Everyday heroines: (re)formation of subjectivity and kinship in al-Zayyat and Ashour.

This project seeks to illustrate nuanced female characters that defy stereotypes while not being typically revolutionary. Their choices in expressing their subjectivities distinguish them from the mainstream, yet present them as everyday women who cannot and shall not be categorized or labelled. To demonstrate the individuality of each character, this project employs Susan Friedman’s concept of intersectionality as a methodology of analysis, alongside a set of theoretical frameworks. The analytical approach begins with utilizing Beauvoir’s notion of becoming oneself (in this case, a woman) and incorporates bell hooks' understanding of all types of Kinship.

The research explores diverse female characters in four novels written in Egypt during the second half of the twentieth century by Latifa al-Zayyat and Radwa Ashour. It aims to investigate the (re)formation of women’s subjectivities through the notion of kinship (both blood-related and non-blood-related). This concept is shaped by the presence and absence of love, the establishment of friendship as a substitute for romantic and familial ties, and alternative modes of motherhood.

The study begins with love as a framework, starting in a romantic form with the character of Laila in The Open Door (1960) and continuing in The Owner of the House (1994) both by al-Zayyat, leading to a Beauvoirian expression of authentic subjectivity in the character of Samia. This character paves the way for Sawsan, a non-conformist consciousness in Ashour’s Khadeega and Sawsan (1986). In this novel, we observe a transitional phase of contemplating the scenery of relationships, where different structures of familial and romantic love continue to provide a context for the (re)formation of female subjectivity.

Against the backdrop of failing traditional kinships, the text demonstrates a state of disillusionment and challenges the idea of romantic love as the primary form of relationships. This theme is developed with Nada in Ashour’s Farag 2008 (also known as Blue Lorries), where bell hooks’ concept of friendship emerges as an alternative form of non-blood kinship in the chosen absence of romantic love. In addition, the study extends to examine traditional and non-traditional forms of motherhood and the mother-daughter dynamics within the four novels.