Hanan al-Shaykh
1945 -
Arab writer.
Hanan al-Shaykh is undisputedly one of the most important Arab women writers at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Born and raised in Lebanon, al-Shaykh first distinguished herself by writing prose fiction that exposed some of the repressive patriarchal traditions of her society. She did so by introducing characters, often women, who unabashedly explored themselves, their families, and their communities. She faced brief periods of censorship and occasional negative reviews. Although some of her fiction is set in the broader Arab world, two of her most prominent novels are situated in Lebanon during the Civil War of 1975 through 1990. AlShaykh has become an important voice in critical studies of the war itself. The renowned Hikayat Zahra (The Story of Zahra, 1980) is a relentless psycho-sexual drama that manages, primarily through its complex protagonist, to narrate an insane society in violent civil disarray. Al-Shaykh's stark imagery and gripping plot mesmerized readers. Her follow-up novel, Barid Bayrut (Beirut blues, 1992), structured as a series of letters by another memorable female protagonist, extends the depiction of the Lebanese wars and fortifies the ideology of nonpartisanship, as every militia, army, confessional (religious/ethnic), and national group is subject to critique and to ridicule. Al-Shaykh's focus is on nuanced reactions, complex relationships, and multiple points of view. Her war novels offered new ways of imagining Lebanon in this destructive era.
Al-Shaykh spent her early school years in Lebanon and Egypt and later lived in Saudi Arabia. Since the early 1980s, she has lived in London and has participated in local productions of her experimental plays. One of her publications, Only in London (2001), explores some of the issues of Arab émigrés in Europe. With a keen sense of humor and a fresh Arabic writing style, al-Shaykh's works have extended the possibilities for Arab women writers. Because of good translations into English and other languages, Al-Shaykh's readership is growing outside the Arab world.
Bibliography
Cooke, Miriam. War's Other Voices: Women Writers on theLebanese Civil War. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
Salem, Elise. Constructing Lebanon: A Century of Literary Narratives. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2003.
Zeidan, Joseph. Arab Women Novelists: The Formative Years andBeyond. New York: New York University Press, 1995.
— ELISE SALEM
