Research Articles (English Studies)

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Browsing by Subject "Aboulela"

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    Her heart lies at the feet of the mother: Transformations of the romance plot in Leila Aboulela�s minaret
    (University of Western Cape, 2021) Moolla, F. Fiona
    Sudanese-British writer, Leila Aboulela�s novel, Minaret (2005) transforms the plot structure of Western literary and popular romance forms and develops further the plotlines of African-American Muslim romance novels. It does so by foregrounding the dissenting mother as obstruction to the union of the hero and heroine, against the backdrop of the unique status of the mother in Islam. Thus, the ending of the novel is neither happy nor tragic. Instead, the lovers are separated, and closure requires reconciliation on the part of the couple with the concerns of the mother. In addition, because of the significant difference in age, the heroine is in some ways like a mother to the hero. Final contentment of the heroine is undermined by her questionable actions at the end, resulting in psychic and spiritual contraction. The novel is therefore opened up to ambiguity and uncertainty in the closure, notwithstanding the faith of the heroine. The specific form which closure takes, is determined by the dissenting mother as obstruction in Islamic romance.
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    The muslim "who has faith" in Leila Aboulela's novels Minaret (2005) and Lyrics Alley (2009)
    (Taylor & Francis, 2013) Hunter, Eva
    This essay analyses Leila Aboulela's narrative techniques when depicting a Muslim �who has faith� in her two most recent novels. In Minaret she presents religion as a source of strength for her female narrator-protagonist but also suggests that Muslim women of faith should adopt a quietist retreat from public life in order to nourish their spiritual life. In Lyrics Alley, by contrast, the male Muslim �who has faith� represents superiority in spirituality and intellectual accomplishment as well as knowledge of the orthodox form of Islam. While Aboulela may be reacting to the kind of journalism in the British media that portrays distorted facts about Muslims and links Islam with violence, the form of her religion that she advocates is not modulated by her life in Britain. She misunderstands British culture and does not present understanding of the long-standing forces behind the recent eruptions in Arab states, in which women have figured.