A Paratextual Reading of Nawal El Saadawi’s A Daughter of Isis: Manoeuvers on the Fringes

Document Type : Research in linguistic and literary studies

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Department of English, Faculty of Arts, Alexandria University

Abstract

A paratextual reading will not engage with the text itself, but with the elements which mushroom in the peripheral zone of a printed book, such as titles, forewords, prefaces, introductions, epilogues, illustrations, blurbs, photos, etc. In this zone, certain features, emanating from a particular discourse, are highlighted to promote the book to its potential readers. Paratextual features tend to change in translated texts to suit the new target audience. This paper attempts to examine Nawal El Saadawi’s translated autobiographical work A Daughter of Isis from a paratextual perspective, highlighting the discourses which lurk on the fringes of the text. To a Western audience, the book is presented as a feminist document written by the prominent feminist Nawal El Saadawi, who has a long history of battling with patriarchy. A number of paratextual elements introduced to the translated text stress this aspect and market the book along those lines. For some critics, however, the book can also be read as yet another Orientalist document, which wittingly or unwittingly propagates orientalist discourses that circulate in the West regarding Arab women, hence furthering Western hegemony and superiority. It is the aim of this paper to examine the paratextual features of this translated autobiography, the discourses they evoke and the different reactions they incurred in critics.

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