São Paulo – The first edition of the Symposium on Women and Arab Literature will receive ten scholars in the field, including mediators and lecturers. The event (in Portuguese) will take place online from November 16 to 18. It is organized by the International Center for Arab and Islamic Studies (CEAI) of the Federal University of Sergipe (UFS), in partnership with the Arab Women’s Film Festival and Brazilian publishing house Editora Tabla.
Mariane Soares Gennari, a researcher at the CEAI, revealed the subject of the symposium arose from exchanges, mainly between her and other researchers, during the Arab World and Diasporas Reading Club, organized by the center. “The focus on women was due to the thematic interest the organizers of the event have, as well as the pivotal role of women in Arab literature. We were planning the following Reading Club readings and came across several female authors who have reached the Brazilian public: Hoda Barakat (pictured above), Adania Shibli, Jokha Alharthi, Iman Humaydan, for example. And even when we think of male authors, some of the books have women as the primary character, even though they would seem like only supporting,” she pointed out.
As examples, Gennari mentioned books such as “Who’s Afraid of Meryl Streep?” by Lebanese writer Rashid Al-Daif, published in Brazil by Tabla, and the classic “One Thousand and One Nights / The Arabian Nights.” “We immediately remember the central role of a character like Scheherazade. Thus, the place female characters occupy in literature is not random. They reveal sophisticated literature of complex and contradictory societies. In addition, characters, writers, translators, and professionals linked to editorial production broaden perspectives not only on the Arab world but contribute to the rupture of stereotyped and essentialist views about the world in general,” concluded the researcher.
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Among the speakers will be Safa Jubran, professor of the University of São Paulo (USP), with the lecture ‘Contemporary Arab female writers: what is fiction written by Arab women about nowadays?’ Jubran is a translator and has worked on the publication in Brazil of works such as “The Night Mail” by Lebanese author Hoda Barakat.
Also at the event will be Jemima de Sousa Alvez, a Ph.D. student at USP; Christiane Damien, Ph.D. at USP; Sheila Cristina dos Santos, a Ph.D. student at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC); and Laura Di Pietro, founder of Editora Tabla. In addition to them, Mariana de Medeiros Costa, Ana Paula Rocha de Souza, and Wellem da Silva Evangelista, researchers from the CEAI, will also participate.
Quick facts:
I Simpósio Mulheres e Literatura Árabe [I Symposium on Women and Arab Literature] (in Portuguese)
November 16, 17, and 18
Registration: https://www.sigaa.ufs.br/sigaa/public/home.jsf
Free
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
