NeMLA 2023: North African Women Writers (NeMLA)

From Nawal el Saadawi’s writings against FGM to Tunisian protests advocating for changes to inheritance law, this panel considers North Africa’s women writers in conversation with the conference theme, resilience. How have these women writers mediated and negotiated their interconnected position within the Mediterranean zone: between Europe and sub-Saharan Africa and between the Mashreq and Al-Andalus? How have they, to borrow from Hélène Cixous, stolen/flown away with the systems that they worked within, including language systems, genre conventions, and traditional literary markets? What are their roles in decolonization projects, including the assertion of Amazigh rights? Papers concerning women writers from across North Africa, including Mauritania, that consider these questions or others are welcome.

Please send questions to rforney1@binghamton.edu