S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 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\u2019s Film Festival and Brazilian publishing house Editora Tabla.<\/p>\n
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. \u201cThe 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<\/em>), 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,\u201d she pointed out.<\/p>\n As examples, Gennari mentioned books such as \u201cWho\u2019s Afraid of Meryl Streep?\u201d by Lebanese writer Rashid Al-Daif, published in Brazil by Tabla, and the classic \u201cOne Thousand and One Nights \/ The Arabian Nights.\u201d \u201cWe 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,\u201d concluded the researcher.<\/p>\n You may also\u00a0enjoy\u00a0reading:<\/em><\/p>\n Among the speakers will be Safa Jubran, professor of the University of S\u00e3o Paulo (USP), with the lecture \u2018Contemporary Arab female writers: what is fiction written by Arab women about nowadays?\u2019 Jubran is a translator and has worked on the publication in Brazil of works such as \u201cThe Night Mail\u201d by Lebanese author Hoda Barakat.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n\n