The Debate over the Representation of Oriented Women as Synonymous with Western Women in Ameen Rehani's and Qasim Ameen's works
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate how ,to some extent, the oriental writers Ameen Rehani and Qasim Ameen are influenced by aspects of western culture when they discussed the revolt of women in a traditional Eastern community . In my proposed paper, I will shed light on the most significant topics concerning women that Rihani and Ameen raises, topics related to the principles of patriarchal authority, the Hijab, tabooed love, and the struggle of women to achieve their freedom and human rights. I will prove that those writers' approach to women’s concerns is the reason behind the controversy in the eastern societies.
There has been much debate over many years in eastern societies on the views of Ameen Rehani and Qasim Ameen who recognize that Arab society was and is far from perfect because of the perception of the Arab woman as powerless and enslaved, forced into a cage of silence and invisibility by her jailor society1. Though they are Arab American writers of different generations and national backgrounds and after having spent many years in America those writers were touched by their openness, sensitivity, and awareness and impressed with their resolve to find their own, better way in a world that has become more complicated and challenging 2.
Ameen Rihani(1876-1940), the founding father of Arab-American Literature was one of the most creative and daring Lebanese writers who called for women’s emancipation. A gifted reader of Shakespeare, Thoreau, Emerson, Carlyle, and Washington Irving, he was heavily pushed to cross the Arabian frontiers . He supports the uprising of women against the deep ingrained customs that restrict their power and public role. He violates the traditional way of a woman’s life in the oriental society, and overlooks the national boundaries and he builds a bridge between today and tomorrow. Rehani asserts that" the Arab must learn from the west to achieve progress"3 . He adds in his book The Book of Khalid," it is an all-embracing spirit which induces one to co-operate and unite with one’s brothers in order to have a strong sovereign country which provides them all with security and happiness."4
