Dreams of Trespass
 | |
| Author | Fatima Mernissi |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Memoir |
| Publisher | Perseus Books |
Publication date | 1994 |
| Publication place | Morocco |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover and Paperback) |
| Pages | 242 (paperback edition) |
| ISBN | 0-201-48937-6 (paperback edition) |
Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood is a novel by Fatima Mernissi (In the UK, its original title was The Harem Within: Tales of a Moroccan Girlhood; this is still the UK title.) It describes her fictionalised youth in a Moroccan harem during the 1940s and brings up topics such as Islamic feminism, Arab nationalism, French colonialism and the clash between the traditional and the modern. It is a fictional work, although this fact is only noted in the French version, not the English.[1]
Content
This details a fictive account of Mernissi's childhood and adolescence in a traditional harem in Fez, Morocco during the 1940s and early 1950s. The protagonist narrates her childhood at both the traditional, walled harem in Fez and the equally traditional but geographically open harem belonging to her grandfather, in the countryside.
Fatima's mother desires to see her children independent (throughout the novel the mother remains nameless[2]). When Fatima is born, her mother insists on celebrating her birth just as the birth of Samir, her male cousin. She persuades Fatima's father to send Fatima to school.[3] Fatima's mother sometimes clashes with the family matriarch, Fatima's grandmother, as the latter is quite traditional. But Fatima's mother's views are supported by Aunt Habiba, a divorcee, and cousin Chama.[3] Aunt Habiba reflects that colonization of Morocco may have been the punishment of Allah against men for oppressing women.[2] Aunt Habiba often serves as an inspiration for Fatima.[4] Fatima herself argues that oppressive traditions are not rooted in Islam.[2]
Yasmina is Fatima's maternal grandmother who lives in the countryside with her husband and his co-wives. Each co-wife has her own garden for growing vegetables and raising hens and peacocks.[5] Yasmina's husband spends one night with each wife, which means she has to sleep alone for several nights in a row.[5] Like her daughter, Yasmina disapproves the patriarchy as un-Islamic.[2] She sees the rules restricting the lives of women as worse than material gates and walls.[6] Yasmina predicts Fatima's life will be better than previous generations.[3]
Chama humorously conjectures how the harem started. Long ago men decided that the ruler would be the one among them who could catch and confine the most women for himself. The Roman emperor won the first round and ruled the East and West because of his large harem.[7] Then, Harun al-Rashid managed to confine the most women in his palace, thus he ruled. Then the Europeans changed the rules: the ruler would be the one who builds the most weapons. That is how the French came to rule the Arabs, even though their president only has one wife.[7] Chama's story delights Fatima, but is condemned as ridiculing custom by the conservative paternal grandmother.[8]
Of particular concern for Mernissi and her cousin Samir is the definition of adult concepts—throughout the book, they are constantly discussing the nature of the harem, of hudud (sacred frontiers), questions of truth versus convenience, and the growing tension between French colonial forces and Moroccan nationalists.
Characters
Fez
- Uncle Ali: Mernissi's uncle and her father's oldest brother.
- Father: Mernissi's father, the younger of the two brothers who live in the harem
- Lalla Radia: the narrator's aunt
- Mother: Fatima Mernissi's mother, an outspoken feminist and opponent of harem life
- Lalla Mani: Mernissi's paternal grandmother, an extremely conservative, traditional matriarch
- Cousin Samir: Mernissi's male cousin, born just a few hours before her. He is a constant companion throughout childhood
- Cousin Chama: Mernissi's other cousin, a natural performer and storyteller
- Aunt Habiba: near the terrace of the Fez harem, who possesses great tenderness and storytelling skill
- Cousin Malika: Mernissi's manipulative older cousin
- Ahmed: the hired doorkeeper, whose job it is to ensure that none of the women leave the harem without permission
- Mina: a harem slave whose story of captivity inspires Mernissi to bravery
- Lalla Tam: Mernissi's exacting Koranic school instructor; one of the few individuals in the story who are not members of the harem
The Harem in the Countryside
- Yasmina: Mernissi's affectionate, rebellious maternal grandmother.
- Lalla Thor: The "first wife" of Mernissi's grandfather; (Tazi) who alienates herself from the other wives through her wealth and haughtiness.
- Tamou: a warrior and widow from the Atlas Mountains (An Amazigh), whose family (Father, Husband, and a young Son and Daughter) were killed while combatting Spanish occupation. Mernissi's grandfather Tazi shelters and marries her, and she and Yasmina eventually become friends.
- Yaya: a wife from Sudan, who suffers from homesickness until Yasmina and Tamou find and plant a banana tree for her.
Author and historical context
Fatima Mernissi was a Moroccan feminist. She grew up in a harem in Morocco in the 1940s and the book recounts her experiences.[9] This time period was one of significant cultural change in the country.[9]
Filiz Turhan-Swenson sees Mernissi as part of a movement of Muslim women who have presented their own experiences and their struggles with social constraints.[10] This genre debunks the two Western stereotypes of Muslim women: the quiet victim and the lascivious odalisque.[9] This genre also critiques both political and domestic forces that shape their world.[9]
Analysis
Dreams of Trespass blurs the boundaries of autobiography, fiction, and history.[11] The book contains ample references to the independence of Morocco and the role women played in it.[11]
Marta Mamet-Michalkiewicz, of University of Silesia, sees the book as deconstructing Orientalist myths regarding the harem.[12]
Filiz Turhan-Swenson writes that the book presents powerful feminist perspectives among women who are older, traditional and illiterate and dislike the patriarchy.[13] This challenges notions that Muslim women in patriarchy either love their own oppression or are unaware that they are being oppressed.[13]
References
- ^ Bourget, Carine. "Complicity with Orientalism in Third-World Women's Writing: Fatima Mernissi's Fictive Memoirs." Research in African Literatures 44.3 (2013): 30-49. ProQuest. 18 Feb. 2014 .
- ^ a b c d Ishaque 2018, p. 294.
- ^ a b c Ishaque 2018, p. 291.
- ^ Ishaque 2018, p. 295.
- ^ a b Ishaque 2018, p. 298.
- ^ Ishaque 2018, p. 293.
- ^ a b Turhan-Swenson 2007, p. 121-122.
- ^ Turhan-Swenson 2007, p. 122.
- ^ a b c d Turhan-Swenson 2007, p. 112.
- ^ Turhan-Swenson 2007, p. 111-112.
- ^ a b Raja Rhouni. Secular and Islamic Feminist Critiques in the Work of Fatima Mernissi. Brill. p. 138.
- ^ Marta Mamet–Michalkiewicz. "Paradise Regained?: The Harem in Fatima Mernissi's Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood". In Helga Ramsey-Kurz and Geetha Ganapathy-Doré (ed.). Projections of Paradise. p. 145-146.
- ^ a b Turhan-Swenson 2007, p. 113.
- Filiz Turhan-Swenson (2007). Nawar Al-Hassan Golley (ed.). Arab Women's Lives Retold: Exploring Identity Through Writing. Syracuse University Press.
- Nausheen Ishaque (February 12, 2019). "Empowerment through disempowerment: Harem and the covert female resistance in Fatima Mernissi's Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood". Cultural Dynamics: 284–302. doi:10.1177/0921374019828855.