploration of the relationship between humans and the objects of daily life.
SIX POEMS & PROSE EXCERPTS BY ARAB WOMEN WRITERS:
Iman Mersal’s “Oranges,” trans. Khaled Mattawa
Maram al-Massri’s “Women Like Me,” trans. Khaled Mattawa
Nujoom al-Ghanem “She Who Resembles Herself,” trans. Khaled al-Masri
Hanan al-Shaykh’s “Beirut 1934,” trans. Roger Allen
Nazik al-Mala’ika “Love Song for Words,” trans. Rebecca Carol Johnson
Adania Shibli’s “Out of Time,” trans. the author
Adonis Diaries 