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]
Plot summary
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.
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 her background
Fatima Mernissi was a Moroccan feminist. She grew up in a harem in Morocco in the 1940s and the book recounts her experiences.[2] This time period was one of significant cultural change in the country.[2]
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.[3] This genre debunks the two Western stereotypes of Muslim women: the quiet victim and the lascivious odalisque.[2] This genre also critiques both political and domestic forces that shape their world.[2]
Analysis
Dreams of Trespass blurs the boundaries of autobiography, fiction, and history.[4] The book contains ample references to the independence of Morocco and the role women played in it.[4]
Marta Mamet-Michalkiewicz, of University of Silesia, sees the book as deconstructing Orientalist myths regarding the harem.[5]
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 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.
- Filiz Turhan-Swenson (2007). Nawar Al-Hassan Golley (ed.). Arab Women's Lives Retold: Exploring Identity Through Writing. Syracuse University Press.