The Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif

Review by: Clarissa Burt

Feminist Review, No. 69, The Realm of the Possible: Middle Eastern Women in Political and
Social Spaces (Winter, 2001), pp. 153-156
Published by: Palgrave Macmillan Journals
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1395636 .
Accessed: 11/01/2013 04:37
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Palgrave Macmillan Journals is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Feminist
Review.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded on Fri, 11 Jan 2013 04:37:19 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

appreciatethe overallimportanceto womenacrossthe generationsof wc

Inherintroduc- E
sharedobjectivesandaninspiringpoliticaldetermination.
tion, Al-Alisaysthatshe is not unmindfulof hermultipleallegiancesas
friendandactivist.Shealso saysthatherbookis a conscious
researcher,
women'smovementbyprovidingan
to theEgyptian
attemptto contribute
accountof thebroadrangeof women'sactivism.In
in-depthethnographic
otherwords,she hopesto giveto the women'smovementa resourcefor
whereit is goingby knowingwhereit hasbeen.In allthese
understanding
combinedwithanacute
Herself-awareness,
thingsshesucceedsadmirably.
senseof theplaceherstudyholdsin thestillunfoldingstorythatshenarandto thenext.
thistextbothto thepresentgeneration
rates,recommends
David Blanks

The Map of Love

Ahdaf

Soueif

London: Bloomsbury, 1999

ISBN0747545634 18.99 Hbk, 6.99 Pbk

In this fascinatingnovel,whichwas shortlistedfor the Bookerprizein

which
counterdiscourse
1999,AhdafSoueifhasproduceda post-colonial
coloniallegaciesin colonizerandcolonrecaststhenatureof orientalism,
ized,andcyclesof repetitionin humanhistories,framedby the century
The novelis conrecentlyclosedby celebrationof the new millennium.
layers,switchingbetweenthe outer
chronological
structedin sandwiched
in Egyptin thelate 1990s,
of eventsset primarily
narrative
contemporary
andthe innernarrativebeginningat the turnof the centuryin England,
Egypt.
until1914 in British-occupied
andproceeding
is presentedforthemostpartas thefirstpersoncomTheouternarrative
a writerwho hasreturnedto Egyptfrom
positionof Amalal-Ghamrawi,
Londonin 1997to reckonwithherpastandpresentlife.She(re)constructs
the innernarrativefromselectionsof the personaldocumentsof Anna
an Englishwomanwho hadcometo Egyptat the turnof
Winterbourne,
the centuryandmarried,in a formof literaryandpersonalarcheology.
The chestcontainingAnna'sdocumentsand personalartifactshas been
an American
deliveredintoAmal'shandsby Anna'sgreat-granddaughter,
the fateful
out
at
sought
Amal
who
has
Parkman,
Isabel
named
journalist
suggestionof Amal'sbrother,Omar,whomshehadmetin NewYork.
discoursefrom
The innernarrative,whichrepresentsan anti-colonialist
of Anna'sletters
is comprisedprimarily
Britishandfeminineperspectives,
hercomingto Egypt,andhersubsequent
andjournalwritingssurrounding

This content downloaded on Fri, 11 Jan 2013 04:37:19 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

153

marriageto SherifBashaal-Baroudi,
an upper-class
Egyptiannationalist.
Anna'sfirsthusband,Edward,haddiedof shameandirresolvable
inner
conflictoverhisparticipation
in Kitchener's
bloodycampaign
intheSudan.
Firedby theanti-colonialist
sentiments
of herfather-in-law,
andintrigued
jB byhisdescription
of Egypt,AnnaarrivedinEgyptto recoverfromherstate
,- of mourning,
andto discoverthetruthof thecolonialmovement
thathad
=
destroyedherfirsthusband's
healthandintegrity.
o
=

Interestingly
enough,it is a gender-bending
episodeworthyof 1,001
nights,whichinitiatesAnnaintotheworldof Egyptian
society,beyondthe
tight circleof Britishinteractions
centeredaround'the Agency.'While
gender-disguised
in European
men'sclothingin orderto moveaboutunimpeded,Annais abductedby hotheadedyouthfulEgyptiannationalists
to
actas a hostageto exchangeforthereleaseof Sharifal-Baroudi's
brotherin-law,detainedforhisnationalist
activities.
Takenin,protected,
andsoon
enchantedby Sharifand his sisterLayla,wife of the detainee,Anna
becomesa sympathizer
with the Egyptiannationalistsandneverlets the
abduction
cometo light.Thepricesheexactsforhersilenceis to complete
hergender-disguised
romanticadventure
to SinaiwithSharifal-Baroudi
as
herescort,settingup the relationship
thatwill resultin the cross-cultural
marriage.

In a skillfulweb of inventedandhistorically
accuratedetailsof nationalist oppositionduringBritishOccupationunderLord Cromer,Soueif
engagesanorientalist
andapologistvision,integrating
Britishsympathists
to theEgytpiannationalist
cause(suchas LadyAnneandWilfredScawen
Blunt)intothenarrative
withsuchmajorEgyptianfiguresas withAhmed
'Urabi, Muhammad'Abdu, Qasim Amin, Mustafa Kamel, Zeinab
Fawwaz,MalakHifniNasif,andTal'atHarb.Soueifinsertsherweb of
fictionaldetailsinto a well-researched
treatmentof socialand political
historyin orderto offera sympathetic
takeon thegencler-segregated
lifestyleof upper-class
urbanhouseholdsin Egyptat the turnof thecentury,
andto redeemBritishpost-colonial
guiltby showingBritishoppositionto
colonialexploitation,andthe disparateandfactionalized
rangeof Egyptiannationalist
attitudesandstrategies
on questionsof self-rule,education,
religion,andeconomicdevelopment.

154

Thepurityandidealization
of theinventedromance,whichincludesonly
one maritaldisputeand remarkably
advantageous
termsof the marital
contractgivento Anna,seemto indicateSoueif'sdesireto redeemnegativeattitudesaboutthestatusof womenin Egypt.Theextremely
idealized
and romanticnatureof the innernarrative,however,contrastswith the
morecomplicatedmoralaspectsof relationships
in the outernarrative.
Nonetheless,parallelsare establishedbetweenthe narrativelayers,and

This content downloaded on Fri, 11 Jan 2013 04:37:19 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

the novel.Inthecourse c
proceedapacethroughout
romanticinvolvements
of the eventsof Anna'slife she discoversthat E
of Amal'sreconstruction
Annawas hergreataunt,andthatIsabelis herdistantcousin.Meanwhile
Omar
Isabelhas fallenin lovewith Amal'sbrother,the New York-based
writer,andactorin the realmof Palestinfamousconductor,
Ghamrawi,
politics(whoseems,in myopinion,to mirrorEdwardSaid
ianliberationist
that
How advantageous
on too manypointsto be merelycoincidental).
love affairendsup formingthe traditional
this latter-daycross-cultural
Arabpairingof cousinsas optimalmates!
the
on a historicalframework,
wasconstructed
Justas theinnernarrative
in
outernarrativealso dependsupon actualeventsand circumstances
Egyptin thelate1990s.Amalreturnsto Egyptandherrurallandedroots
onlyto championtheneedsof thepeasant
afterthefailureof hermarriage,
oppresfarmerswho workherancestrallands,andwho areexperiencing
crack-downsin responseto the
sion in the context of governmental
to alignthehot-headed
attacksin CairoandLuxor.Itis interesting
terrorist
Islamistunrest
nationalistswho abductedAnnawith the contemporary
as
narrative,
andterroristbacklashat foreignvisitorsin thecontemporary
Just as Annaoverformsof oppositionin favorof self-determination.
againsther,so Amalconfrontshergrowing
lookedthatact of aggression
feelingsof attractionfor the marriedTareq'Atiyya,a highranking
with Israel,both
andproponentof normalization
Egyptianneocapitalist
formsof consortingwiththe enemy.
projectassessingEgyptianintellectualattijournalistic
IsabelParkman's
whichwas herostensiblereason
the new millennium,
tudesapproaching
for the tripto Egypt,allowsthe readerto tourthe artsy,andintellectual
and heated
hot spotsof centralCairo,with theircolourfulpersonalities
hereto paytributeto oneof
Soueifhastakentheopportunity
discussions.
of theearly1970s,writerArwa
theleadersof theleftiststudentmovements
Salih,who committedsuicidein 1997. Such true-to-lifeand touristy
audielementsconfirmthe clearslantof the novelto an English-reading
ence,evenas theyembodySoueif'spersonalreckoningwithherEgyptian
backgroundand her currentrelationshipwith Egyptianintellectual
culture.
on severalcountsin thenovel,
of languageis remarkable
Soueif'streatment
for she successfullyestablishesand switchesstylisticregistersbetween
Anna,Layla,Amal,and Isabel.The Englishof Arabicspeakersis profoundlyinfluencedby the EgyptianArabicsubstrate,with heavyuse of
Egyptiantermsand phrases(supportedin a glossary)and literaltranslations of Egyptianexpressions.Soueifdisplaysher Arabiclinguistic
and lexicalvirtuosityfor her Englishaudience,whichmay or may not

This content downloaded on Fri, 11 Jan 2013 04:37:19 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

155

OO entertainthoseunfamiliar
with Arabic,but whichcertainlyaddsto the
exoticismof theEnglishtext.
es

Ultimatelythe novel'ssuccessis troubledby the inescapableemergent

uncertainty
concerning
thepoliticalcorrectness
of present-day
culturaland
economicimperialism,
now withan Egyptianface,justas the indignities
visiteduponthe Egyptianpeoplein Cromer's
timehavecededto indignitiesandactsof violencevisitedbyEgyptian
authorities
andreligiousfanatics.Theirritating
andunresolved
questionof incestalsoseemssuperfluous
- musteverything
be reducibleto Oedipusafterall?Forall its flaws,the
imitationVictoriannovelwovenintoSoueif'sawkwardbicultural
millennial reckoningof her relationship
with contemporary
EgyptmakeThe
Map of Love wellworththe read.
Clarissa Burt

A Border Passage: From Cairo to America - a

Women's Journey
Leila

Ahmed

New York: Farrar,Straus & Giroux, 1999

ISBN0374115184 $24.00 Hbk
ISBN0140291830 $13.95 Pbk (NY:Penguin, 2000)

156

LeilaAhmedis oneof themostimportant

contemporary
figuresin thefield
of GenderandWomen's
Studies,especially
in relationto thecontemporary
MiddleEast. Best known for her seminalbook entitledWomen and
Genderin Islam, LeilaAhmedhascontributed
widelyto openingthefield
andconferring
depthto thewesternacademicdiscussionof genderin the
MiddleEast,the ArabworldandIslam.Thisvolume,comprising
a personalmemoir,is a furthercontribution
to thatfield,whileat thesametime
annexingnewintellectual
spaceformulticultural
productions.
It is a postcolonialmemoirunfoldingthe constructsof Ahmed'smulti-aspectual
identity,weddedbeautifully
to an explorationof the historical,political
andintellectual
circumstances
(andchanges)in whichshematured.
In a marvellousfugueof spirallingmemories,LeilaAhmedconductsus
througha symphonicreconstruction
of the development
of her identity
andconsciousness,
lookingbackon herchildhoodin thegardensof privilegein the thenwell-to-domulticultural
andreligiously
pluralistCairene
suburbof 'AinShams.Herrecollection
of thechangesin thatgardenand
the surrounding
neighbourhood
overthe courseof herlifetimemarkand
measurethe amazingsocialand economictransformation
of Cairoas a
city,as wellas thepersonalfortunesof herfamilyfromthe 1940sthrough
therevolutionandNasser'sandSadat'sregimes.

This content downloaded on Fri, 11 Jan 2013 04:37:19 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions