Summary
Leila Aboulela’s fiction has been studied from diverse perspectives, focusing on her representation of Islam, gender, identity and the immigrant experience. Her works have been categorized as “halal fiction” that adheres to Islamic principles, portraying faith as empowering. Critics examine her negotiation of Arab and Western cultures, arguing her writing forges new identities and acts as cultural translation. Aboulela’s first novel The Translator (1999) centers on Sammar, a Sudanese widow and translator living in exile in Scotland. It explores loss, love and the hardships of immigration. Aboulela’s second novel Minaret (2005) is about Najwa, an upper-class Sudanese woman adjusting to exile in London. Her works highlight the challenges of cultural displacement and the search for purpose. Aboulela’s writings have been studied using postcolonial, cosmopolitan and Islamic feminist approaches. Critics argue her fiction counters stereotypes of Islam as oppressive, instead showing its moral guidance. Her portrayals of Muslim women finding independence and purpose in faith are seen as empowering. Studies consider her engagement with Arab and Western perspectives, arguing her texts mediate between cultures, translating Arab experiences for Western readers and fostering cross-cultural understanding. Critics note Aboulela’s works fit trends in contemporary Anglophone literature by immigrant and postcolonial writers. Like other “minor literatures,” her writings provide insight into marginalized experiences and identities. Scholars place her within a tradition of immigrant African and Arab women’s writing that has gained more mainstream recognition and contributes alternative perspectives to English literature. Aboulela's more recent novel The Kindness of Enemies (2015) expands her exploration of identity, war and cross-cultural understanding. Set during the Crimean War and in contemporary Britain, it interweaves stories of a Scottish woman researching her family history and a Muslim military leader negotiating Christianity and Islam. This epic work further evidences Aboulela's interests in conflict, love and the meeting of cultures.
Shamil raised his captured Russian officer, Major Nikolai Venyaminov as his adoptive son. Though a captive, Venyaminov is exposed to and fascinated with the Caucasus tribal way of life. As an adult, Venyaminov works as a historian and translates Shamil's work into Russian, telling his story with empathy and nuance.
Published By:
Faten Ahmed Ramadan Ramadan - undefined
2019
Cited By:
0
The novel’s intercultural dialogism depicts healing power in shared moral orientations.
Published By:
Ayman Abu-Shomar - undefined
2020
Cited By:
1
New Arab women's immigrant literature promotes cultural exchange between Arab and Western societies. Writings express new cultural identities.
Published By:
Hasna Kersani - Arab World English Journal For Translation and Literary Studies
2020
Cited By:
0
Leila Aeboula (1964- ) is a Sudanese contemporary novelist.Her reputation as a pioneer of ‘halal fiction’ and her classification as a multicultural and postcolonial writer are the main reasons for an investigation of her novels.She is mainly concerned with the conflict evident between cultures.She always tries to find a middle way out of these cultural encounters.Minaret is an embodiment of her thought.The researcher tries to relate Aboulela’s views to the theories of cultural conflict in postcolonial and multicultural contemporary fiction.
Published By:
Hala Mohamed Abdel-Raouf - undefined
2016
Cited By:
0
Women's writing in modern Arabic literature has evolved significantly.Immigrant Arab writers based in the West have recently started gaining recognition.
Published By:
Kersani Hasna - Social Science Research Network
2020
Cited By:
0
This paper examines the emergence of the Anglophone Arab campus novel.It shows how the campus novel genre, once seen as exclusive to American and European literature, has reached the Arab world. The research proves Arab diaspora writers are pioneering the campus novel. It highlights key features of western campus novels and how selected Arab novels adopt them. The paper analyzes Laila Lalami’s Secret Son, Leila Aboulela’s The Kindness of Enemies and Isabella Hammad’s The Parisian, representing different campuses and Arab student/academic experiences. Discussions include: campus as microcosm; xenophobia facing Arabs in the West; protagonists’ growth; satire; love.
Published By:
Selma Benaziza - Dirasat Human and Social Sciences
2023
Cited By:
0
The two novels explore code-switching; the new generation focuses on cross-cultural negotiation, not confronting colonizers.
Published By:
Dina Hassan - undefined
2018
Cited By:
0
The study compares novels by Leila Aboulela and Mohja Kahf, arguing their works depict Islam as empowering by providing purpose and meaning.Though set in different contexts, the texts show Islam as central in characters' diasporic journeys.
Published By:
T. Scarf - undefined
2021
Cited By:
2
Leila Aboulela's The Kindness of Enemies develops a captivity narrative, set in the 19th century Crimean war and present-day Britain, that broadens our common humanity.
Published By:
Charles L. Campbell - International Journal of Arabic-English Studies
2019
Cited By:
2
African women scholars explore transnational 21st-century culture by African women; major writers represent a wave originating with globalization, confounding “roots” versus “routes” binary.
Published By:
Laura Chrisman - Cultural Studies
2022
Cited By:
0