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Writing Women's Worlds: Bedouin Stories
Lila Abu-Lughod draws on anthropological and feminist insights to construct a critical ethnography of a small Awlad 'Ali Bedouin community in Egypt. She explores how the telling of stories of everyday life challenges the power of anthropological theory to render adequately the lives of others and the way feminist theory appropriates Third World women.
308 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 1992
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About the author
Lila Abu-Lughod
27 books176 followersLila Abu-Lughod was born to Palestinian academic Ibrahim Abu-Lughod and American sociologist Janet Abu-Lughod in 1952. She obtained her PhD from Harvard University in 1984. She is is an American with Palestinian and Jewish ancestry who is professor of Anthropology and Women's and Gender Studies at Columbia University in New York City. A specialist of the Arab world, her seven books, most based on long term ethnographic research, cover topics from sentiment and poetry to nationalism and media, from gender politics to the politics of memory
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
November 4, 2013
In the end, I loved this book.
BUT FIRST I had to wade through some 75 pages of front matter (two prefaces and an introduction) of the most repetitive, turgid self-flagellation about the crisis of representation, the crisis of anthropology, the crisis of feminist agency, etc that I've ever come across. There's nothing wrong as such with painstakingly theorising one's work, of course -- especially when it comes to ethnography -- but there's a point where self-flagellation becomes extremely self-centering. I mean, if you really want to purge your epistemological apparatus of Western ethnocentrism, don't keep harping on as if the peculiarly Western problem of getting away from Western dominance is the only important thing in the world. Plus, she always stops short of making any strong conclusions, hedging her bets in a way characteristic of a pretty annoying strand of postmodern anthropology -- a lot of, "it seems like theory A is the worst but maybe theory B is just as problematic, oh well I'll just do my own thing that doesn't really deal with the claims of either theory".
I felt like all those discussions had a place -- just not in the book itself. If it wasn't for all that forgettable stuff at the start (I felt like I'd read it ten times before in other ethnographies written around the same time) I could pass the book around to anyone who could read and expect them to enjoy it, even my dad! Her writing, from Chapter 2 onwards, is solid gold. Clear, engaging, only ever saying just enough to give context to the long quotations and lines of verse, the rest of the book was the exact opposite of the dry academicism of the introduction. I immediately became interested in the community and came to love the people whose lives she described.
So, if you're gonna read it, start at Chapter 2, then read the rest if you care.
BUT FIRST I had to wade through some 75 pages of front matter (two prefaces and an introduction) of the most repetitive, turgid self-flagellation about the crisis of representation, the crisis of anthropology, the crisis of feminist agency, etc that I've ever come across. There's nothing wrong as such with painstakingly theorising one's work, of course -- especially when it comes to ethnography -- but there's a point where self-flagellation becomes extremely self-centering. I mean, if you really want to purge your epistemological apparatus of Western ethnocentrism, don't keep harping on as if the peculiarly Western problem of getting away from Western dominance is the only important thing in the world. Plus, she always stops short of making any strong conclusions, hedging her bets in a way characteristic of a pretty annoying strand of postmodern anthropology -- a lot of, "it seems like theory A is the worst but maybe theory B is just as problematic, oh well I'll just do my own thing that doesn't really deal with the claims of either theory".
I felt like all those discussions had a place -- just not in the book itself. If it wasn't for all that forgettable stuff at the start (I felt like I'd read it ten times before in other ethnographies written around the same time) I could pass the book around to anyone who could read and expect them to enjoy it, even my dad! Her writing, from Chapter 2 onwards, is solid gold. Clear, engaging, only ever saying just enough to give context to the long quotations and lines of verse, the rest of the book was the exact opposite of the dry academicism of the introduction. I immediately became interested in the community and came to love the people whose lives she described.
So, if you're gonna read it, start at Chapter 2, then read the rest if you care.
June 1, 2020
As an Arab Bedouin woman, this book was not really depicting the accurate narrative of how Bedouin women truly lived, after several readings on her book, I have found that she mentioned things and stuff that weren't really related to the Bedouin's teachings at all. It was really rude and I really wish she did not write this book, it makes me really question the authenticity of the author and the content of the book. It might have listed "some" of the accurate aspects but as the reader goes on, it kind of just went down bellow the hell hole. Marriage is not really depicted that way, especially their intimate moment thats like pure horrifying tales, even my grandmother did not go through that and my great grandmother did not even go through these kinds of stuff which made me really baffled as a bedouin. By looking at the supporters of the author and the organization that helped in "funding" this project and probably the other projects it really shows why this kind of emphasis on Arab and Bedouin women in Middle - East "Rockefeller's" organization supports the US's agenda in integrating within the Middle-East which shows why she made really comprehensive approaches to the women.
In the end what I am trying to say is that it is not accurate! and Misinformative!
In the end what I am trying to say is that it is not accurate! and Misinformative!
July 11, 2020
More like 3.5 stars but I'll round it up because that last chapter was fantastic.
Review to come!
Review to come!
October 28, 2014
Abu-Lughod writes from the margins of Bedouin civilization, but manages to get to the heart of the matter. Her books are not bookish. Although Abu-Lughod is a world renowned anthropologist at Columbia University, she manages to leave behind academic conundrums and represent Bedouin women's home life with all the insight and intimacy of a native. Native is a strange word here, because I believe these Bedouin women she writes about would see themselves as highly civilized, not as natives in any old school anthropology sense. Abu-Lughod is not unaware of the irony presented here for the Western reader. One of the most memorable scenes in this ethnography depicts the moral disgust which the Bedouin matriarch and the women of her family express against the Westernized women in Cairo. The women of Cairo are not seen as good Bedouins or good Arabs, that is they are not just accepted as the kind of Middle Easterners who have turned toward modernity and are pro-American, anti-fanatical, assimilated and domesticated. This image of the good Arab is in many ways our projected wish, conjured by decades of American foreign policy. The traditional Bedouins in fact see these women of Cairo as godless whores. There is truly a great deal of righteous indignation among the Bedouin women, to the point of seeming excessive to a Western reader. Hardly a phrase comes out their Bedouin heads without the refrain of 'Allah be praised' or 'Allah be willing'. Yet you get a real sense that these women are not just the dupes of their men, buying into a patriarchical ideology out of ignorance and lack of education. Abu-Lughod's treatment of these women is more subtle and more tender than that. Although the author has in may ways been assimilated completely into Western Academe, she is nevertheless a Middle Eastern women. As a result she can provide the reader of her ethnography with access to the tents, kitchens, and other separate spaces of these Bedouin women. She lends a dignity to these inner spaces, which seem in some ways to be sanctified and held fixed by centuries of tradition.
Although this book appears to lack any theoretical insights into notions such as culture or language, there is plenty of human insight found here, which is probably a better kind of insight in the long run. Writing Women's Worlds deserves a place in the family of ethnographies descended from the realm of good postmodernism. We are asked to understand these women in the very strange (from our vantage point) world they inhabit. In today's political climate, from Washington to Paris to London, an understanding of traditional Middle Eastern cultures is badly needed. This book could hope to make an important contribution in that regard.
Although this book appears to lack any theoretical insights into notions such as culture or language, there is plenty of human insight found here, which is probably a better kind of insight in the long run. Writing Women's Worlds deserves a place in the family of ethnographies descended from the realm of good postmodernism. We are asked to understand these women in the very strange (from our vantage point) world they inhabit. In today's political climate, from Washington to Paris to London, an understanding of traditional Middle Eastern cultures is badly needed. This book could hope to make an important contribution in that regard.
March 17, 2019
Lila Abu-Lughod is a Muslim feminist anthropologist who wrote this book to challenge anthropological generalisations about social structure and culture, feminist interpretations of gender relations in non-Western societies, and misconceptions about Western Arab society. She was adopted as a young adult into a Bedouin family and lived with them for extended periods in the 1980s, with return visits in the 1990s and 2000s. The book describes their lives from the women's point of view often in their own words.
Abu-Lughod offers relatively little analysis and is open about the fact that her perception of the women's agency often differs from their self-description. It is a warts-and-all account that avoids romanticism, but perhaps for this reason, I did not find most of the women particularly likable or engaging. The most interesting passages to me were those which described the social and religious dynamics between the Bedouin, their Egyptian neighbours and the up-and-coming Muslim Brotherhood.
Abu-Lughod offers relatively little analysis and is open about the fact that her perception of the women's agency often differs from their self-description. It is a warts-and-all account that avoids romanticism, but perhaps for this reason, I did not find most of the women particularly likable or engaging. The most interesting passages to me were those which described the social and religious dynamics between the Bedouin, their Egyptian neighbours and the up-and-coming Muslim Brotherhood.
December 26, 2016
It took me a while to read this for several reasons but trust me, it was written well. It was a lovely in-sight through Lila that we saw into the lives of these Arab Bedouin women. At times I felt as if I were also sitting in the circle of women. The details and backgrounds given for things helped me reach a new understanding of certain parts of their culture and I'm very thankful for that.
Even though it was written in 1970's, I'm curious how the Bedouins are living in the current age. Has their culture survived?
Even though it was written in 1970's, I'm curious how the Bedouins are living in the current age. Has their culture survived?
May 1, 2014
One of the best ethnographic books I have read. Abu-Lughod's rendition of Bedouin women's lives in the form of life histories and other stories is just superb. The reader gets a wonderful insight into a small and little-known group of Muslims living in the Western Egyptian desert. Only Number of Days comes close to the amazing storytelling of Writing Women's Worlds.
February 17, 2023
Part of a time of change in ethnography when the anthropologist began to own their own role in the narrative. A classic.
May 27, 2014
كتاب حلو ويسجل لفترة مهمة من حياة البدو في مطروح والصحراء الغربية
تجاوزت سريعا الجانب النطري والانثربولوجي المتعارف عليه من تقديم أرض البحث وكيفية الدخول لها والمنهج وما الى ذلك
يظل ان المنهج ملهم ، فبدلا من التحدث عن الاشخاص تركتهم هم يحكون حياتهم ، الجدة تحكي حياتها وزواجها وفقدانها للزوج ، حكي خالص هذا ما وقعت عليه ومازالت معه، هذه الحكايا ت لها سحر خاص لم يفقد سنتمتر منها كونها مكتوبة بالانجليزية الروح المصرية تقفز واللغة تكاد تكون عربية مكتوبة بالانجليزية وهو اجمل ما فعلت الباحثة ، حكايات السيدة العجوز امام احفادها ورأيها وتصوراتها (عن الولد والبنت "البنت مش بتاعتنا البنت بتروح الولد بيفضل معانا ، لكن البنت بتفرح القلب") ، الكتاب يستمد حيويته وشاعريته من هذه الحاكايا ،من هذه العقليات التي لا تفهم ما معنى الفردية او انه بالإمكان حكي امر عن النفس بمنأى عن المجموع ، ليس الأمر الغرائبية او التسليةلنا ، هذه المرأة التي عاشت وتزوجت وانجبت وقاومت في البداية الحكي عن حياتها لديها رؤية ولديها فلسفة ، ولكنها مباشرة تستقي من الذاكرة مباشرة من المعاش مباشرة دون تعقيد وبتصالح واضح او حزن واضح المعالم
وهو الأمر الذي ربما نحسدها عليه ، رؤيتها صلبة واضحة بسيطة ، ورؤيتنا في حالة سيولة وضبابية مستديمة
لاأعرف أن كان من حقي المناداة بترك الشعب هكذا على فطرته ، فالتعليم والايدلوجية والتعقيد يفسدون هذه الطبيعية الآسرة ، لا اعرف ان كنت في عمر متقدم سأصبح قادرة على حكي ما ثري وجميل ومبهج وآسر هكذا!!
ربما يتوجب على ان افقد الذاكرة وانسى كل ما قرأته في حياتي
موقعي في هذا السرد عن هذه الحكايا والاغنيات ليس من موقف فوقاني بقدر ما هو من موقف عاجز عن اللحاق بما فقدناها من التلقائية والبساطة
كتاب جميل رغم انني في بدايته !
تجاوزت سريعا الجانب النطري والانثربولوجي المتعارف عليه من تقديم أرض البحث وكيفية الدخول لها والمنهج وما الى ذلك
يظل ان المنهج ملهم ، فبدلا من التحدث عن الاشخاص تركتهم هم يحكون حياتهم ، الجدة تحكي حياتها وزواجها وفقدانها للزوج ، حكي خالص هذا ما وقعت عليه ومازالت معه، هذه الحكايا ت لها سحر خاص لم يفقد سنتمتر منها كونها مكتوبة بالانجليزية الروح المصرية تقفز واللغة تكاد تكون عربية مكتوبة بالانجليزية وهو اجمل ما فعلت الباحثة ، حكايات السيدة العجوز امام احفادها ورأيها وتصوراتها (عن الولد والبنت "البنت مش بتاعتنا البنت بتروح الولد بيفضل معانا ، لكن البنت بتفرح القلب") ، الكتاب يستمد حيويته وشاعريته من هذه الحاكايا ،من هذه العقليات التي لا تفهم ما معنى الفردية او انه بالإمكان حكي امر عن النفس بمنأى عن المجموع ، ليس الأمر الغرائبية او التسليةلنا ، هذه المرأة التي عاشت وتزوجت وانجبت وقاومت في البداية الحكي عن حياتها لديها رؤية ولديها فلسفة ، ولكنها مباشرة تستقي من الذاكرة مباشرة من المعاش مباشرة دون تعقيد وبتصالح واضح او حزن واضح المعالم
وهو الأمر الذي ربما نحسدها عليه ، رؤيتها صلبة واضحة بسيطة ، ورؤيتنا في حالة سيولة وضبابية مستديمة
لاأعرف أن كان من حقي المناداة بترك الشعب هكذا على فطرته ، فالتعليم والايدلوجية والتعقيد يفسدون هذه الطبيعية الآسرة ، لا اعرف ان كنت في عمر متقدم سأصبح قادرة على حكي ما ثري وجميل ومبهج وآسر هكذا!!
ربما يتوجب على ان افقد الذاكرة وانسى كل ما قرأته في حياتي
موقعي في هذا السرد عن هذه الحكايا والاغنيات ليس من موقف فوقاني بقدر ما هو من موقف عاجز عن اللحاق بما فقدناها من التلقائية والبساطة
كتاب جميل رغم انني في بدايته !
June 12, 2008
Like other greats (Clifford Geertz, for example), her writing is specific in scope but should be required reading for all humans. It "overflows our analytical categories," to take her words.
Anyone remotely interested in cultural anthropology should read this. If you haven't really read anthro, this is a great place to start. She is very intentional about writing a book that is accessible to most Western audiences, and that CLOSES THE DISTANCE that is too often created not only by scientific texts but by any experience beyond the familiar.
To quote a line I particularly love, "Telling stories, it has seemed to me, could be a powerful tool for unsettling the culture concept and subverting the process of "othering" it entails."
That's from the introduction, which is amazing, but if that feels too academic-y for you, I have no doubt she would suggest you skip it altogether and go onto the stories - the chapters - themselves. I think that she would say that for the same reason she purports to omit a conclusion, because "although [she:] wanted the tales to be able to speak to a set of intellectual debates in various fields in the United States and Europe in the 1990's, I also wanted to let them be more."
This is my favorite academic text ever. Awesome.
Anyone remotely interested in cultural anthropology should read this. If you haven't really read anthro, this is a great place to start. She is very intentional about writing a book that is accessible to most Western audiences, and that CLOSES THE DISTANCE that is too often created not only by scientific texts but by any experience beyond the familiar.
To quote a line I particularly love, "Telling stories, it has seemed to me, could be a powerful tool for unsettling the culture concept and subverting the process of "othering" it entails."
That's from the introduction, which is amazing, but if that feels too academic-y for you, I have no doubt she would suggest you skip it altogether and go onto the stories - the chapters - themselves. I think that she would say that for the same reason she purports to omit a conclusion, because "although [she:] wanted the tales to be able to speak to a set of intellectual debates in various fields in the United States and Europe in the 1990's, I also wanted to let them be more."
This is my favorite academic text ever. Awesome.
February 25, 2014
Before reading this book I knew basically nothing about anything Bedouin, but now I really want to learn more!
I found the stories in Writing Women's Worlds: Bedouin Stories to be very entertaining and interesting. It was good to read a book that educated me, but at the same time provided a nice "brain vacation" from the books I am currently reading for my college courses. Maybe I'm just a nerd, but I love when I come across a book like that!
What kept this book from being 5 stars was its preface and introduction. Halfway through the introduction, I considered returning this book to the library. The writing in the preface and introduction was excruciatingly tedious to read. If someone wants to read this book and give it 5 stars, I honestly advise they skip to Chapter 1 and read on from there.
I found the stories in Writing Women's Worlds: Bedouin Stories to be very entertaining and interesting. It was good to read a book that educated me, but at the same time provided a nice "brain vacation" from the books I am currently reading for my college courses. Maybe I'm just a nerd, but I love when I come across a book like that!
What kept this book from being 5 stars was its preface and introduction. Halfway through the introduction, I considered returning this book to the library. The writing in the preface and introduction was excruciatingly tedious to read. If someone wants to read this book and give it 5 stars, I honestly advise they skip to Chapter 1 and read on from there.
August 25, 2014
Never have I enjoyed a non-fiction book that much!
Abu-Lughod is a fantastic ethnographer that writes in a very simple and intimate way, giving you a look of the culture from within and making you forget about all your ethno-centric prejudices and sympathize with the informants. The author set the example by trying to understand the informants without a single hint of judgement.
Some of the stories were funny, others were sad but all of them were definitely interesting. I particularly liked her chapter on polygamy. Unlike its fetishization by the West, Lughod managed to present it for what it is: an everyday reality, with its ups and downs, neither overly dramatic, nor completely normalized even within its cultural context -after all, Gateefa never forgave her husband for taking more wives.
I would love to read more by Abu-Lughod, who always depicts women's strength and multiple ways of resistance despite the constraints they deal with
Abu-Lughod is a fantastic ethnographer that writes in a very simple and intimate way, giving you a look of the culture from within and making you forget about all your ethno-centric prejudices and sympathize with the informants. The author set the example by trying to understand the informants without a single hint of judgement.
Some of the stories were funny, others were sad but all of them were definitely interesting. I particularly liked her chapter on polygamy. Unlike its fetishization by the West, Lughod managed to present it for what it is: an everyday reality, with its ups and downs, neither overly dramatic, nor completely normalized even within its cultural context -after all, Gateefa never forgave her husband for taking more wives.
I would love to read more by Abu-Lughod, who always depicts women's strength and multiple ways of resistance despite the constraints they deal with
May 25, 2010
Lila Abu-Lughod is a problem. She writes well, and she has a deep empathy with the women of the Bedouin tribe in Egypt's Western Desert she writes about. And yet...her preface to "Writing Women's Worlds" is a long exercise in self-laceration. Abu-Lughod is part of that whole cadre of anthropologists who reject essentially all the theory and methods of their discipline and who really feel guilt for even presuming to study other cultures. "Writing Women's Worlds" is a classic in its field, and deservedly so. Abu-Lughod's accounts of the dynamics of lives within the tribe are insightful and finely-drawn. The pity of it all is that she blinds herself to her own work by agonising over the theoretical failures and moral sins of anthropology.
April 6, 2021
really enjoyed reading this book, and wished it had more pages. unfortunately Lila as an author is not known in the Arab world, and there isn't any interest in her books, although her findings are quite interesting and important. This book concentrates on the life of Bedouin women, in Egypt, the issues they faces, what they have to deal with, how they cope with their lives, and, also, it documents how the older generation of Bedouin women thought of matters they experienced and how the new generation view it, which was more rebellious and questioning these traditions, hints Kamla, and how the Bedouin society is changing.
May 28, 2008
This ethnography was one of my more favorite ones because, Abu-Lughod really uses story telling to her advantage. She believes that story telling can tell you a lot about a society. I agree with her belief because stories are created based on the history, the morals, the ethics, and the current issues affecting a society. Unlike the other ethnographies I read, this one used less technical language and more literal language to tell the story of the polygynous life style of the Awlad Ali.
January 18, 2010
Really enjoyed this one (and was unaware that it was such a classic Anthro text). Abu-Lughod writes about the women of an Arab Bedouin community in Egypt through conversations and stories. The idea is to write against cultures and the view of people as "the other." It worked for me. Despite some very obvious differences in the lifestyles between these women and myself, I left the book feeling like they could be my next door neighbors.
October 16, 2014
The introduction made me think about writing, feminism, telling secrets, positionality, and power. I love the way the book is structured and Abu-Lughod's reasons for structuring it the ways she does (which are explained in the intro and relate to the themes I just mentioned). I was less interested in the content related to the specific culture in which she worked (Bedouin society) and so stopped reading a few chapters in.
February 19, 2016
read for my Women, Ethnography, and Religion class
I wish Abu-Lughod had done more analysis - I understand why she chose to let the narratives (mainly) stand for themselves, but I feel I would have benefited more from explanation from the women who actually spent time among the Bedouin vs. a college student who otherwise focuses her religious studies on Christianity.
3.5 stars
I wish Abu-Lughod had done more analysis - I understand why she chose to let the narratives (mainly) stand for themselves, but I feel I would have benefited more from explanation from the women who actually spent time among the Bedouin vs. a college student who otherwise focuses her religious studies on Christianity.
3.5 stars
February 24, 2007
Abu Lugod is a Palestinian American anthropologist who lived with a Bedouin community in the desert in western Egypt. She gives an intimate look into their lives and culture. Focus is specifically on the women in the community.
Want to read
May 2, 2007Quickly becoming a favorite anthropologist...
February 11, 2008
An anthropologist who i like it, is Lila. First time when I read this book I surprised with this writing. She explained her finding very interesting.
March 5, 2015
Enjoyed this immensely.
November 27, 2013
Interesting and memorable. It was cool to see the different stories and songs the Bedouin women perform, and the different blessings they give, for various occasions.
July 24, 2015
This is how you write women's worlds. An excellent ethnography. Lila Abu-Lughod is phenomenal.
August 10, 2016
Fascinating and extremely well written. Viva ethnography!
December 28, 2012
Don't remember much past the introduction.... But didn't hate it either so, 2 stars.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews