Status
Available
Collection
Publication
Reading, Mass. : Addison-Wesley Pub. Co., c1994.
Description
As a little girl, Fatima Mernissi was often puzzled by the idea of the harem. Even if you accepted that men and women needed to be kept apart, she asked, why couldn't it be the woman who walked freely in the streets, while men stayed locked behind the harem gates? In this story, she tells of her childhood in a Fez harem in the 1940s, a period of social transition in Morocco.
User reviews
LibraryThing member cestovatela
Born in a Moroccan harem in 1940, Fatima Mernissi grows up staring at the small square of sky visible above the family courtyard. Like all the women in the harem, Fatima finds joy in family life but chafes at traditional restrictions. None of the family's women are allowed outside the heavy wooden
Mernissi excels at descriptive writing but falters at re-creating her childhood self. Young Fatima is almost too intellectual to be believed, posing problems of religious freedom and women's rights in unusually precise academic language. It often seemed that the adult Mernissi, a professor of sociology at Morocco's top university, allowed her older self to overwhelm the younger one. Luckily, she makes up for this flaw with rich, detailed writing that creates vivid mental pictures of a vanished world. Each chapter, which seems to focus on description rather than narration, brings to life a dozen small worlds, like the precious family terrace and the peaceful public bath houses. This occasionally makes the book feel unfocused, but never to the point that I wanted to stop reading. This would be a good choice for people interested in women, Islam or Morocco, or simply for people who enjoy beautiful writing about far-off places.
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gates of the courtyard without special permission. Journeys beyond the end of the street are categorically prohibited, alogn with dozens of other mundane privileges like wearing lipstick and smoking cigarettes. But this is not the typical downtrodden Muslim woman tale. Each of the Mernissi women radiate wisdom, intellect and creativity as they throw themselves into staging household theater productions, devising new beauty treatments and preparing their daughters for life in a new, liberated Morocco.Mernissi excels at descriptive writing but falters at re-creating her childhood self. Young Fatima is almost too intellectual to be believed, posing problems of religious freedom and women's rights in unusually precise academic language. It often seemed that the adult Mernissi, a professor of sociology at Morocco's top university, allowed her older self to overwhelm the younger one. Luckily, she makes up for this flaw with rich, detailed writing that creates vivid mental pictures of a vanished world. Each chapter, which seems to focus on description rather than narration, brings to life a dozen small worlds, like the precious family terrace and the peaceful public bath houses. This occasionally makes the book feel unfocused, but never to the point that I wanted to stop reading. This would be a good choice for people interested in women, Islam or Morocco, or simply for people who enjoy beautiful writing about far-off places.
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LibraryThing member ostrom
This book is superb. It's a vivid, complex portrait of a "harem," which, unlike the exoticized Western stereoptype, is chiefly a family-compound with an intricately organized way of life. Highly readable, highly recommended.
LibraryThing member wandering_star
This was an early LT recommendation - and what a great one. Fatima Mernissi is now a feminist academic, and in this book she recounts stories from her formative years, growing up in a harem in Fez, Morocco, in the 1940s.
The French colonists have had relatively little impact on tradition, but a
But for the ones who remain, the ways they can challenge convention are relatively limited - for some, merely abandoning traditional embroidery patterns in favour of a bird spreading its wings leads to criticism.
But Mernissi shows us very clearly that although these women have no power, they do have agency. They admire the new Arab film stars and singers, although they can only leave the compound to go to the cinema on very rare occasions. Cousin Chama tries to run past the guard to go to the cinema, and puts on plays on the terrace about early Arab feminists. ("The problem with some of Chama's favourite feminists, especially the early ones, was that they did not do much besides write, since they were locked up in harems. That meant that there was not much action to be staged, and we just had to sit and listen to Chama recite their protests and complaints in monologue.")
This is an easy-to-read memoir which is also an eye-opening insight into a world which is frequently misunderstood. I honestly think that everyone should read it - my aunt, for example, would never be induced to read a book if told it was about the early years of a feminist, still less a Muslim one, but I think that she would be fascinated by the stories and charmed by the style.
The terrace exit route was seldom watched, for the simple reason that getting to it from the street was a difficult undertaking. You needed to be quite good at three skills: climbing, jumping, and agile landing. Most of the women could climb up and jump fairly well, but not many could land gracefully. So, from time to time, someone would come in with a bandaged ankle, and everyone would know just what she'd been up to. The first time I came down from the terrace with bleeding knees, Mother explained to me that a woman's chief problem in life was figuring out how to land. 'Whenever you are about to embark on an adventure,' she said, 'you have to think about the landing. Not about the takeoff. So whenever you feel like flying, think about how and where you'll end up.'
The French colonists have had relatively little impact on tradition, but a
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wave of social change is sweeping across the Arab world, and many of the older women in the harem - Mernissi's aunts and cousins - want to embrace it. Some of Mernissi's uncles have already left the harem, tired of communal family life. But for the ones who remain, the ways they can challenge convention are relatively limited - for some, merely abandoning traditional embroidery patterns in favour of a bird spreading its wings leads to criticism.
But Mernissi shows us very clearly that although these women have no power, they do have agency. They admire the new Arab film stars and singers, although they can only leave the compound to go to the cinema on very rare occasions. Cousin Chama tries to run past the guard to go to the cinema, and puts on plays on the terrace about early Arab feminists. ("The problem with some of Chama's favourite feminists, especially the early ones, was that they did not do much besides write, since they were locked up in harems. That meant that there was not much action to be staged, and we just had to sit and listen to Chama recite their protests and complaints in monologue.")
This is an easy-to-read memoir which is also an eye-opening insight into a world which is frequently misunderstood. I honestly think that everyone should read it - my aunt, for example, would never be induced to read a book if told it was about the early years of a feminist, still less a Muslim one, but I think that she would be fascinated by the stories and charmed by the style.
The terrace exit route was seldom watched, for the simple reason that getting to it from the street was a difficult undertaking. You needed to be quite good at three skills: climbing, jumping, and agile landing. Most of the women could climb up and jump fairly well, but not many could land gracefully. So, from time to time, someone would come in with a bandaged ankle, and everyone would know just what she'd been up to. The first time I came down from the terrace with bleeding knees, Mother explained to me that a woman's chief problem in life was figuring out how to land. 'Whenever you are about to embark on an adventure,' she said, 'you have to think about the landing. Not about the takeoff. So whenever you feel like flying, think about how and where you'll end up.'
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LibraryThing member EvBishop
Gorgeous, rich story with beautiful imagery and details. Very thought-provoking and opened up a world I know nothing about -- two very different Moroccan harems in the mid 1900s. I especially loved how, though the author pulled no punches regarding the plight of women in the situations the story
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depicted, she also showed the love and good qualities that exist within the male/female relationships and within the harem structure itself. It can be easy to look in at another culture's way of doing things and think, Ugh, it's all wrong. It's backwards. I appreciated experiencing an insider view of various people's lives--and their responses/feelings about said lives--not all bad, not all romanticized. Show Less
LibraryThing member bunwat
I liked this very much. It was light without being shallow. Its primarily the memories of a girl growing up to about the age of ten in the 40's in a Moroccan family compound where purdah was kept. Sometimes it shades over into the fantastic, but that's part of the story she is telling, that women
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living physically restricted lives blossomed and flew in their imaginations - sometimes into silliness but still, they found a way to be joyous despite real restrictions and frustrations that she doesn't try to minimize. Show Less
LibraryThing member CKADRI24
Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood, is written by highly acclaimed Moroccan sociologist Fatima Mernissi, and is, among many other things, about Mernissi’s own challenges and journey to understanding the world as a child, and later young adult, living and growing up in a traditional
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“harem” in Fez, Morocco during French colonial rule of the country. The memoir is compelling as it is presented through the eyes of the naive, often rebellious, and humorous little girl that Mernissi once was, and details the ways in which many of the strong women in her life, namely Fatima’s Grandmother, Mother, and Aunt, use theater, music, and most of all, stories, in order to express their own dreams of escaping the entrapments of the harem, whose walls they are unfortunately forced to stay in. Through the use of their lessons and artistic expressions, the women are able to impress their feminist ideals upon the young Mernissi, with the hope that one day, she, unlike them, will be able to escape harem life, and make an impact on the world as a woman.They encourage her to challenge the social and convention norms of who women, and human beings in general are “supposed” to be, and can thus do the same to all readers of such a text. Moreover, Dreams of Trespass offers insight into a part of the world that most students more than likely know little or nothing about, and thus de-mythicizes disillusions concerning Muslim women and their role in society during the time in which harems existed in Morocco. The autobiography is relevant and important to teach in classrooms as it both presents a narration from a strong female voice, which can potentially inspire students to make social changes of their own, represents the immense power of words, and also challenges misconceptions about the religion of Islam, and women’s position within it. Show Less
LibraryThing member DubaiReader
Semi-autobiographical.
This was a book I'd been meaning to read ever since I visited Morocco two years ago, so I was very happy that my English/Arabic book group chose to read it for this month's discussion.
Although it appears to be a memoir, the author's web site refers to it as a work of fiction
There are various sorts of harem around the world and the author describes two distinct types in her narrative. There is the rural farm where the author's mother was raised, which allows the women to leave the compound to shop, farm and ride horses, while the closed and gated harem in the city of Fez requires the women to have permission to exit and the gate is zealously guarded by a gatekeeper.
The author was raised in Fez, where the weekly trip to the hamam or local baths at the end of the street was pretty much the only reason allowed for exit.
One exceptional outing described in the book was a visit to the local cinema, where a morally acceptable film was showing. The women wore veils and sat together in a long row. Tickets were then purchased for the row in front and behind so no-one else could sit there and be unacceptably close.
In this closed environment the women entertained themselves with story-telling and plays. The divorced aunt, Habiba and Fatima's older cousin, Chama, were the leaders in these exploits. I got the impression that these happened fairly frequently and could often become somewhat uproarious.
The other source of entertainment was the weekly beauty session preceding the visit to the hamam. Various potions would be concocted with recipes handed down through generations and zealously guarded. Face masks, hair treatments and henna were all applied and not removed until they reached the baths.
I found all the descriptions of this enclosed life decidedly claustrophobic. Meal times were shared, bathing, entertainment and cooking were all communal. There was very little time that could be spent on one's own. There was reference to depression amongst some of the women too. But there were positive aspects as well; support was always available at times of need and the children were raised in an environment where there was constantly someone around for advice or assistance. Siblings and cousins all lived together, playing all sorts of games and getting into various scrapes.
Supposedly narrated by Fatima as an eight year old child, some aspects of this book seemed a bit too academic, but the overall picture was well described. The author left us with a detailed feel for the characters and the life they lived in that place and time.
Set in the early forties, this way of life is no longer the norm in Morocco. The protagonists foretold of a time when women would have freedom of choice, to be educated and perform a useful function in a more liberal society.
I found this a bit of a slow read and put it down part way through to read something lighter, hence the three stars. Interesting but not a page-turner.
This was a book I'd been meaning to read ever since I visited Morocco two years ago, so I was very happy that my English/Arabic book group chose to read it for this month's discussion.
Although it appears to be a memoir, the author's web site refers to it as a work of fiction
Show More
and Wikipedia notes that this fact appears in the French (and Arabic) version, but not in the English one.There are various sorts of harem around the world and the author describes two distinct types in her narrative. There is the rural farm where the author's mother was raised, which allows the women to leave the compound to shop, farm and ride horses, while the closed and gated harem in the city of Fez requires the women to have permission to exit and the gate is zealously guarded by a gatekeeper.
The author was raised in Fez, where the weekly trip to the hamam or local baths at the end of the street was pretty much the only reason allowed for exit.
One exceptional outing described in the book was a visit to the local cinema, where a morally acceptable film was showing. The women wore veils and sat together in a long row. Tickets were then purchased for the row in front and behind so no-one else could sit there and be unacceptably close.
In this closed environment the women entertained themselves with story-telling and plays. The divorced aunt, Habiba and Fatima's older cousin, Chama, were the leaders in these exploits. I got the impression that these happened fairly frequently and could often become somewhat uproarious.
The other source of entertainment was the weekly beauty session preceding the visit to the hamam. Various potions would be concocted with recipes handed down through generations and zealously guarded. Face masks, hair treatments and henna were all applied and not removed until they reached the baths.
I found all the descriptions of this enclosed life decidedly claustrophobic. Meal times were shared, bathing, entertainment and cooking were all communal. There was very little time that could be spent on one's own. There was reference to depression amongst some of the women too. But there were positive aspects as well; support was always available at times of need and the children were raised in an environment where there was constantly someone around for advice or assistance. Siblings and cousins all lived together, playing all sorts of games and getting into various scrapes.
Supposedly narrated by Fatima as an eight year old child, some aspects of this book seemed a bit too academic, but the overall picture was well described. The author left us with a detailed feel for the characters and the life they lived in that place and time.
Set in the early forties, this way of life is no longer the norm in Morocco. The protagonists foretold of a time when women would have freedom of choice, to be educated and perform a useful function in a more liberal society.
I found this a bit of a slow read and put it down part way through to read something lighter, hence the three stars. Interesting but not a page-turner.
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LibraryThing member Sullywriter
Insightful and interesting.
LibraryThing member kakadoo202
Repetitive. Slow.