Documentary

Hey all,

I thought I may share with you the documentary that I watched for my thesis. It is on YouTube! Here is Part One and you can follow all 10 sections. I highly recommend it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kl4rjsAiuY

Happy Thanksgiving!

Halloweenhead (Title not related to the post...)

Hey all,

I am pretty impressed  that I am already blogging again and it has only been about a week. While researching for my next chapter, I had a divine revelation. Bogged down in memory theory, an idea finally came to me. And I thought, why don't I just blog about it? That way I can feel like I am telling someone without having to actually bore any of my friends AND remember my ideas.

But first I must say, Happy Halloween! Here is a picture of me dressed up as a LOLCat.

 

The sign says, "I can haz candy?" Clever, right?

I realize the first question on your mind might be, why were you studying memory? (or it may be, why a LOLCat?) I will answer the first question (the second is simply obvious). By memory, I don't mean a memory stick or memory foam or memorization of facts. Instead, I refer to Personal vs. Collective memory. Confused by those terms? So was I!

Deciphering Khouri's book with these types of memory in mind is helpful. Why is that? Read on!
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"But what from one’s past can reasonably be known and subjected to examination?...Piled in with the rest are convenient imitation packages of memories constructed out of dreams and fantasies that were never paid for with experience.” -Bruce M. Ross

“Memory is furnished not only from the recollection of events which the individual has himself experienced but from the memories of others older than himself with whom he associates. From their account of their own experiences, which frequently antedates his own, and from written at various removes, his image of his ‘largest self’ is brought to include events which occurred both recently and earlier outside his own experiences. Thus, his knowledge of the past is furnished by the history of his family, of his neighborhood, of his city, of his religious community, of his ethnic group, of his nationality, of his country and of wider culture into which he has been assimilated.”-Edward Shils

Personal memory is casually defined as being: what I did, where I did it, how I did, when I did it. For example, I went to Smith between 2007-2011. I graduated with a history degree, etc etc. However, there is never any pure personal memory, for memory itself is a complicated, living, ever-changing thing. 

We run into mucky territory when we try to apply personal memory to Khouri's book. Through my research, it is almost certifiable that she did not experience the crimes she claims to witness in the book. This is where it is useful to cite Ross's quote. While it is almost a certainty that Khouri did not witness the death of a woman named Dalia, we can not deny it as part of her memory, even if it is constructed "out of dreams and fantasies." 

Ross goes on to claim:
"It can be furthered assumed as a general principle, if one acknowledges the inevitable social forging and personal memories, that it is somewhat arbitrary to limit influences that affect memory to the lifetime retention span of a single individuals and social institutions that transcend more that one generation."


I will refer back to this quote in the moment.

Yet, I cannot deny that Khouri's book is still not considered to be autobiographical memory. Ross defines autobiographical memory as being different from all other forms of memory because the events are "unrepeatable because they occurred at a specific point in time." However, that does not mean that it isn't personal. It is personal. Since Khouri is a con-artist and thus her memories are not transparent, we are forced to assume what we cannot prove.

But to create this book, it is probable that she used stories surrounding this topic from her community, newspapers, her parents and other relatives living in Jordan. The written and unwritten histories surrounding her contributed to this book. Jordan has become relatively infamous for honor killings, due to both the media and legislation. It is doubtful that as a Jordanian splitting time between America and Jordan that she did not get affected by honor killings and their place in the international dialogue.
************************************************************************************
 My recent thoughts have led me to the idea that Khouri is contributing to Collective Memory with her memoir. What is collective memory?

 

I know this cartoon isn't that helpful....

Collective memory as defined by James Wertsch is a "focus on how efforts to create a usable past meet political and identity needs." Novick expands, claiming that these memories work to establish an "essential truth about the group."

In this case, we can consider Khouri's group as an Arab woman. In her book, she is attempting to create an essential truth about honor killings in order to achieve a political and identity need. For example, she could be exploring the truths behind an identity as an Arab woman and what that entails. Or she could be defining what it entails for an Arab man. But her supposed political aim is to erradicate honor killings through political legislation.

Instead of a book about accuracy (Khouri has said it doesn't matter that she does not know what countries border Jordan) it is a book focused on a community message. Whether or not you think she portrayed that message for monetary gain is a seperate matter. What is evident, at least to me, is that she is engaging in a dialogue that existed at that time about honor killings. The book attempts to set the standard, to establish this "universal truth." That is why I quoted Ross regarding limiting memory to only personal memory. She could be unearthing this tale from the stories she heard around her, from the papers she has read in the past, it could come from several influences. It is doubtful to me that she pulled the story out of thin air. There needs to have been a precedent. And having lived in Jordan and America, she most likely had to deal with this cross-cultural identity.

But you may ask (with good reason), why does she not admit that? Why is it published as an autobiography? (I believe it is partially out of pride). She claims she was sexually assaulted by her father and beaten by her husband (the latter claim is unlikely) and that is what led to the story (after it was proven to be "untrue.") Why would she do this? Why would she make these audacious claims?

As a public figure, scrutinized for her deception of her readers and slandering of Jordan, Khouri took the quick way out. She is not stupid. She knows that trauma studies are influential and choosing another trauma to pin her lies on was a bold move. But like I mentioned earlier, we cannot believe her since she is a cunning con-artist. I would argue that she does not know where this story comes from. We cannot track her memory or her thought process. Consider a simple childhood memory. How do you know it is really truth? And where did your misconceptions of the event come from? You cannot pin it down. It wriggles away from you. If Khouri could explain it, perhaps she could. But I don't think she can. Or ever will be able to. 

I will be talking about a movie I watched about Khouri later this week. It is scandalous so be excited!

Sorry this post was so long. It is pretty instrumental that I lay it all out though. Don't you think?

Don't eat too much candy.

Salam,

Liz

Anti-Western

It not quite been a month since my last post, which I am happy about. I did not see my posts as being too frequent once the school year started. Since I lasted post, things have been happenin'.

As expected, my outline changed a bit. I combined all of the books into one chapter where I discuss their similarities. Then I created another chapter where I talk about why Nora Khouri's book is different, dangerous and potentially useful.  I submitted my first chapter. I would post that, but let us be serious, it is not ready for public consumption.

I know I have a few new readers and thank you for following! It gives me a kick (not of the Inception variety) to write some more, which is helpful.

I planned on writing tonight. I thought of discussing the contents of my last chapter, but last night, I got into an argument regarding Arab women. The question was this:
"As someone who wants to teach Arabic, do you find trouble reconciling the desire to teach it with the abuses of women in those countries?"

Barely missing a beat, I said, "No."

I will allow that yes, there is suppression (of all genders) in this "Arab" world (which is vast) that he speaks of...but this question draws a direct relationship between the language and sociological issues, history, and images portrayed by the media. And as the Juan Williams scandal has taught us anything, making direct correlations between something like language/appearance and sociological issues is probably politically incorrect. If I wanted to teach any other language, a question of this variety would not have been asked. I did not bring this up in our argument, but I figured I would get too angry to do so gracefully.

It was mostly how we perceived women in the "East" and how that is a problem. I went into the details of why his perception of "Arab women" was complicated by the way it is portrayed historically. (My step-Dad backed me up, props to him.)

I wish I could say I was the image of eloquence, composition, and that I didn't fume the entire dinner.

That would be a lie. I became a bit of a curmudgeon. I have a slight, slight temper, which rarely shows unless this issue is broached.

So instead of rehashing the jumbled conversation, I provide some quotations of things I imagine myself saying in future conversations. (And hey, maybe you could say them too). The quotes are provided from Chandra Talpade Mohanty's Feminism Without Borders, 2003 from Duke University Press. Some of them are out of context, but I think the general idea of what Mohanty is trying to portray is pretty evident.

“Not only is it problematic to speak of a vision of women shared by Arab and Muslim societies (i.e., over twenty different countries) without addressing the particular historical, material, and ideological power structures that construct such images, but to speak of the patriarchal family or the tribal kinship structures as the origin of the socioeconomic status of women is to assume again that women are sexual-political subjects prior to their entry into the family So while, on the one hand, women attain value or status within the family, the assumption of a singular patriarchal kinship system (common to all Arab and Muslim societies) is what apparently structures women as an oppressed group in these society. This singular, coherent kinship system presumably influences another separate and given entity ‘women.’ Thus, all women, regardless of class and cultural differences, are affected by this system. Not only are all Arab and Muslim women seen to constitute a homogeneous oppressed group, but there is no discussion of the specific practices within the family that constitute women as mothers, wives, sisters, and so on. Arabs and Muslims, it appears, don’t change at all. Their patriarchal family is carried over from the times of the prophet Muhammad. They exist, as it were, outside history.” (28)

Mohanty quotes Marnia Lazreg: “A ritual is established whereby the writer appeals to religion as the cause of gender inequality just as it is made the source of underdevelopment in much of modernization theory in an uncanny way…The overall effect of this paradigm is to deprive women of self-presence, of being. Because women are subsumed under religion presented in fundamental terms, they are inevitably seen as evolving in non historical time. They virtually have no history.” (29)

"Similarly, a large number of different, fragmented examples from a variety of countries also apparently add up to a universal fact. For instance, Muslim women in Saudi Arabi, Iran, Pakistan, India and Egypt all wear some sort of veil. Hence, the argument goes, sexual control of women is a uneversal fact in those countries." (33)

I won't overwhelm you all with anymore quotes. Or with my obvious bitterness towards the aforementioned conversation. 

Wish me luck on constructing my next chapter(s). I wish you all a lovely end-of-fall. 

Best,

Liz

Wait, Wait, Wait

Hey everyone! Do you find yourself thinking, "Hey, why hasn't Liz posted anything?"
Answer? I am in college again. No fooling around. BUT to make you happy (ier) here is my tentative outline. This outline is sort of like our constitution, in that it can be amended.
Enjoy!
(P.s. my friend just said, "Your entire outline? Do you think anyone is going to read that?" What can I say, if you have read my blog thus far, you must really like reading painful things)

I.      Introduction

a.     Setting the context: Norma Khouri and her book & immediate reception of it.

b.     The success and reactions.

c.     The question of truth.

d.     Central question: is truth more important than voice in autobiography?

e.     Can this book fill a gap left by other books? Will judge this by looking for voice, for representation of colonial relationship with colonies, as post-colonial literature and as a witness book. Will be done through engaging with colonial/post-colonial literary theory and comparison to other voices.

II.    Honor Killings 101

a.     Facts & Figures

b.     What is an honor killing?-Role of tribal culture

c.     What is an honor killing?-Role of religion

d.     What is an honor killing?-Role of society

e.     Common myths

f.      Special focus on Jordan, Turkey & Palestine

g.     Colonial/Post-Colonial context of honor killings

III.  Colonial/Post-Colonial Literacy & Memory theory

a.     The West/East binary & dialogue

b.     Memory and the memoir

                                               i.     Development of memories, briefly. Importance of childhood memories and story telling

                                             ii.     Recollection: the truth debate

c.     What makes a memoir important in this context? These are the questions to consider in the upcoming analysis.

IV. The survivor: Burned Alive

a.     The story-protagonist survived by the intervention of Western powers

b.     The voice: wtinessto provide a unique view point from her “European” life

                                               i.     Enlightenment from her new position in the world

                                             ii.     This gives her the right to testify, to provide witness as a survivor and as a witness to honor crimes

                                            iii.     Self-criticism. West vs. East

c.     The role of men

                                               i.     Generalizations: men and rural society. We see this in the scenes of beating and ruthlessness. Often these scenes are connected directly to a rural upbringing.

                                             ii.     Man as brother/murderer

                                            iii.     Western lover vs. Eastern

d.     The Role of Women

                                               i.     Ineptitude-she can not see the system around her as an Easterner. When she is in Europe, she suddenly understands.

                                             ii.     The lack of rebellion on part of the women surrounding her-as if they don’t understand. HOWEVER, they DO rebel. What does it mean that she can’t see this from her European post?

                                            iii.     Explore what her daughters symbolizes

e.     What niche does this book fit? What does it lack, provide, etc? What damage does it do?

f.      Keep these things in mind ultimately!

V.   Honour Killing: Men Who Kill

a.     Second hand testimonial/journalistic. Turkish woman interviewing other Turkish people.

b.     As a country that straddles the line between Middle Eastern and European-how does Turkey complicate our vision of post-colonial/colonial literature?

c.     Role of men:

                                               i.     Given voices and some choice in their recollection.

                                             ii.     Victims of society and independent actors working from free will

                                            iii.     Complicates “hero” stereotype

d.     Role of women

                                               i.     Not necessarily “progressive” or “western”-she complicates this idea of what “makes” a honor killing victim

                                             ii.     Women both as victims, perpetrators and even survivors

e.     There is no consistent story arc, per se.

f.      It is a more complicated idea-providing all these voices without drawing a single conclusion except that honor is the prevailing concept. What is misleading about that? Can we always say honor is the main perpetrator?

g.     What niche does it fit? What does it provide? What does it damage? She is not the voice, but the provider of voices. How does this change the dynamic?

VI. Honor Lost

a.     A memoir of a witness of an honor killing…as well as a potential victim.

b.     An “enlightened perspective” from a Christian who maintains the idea that Islam is responsible for honor crimes

c.     A self-designated refugee from her home country who “escapes” her fate to an Internet café. Finds refuge in a Western world to write her story.

d.     Role of men:

                                               i.     Arab and especially Muslim men=universal tyrants who rule the women in their house

                                             ii.     Guardians with nothing better to do

                                            iii.     One dimensional

e.     Role of women:

                                               i.     Only a few enlightened ones…but she places herself as an exception along with Dina

                                             ii.     Victims in a sense, as well as willful participators

                                            iii.     Constant honor killings are suggested

                                            iv.     Constantly conspiring to get back at men

f.      Tone: Disdain for country, idealization for the west, purposeful.

g.     Why is this tone significant? How does it play into the colonial/post-colonial value system? In literature?

VII.         Fallout

a.     Damages: Fallout form Khouri’s book. How did it perpetuate existing stereotypes about gender norms in the Middle East?

b.     Why this is problematic for national identity, safety, and progress for women in both

VIII.       Balancing act

a.     What is evident in the other two books that the third books lack/contradict? Is this important? How does Khouri’s book detract from the voice of the others?

b.     What is lacking in the other two books that Khouri provides? Are these voices important?

IX.  Conclusion

Headsfull

Hello my 12 followers (plus secret readers-I know who some of you are),

My GRE is over! It went well! The end to that saga! Now on to grad school apps, statements of purpose, and....wait, the saga isn't over at all. Whoops. Moving on....

Tomorrow afternoon I meet with my adviser to discuss my thesis and fine tune my focus. I talked with a graduated senior from last year who told me I am right on track and should not be nervous. She did not have her thesis started at this point, so I feel like I might be ok. I have preliminary writings and research. I have a start.

Nonetheless, I am worried my advisers may want works written in Arabic-which were difficult to find. I suppose my other concerns would be the need for more documentation in general. I am excited/nervous to discover what else I should be doing. I definitely feel stagnated (everyone in my life who has heard/will hear me complain and fret, I love you more than you can know).

To work out some of those nerves, I decided to make a little entry and explain to you all how I have changed my focus for my thesis over this summer. You have all shared in the majority of the information I discovered over the past few months and have hopefully learned along with me.

As you know, I am discussing the book Honour Lost by Norma Khouri. This book is a false memoir that claims that Khouri witnessed an honour crime. My thesis hopes to discover the worth of this book.

What do I mean by worth? I mean academic worth. Is this a book that is useful in discourse? Can it show students/academics something in its style, POV, etc? Or is the damage the book did to the movement to stop honour killings cancel its possible benefits? I have discussed these damages in other areas of the blog (see The Lady Vanishes).

I will discover worth in several ways. I plan to compare it to other testimonies/biographies/dedications in terms of style, language, POV and public reaction. I also will assess if this book can function as a type of memorial for other witnesses. Memory is a key aspect in all these works of writing and it will be considered. I will delve further into memory studies to try to unearth more information.

My other goal in writing this thesis is to illustrate how this book displays colonial thought (the basic Us vs. Them). I want to discover more how colonial history may have influenced her writing and decision to create the book. I am insecure about how to incorporate this portion, but perhaps it can fit along with the "worth" section.

A great hope of mine in terms of this thesis is to show how both the "Western" and "Eastern" world had a common goal: eradicating gender violence. By freeing ourselves of this colonial dialogue, we can accomplish much more (I know this is a little stars and unicorns, but you get my drift).

I hope you all wish me luck in my endeavor. This blog will continue and I will provide updates on what I am reading and my various struggles.

Best,
Liz

Ready to Start (school)

Hello!

I am super, super busy moving in right now. But! I am hoping to make a post later this week/weekend.
In the meantime, here is an interesting article for you all to read.

Best,
Liz

Eastern Glow

Wow. I mean wow. It has been too long of a time! Do forgive me for the time a part. I have been busy studying for theyouknowwhat. Today is my last class and then I am off to LA to see my brother William. Speaking of which, you should watch this video here and help his group win a contest.

In this long-delayed post, I will return to the book "Honour" Crimes, Paradigms, and Violence Against Women. The article in of focus will be "Crimes of honour, value and meaning" by Purna Sen. So, lets get to it!

Sen ellaborates in the beginning of her article that the increasing focus on honour killings in the last ten years illustrates a "cooperation on the international level." She continues to expatiate on the disadvantages of this interaction as well. These short-comings include:

"identifying Islamic culture as deeply imbued with backward approaches to gender relations, associating Islam intriniscally with honour killings, and highlighting Islamic cultures as therefore inherently problematic, have left a tangle of anger, moral superiority, urgency to act and defensiveness that complicate both conceptualizing and acting against honour crimes."

I am sure you are all rolling your eyes, saying "Liz, I understand this by now." But! Sen goes on to create parallels between this attitude, anti-terrorism and colonial encounters. This idea of barbaric and violent Arabs who hate freedom (and by freedom, I mean America) is parallel to the anti-terror dialog we hear almost daily. This means Islamophobia can quickly become mired in this already catastrophic issue.

Furthermore, the tone of colonial powers is seen through new reports, magazine articles (like the one I presented), and newspapers. She writes, "colonial encounters cemented both the assumed moral supperiority of the West over the rest and the existence of an intense eye upon 'other' cultures." This ultimately makes indigenous voices stiffled, for how can the judged fix their own culture? They are assumed to be inferior and therefore, not allowed to participate. This critical eye is certainly seen in Nora Khouri's book. She acts as a colonial power, judging another culture, which claims as her own. She flees to a western nation to save herself from the insatiable barbarity of the East.

But hold on a minute! Surely we have standards for honour as well. Anyone who has read Jane Austen can see how lives of the aristocrat revolved around concepts of honour and pride. Sen notes that Europe's medieval codes of chivalry revolve around honour. Also, this notion hasn't died off. A neo-Nazi group in the UK holds onto a code of honour that "to live by honour one is prepared to die rather than be dishonoured."

Yet in colonial or western language, this honour is completely different. It is the highest order of civility. It indicates culture and pride. It is when honour is applied to the "other" that it becomes a mark of barbarity. Honour leads men to kill in backwards, savage way. Sen notes the historical trend:

"This gaze also has a history, with colonial advances setting the standards of judgment of native gender relations by the colonial power and of claims to moral superiority among the colonizers too." Colonial/orientalist views want to take this honour and mold it into their standard of gender relations. Honour killings have become the new campaign, whereas the veil, child marriage and widow burning were campaigns of the colonial periods.

If you ever have seen Wife Swap, you know someone who walks into your house and tells you your ways of life are wrong usually leads to a bit of conflict. So the West telling the East what to do is a messy situation. The East feels like it is under attack, so it strikes back, becoming more extreme, committing more honour crimes, and suppressing women more. The West has created the image that the East IS how it treats its women. Therefore, the East takes the image they have been given and runs with it to the extreme instead of falling 'victim' to Westernization.

This means that the state feels that it is in its interest to protect this crimes against women under law. Thus, murderers are exonerated because the legal code allows leniency. The state is trying to preserve its identity in direct defiance of the west. Thus, books like Norma Khouri's provoke a stronger reaction in states like Jordan, where reform is stiffed.

Sen goes on to define honour crimes, but I will skip over this section and go straight to her "Common Frameworks" section. She proposes several alternative approaches to battle honour crimes.
-Expand the concept of honour to incorporate practices in the west. We suffer from rape, unequal pay, domestic abuse, etc. Usually, these are justified through concepts of honour.
-Further, the link between Islam and honour killings needs to be eradicated. It simple is not there. Honour killings came long before Islam.
-Adopt a human rights framework in order to tackle these issues

These approaches also problematize western culture and eastern culture does not suffer alone. A continuing spectrum on which to define honour killings is essential.

The best method to attack this problem is still being adopted...but for now, that's all she wrote!

-Liz