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Distant View of a Minaret (Heinemann African Writers Series)

Distant View of a Minaret (Heinemann African Writers Series)

by Alifa Rifaat (Author), Alifa Rifaat (Author), Denys Johnson-Davies (Translator)

  • Used

    Paperback 1987

    $4.33
Synopsis

This collection of short stories admits the reader into a hidden private world, regulated by the call of the mosque. The book provides accounts of death, the lives of women in purdah and the frustrations of everyday life.

$4.33

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More Information

Format: Paperback
 Pages: 128
 Edition: 1
 Publisher: Heinemann
Published: 01 Apr 1987
ISBN 10: 0435909126
ISBN 13: 9780435909123

Media Reviews
Horrible, beautiful, comforting, divine and devilish all at the same time. -Jan Morris
?Horrible, beautiful, comforting, divine and devilish all at the same time.?-Jan Morris
Author Bio
Alifa Rifaat has spent all her life in the Arab world, immersed in the traditions and culture of Islam. She was brought up in Egypt, a devout Muslim, strictly adhering to the Islamic way of life and well versed in the Qu'ran and religious teachings. Her education and a possible future career in art were curtailed when she married - her parents' alternative to university. A widow, she now lives in Cairo with her three children. Largely divorced from Western influences, speaking and writing only Arabic, Alifa Rifaat allows the reader a rare and enlightening glimpse at woman's condition in a male-dominated environment.
Her originality lies not in any overt and conventional feminist approach, but rather through her implicit criticisms of the male neglect of his Islamic obligations to women, particularly in family life and marital relationships. She challenges behaviour from within the accepted framework of her society's religion and laws. Distant View of a Minaret was first published in English in 1983, by Quartet Books. Two of the stories have been broadcast on BBC Radio 3.