Imagining Arab Womanhood: The Cultural Mythology of Veils, Harems, and Belly Dancers in the U.S.

by A. Jarmakani

Overview

Imagining Arab Womanhood examines orientalist images of Arab womanhood in the United States since the turn of the twentieth century, exploring, in particular, representations of belly dancers, harem girls, and veiled women. Through semiotic analysis, Jarmakani demonstrates that these images have functioned as nostalgic placeholders for pressing, yet unarticulated concerns about shifting spatial and temporal realities within the contexts of expansionism/modernization and imperialism/late capitalism. Calling these representations cultural mythologies, Jarmakani maps them onto dominant American narratives of power and progress, insisting on an analysis that understands them to be artifacts shaped by the interests of the American contexts in which they circulate. Imagining Arab Womanhood is a vital addition to conversations about representation, race, and gender.

About the Author:
Amira Jarmakani is Assistant Professor, Women's Studies Institute, Georgia State University

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781349372577
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan US
Publication date:	10/09/2015
Edition description:	1st ed. 2008
Pages:	236
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

AMIRA JARMAKANI is Assistant Professor in the Women's Studies Institute at Georgia State University, USA.

Table of Contents

List of Figures     vii
Acknowledgments     ix
Preface     xi
Introduction: Excavating Orientalist Images of Arab Womanhood     1
Traveling Orientalism: U.S. Echoes of a French Tradition     27
Dancing the Hootchy Kootchy: The Rhythms and Contortions of American Orientalism     63
Selling Little Egypt: The Commodification of Arab Womanhood     103
Veiled Intentions: The Cultural Mythology of Veils, Harems, and Belly Dancers in the Service of Empire, Security, and Globalization     139
Conclusion     185
Notes     191
Bibliography     213
Index     229

Editorial Reviews

'This is an outstanding, truly innovative, and very timely project that explores predominant images of Arab women in U.S. popular culture.' - Nadine Naber, Program in American Culture and Department of Women's Studies, University of Michigan, USA

From the Publisher