131-237 Middle Eastern Women

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Available as 131-337 at 3rd-year level.

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Subject Description

This subject covers the history of Middle Eastern women in the context of religion of religious, political, social and economic change. It looks at the variety of roles that women have played in the history of the region and, equally importantly, the way in which ideological images have been constructed, of how women behave and how they 'ought' to behave. It examines the dynamics of change over a long period and the uses to which historical account have been put by those who hoped to direct the process of change. The dominant religion of the region, Islam, places great importance on historical texts because they legitimise social, political and religious actions in Islam, and repeatedly refers back to the period when Islam was revealed in the seventh century. For this reason the course extends from then up to the present, and makes use of texts - particularly biographical and autobiographical ones - that describe the lives of women who exerted political influence, sometimes even as rulers, but who were also rebels, religious scholars, 'saints', slaves and participants in the social and political upheavals of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Assessment

Written work totalling not more than 5000 words.