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Challenging Hegemonic Patriarchy
A Feminist Reading of Arab Shakespeare Appropriations
in Critical Survey
Author:
Safi M. Mahfouz
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-4096
Safi M. Mahfouz
English Department, University of Jordan, Aqaba, Jordan safimahfouz@gmail.com
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Abstract
Drawing on feminist theory, this article offers a feminist reading of some Arab Hamlet appropriations to demonstrate whether or not such plays qualify as feminist Shakespeare re-visions. It shows how some female characters in these plays have been, unlike their Shakespearean counterparts, empowered to challenge the hegemonic patriarchal structures of their societies while others remain oppressed and submissive. The discussed Arab Shakespeare renditions constitute only illustrative samples of heroic and oppressed women in the Arab Shakespeare canon which has been known for producing political satires. The featured plays include Aḥmad Shawqī's Maṣra‘ Kileopatrā (The Fall of Cleopatra), Egypt, 1946; Nabyl Lahlou's Ophelia Is Not Dead, Morocco, 1968; Mamdūḥ Al-ʻUdwān's Hamlet Wakes Up Late, Syria, 1976; Yūsuf Al-Sāyyegh's Desdemona, Iraq, 1989; Jawād Al-Assadī's Forget Hamlet, Iraq, 1994; and A Midsummer Night's Dream, Palestine, 2011.
Contributor Notes
Safi Mahmoud Mahfouz is an associate professor of American literature, drama and theatre studies, Global Shakespeare and comparative literature in the English Department at the University of Jordan in Aqaba. A former Fulbright postdoctoral visiting scholar and fellow at the Martin E. Segal Theatre Centre, City University of New York (2012–14), he is (with Marvin Carlson) co-editor and co-translator of Theatre from Medieval Cairo: The Ibn Dāniyāl Trilogy (2013) and Four Plays from Syria – Saʻdallah Wannous (2014). His articles have been published in international journals such as Theatre Research International, Modern Drama, New Theatre Quarterly, The Midwest Quarterly, Journal of Semitic Studies and Journal of Postcolonial Writing. He also serves on the editorial advisory board of several international journals, including Arab Stages. Email: safimahfouz@gmail.com; ORCID: