August 23rd, 2004:
Fay Afaf Kanafani:
artist and author of "Nadia, Captive of Hope:
Memoir of an Arab Woman."
A rare feminist perspective on a people and culture in one of the most tumultuous regions in the world,
Nadia is the autobiography of Fay Afaf Kanafani, an Arab Muslim woman born in Beirut in 1918.
Kanafani is frank and passionate as she recounts her difficult life. Engaged at thirteen to a distant cousin,
Kanafani was married by age seventeen and living with her husband's family in Palestine. Her recollections
provide fresh insight into Arab-Jewish relations in Palestine from 1935 to 1948, the year Kanafani's husband
was killed by Israeli soldiers as they advanced to occupy Haifa and the family became refugees in Lebanon.
As a widow with three children, Kanifani, who learned early in life how tradition and custom circumscribed
women's rights, broke free of all of those traditions and defiantly resumed her college studies.
Struggling against social norms and family tradition, Kanafani became a successful and respected career woman.
During the early years of her profession, Kanafani met the man who was destined to become everything in her life.
Each faced obligations imposed on them by their families but finally, in 1965, they were free to marry.
Their happiness lasted only a decade, until the Lebanese Civil War erupted. The last chapter of Kanafani's
book focuses on the period 1975 to 1985 and provides a personal account of the civil war in Lebanon.
As the story of this powerful woman's journey to independence unfolds, Kanafani offers a fascinating
glimpse into the constraints placed on women in traditional societies and the opportunities available to them
in newly emerging countries. She also tells of the devastation wrought by fifty years of war, including intimate
details of marriage and family life. The reader is left inspired by Kanafani's strength and perseverance and
her strong feminist outrage, expressed long before her exposure to Western feminism.
Comment(s): This is a quietly compelling and ultimately uplifting story, rich in remembered and reinvented dialogues,
an insightful blend of poetry and history. -- Laurence Michalak, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of California at Berkeley
A remarkable testimony to a unique experience and to a whole way of life. Through her book one gets rich insights
into familial and social aspects of Arab culture, and into webs of great emotional complexities produced not only
by the human passions but also by the capacity to sacrifice the gratification of some of them and to ennoble others.
-- Apostolos N. Athanassakis, University of California, Santa Barbara
A fascinating narrative of change from traditional to modernizing society. How this affects women's role, their
perception of themselves and their worth and consequently gender relations in general is weaved into a personal
story spanning six decades of Arab history. The indomitable spirit of Nadia and her determination help shatter
many stereotypes about Arab women and their 'subjugation' and 'submissiveness.'
-- Hala Maksoud, American Arab Anti-discrimination Committee
Review(s): A candid memoir from a Beirut-born Muslim woman who recounts the drama of her personal life
against the backdrop of political violence and upheaval in the Middle East. ... A remarkable and fascinating
document about a woman's role in a Muslim family and her will to overcome both personal and political tragedies.
... An intriguing insider's perspective on daily life in Palestine during the 1930s and '40s. ... A moving narrative
that passionately describes one Muslim woman's determination to lead a life of her own choosing. Kirkus Reviews
It is with a frank and graceful voice that Afaf reveals her life. A life that steps beyond the many masks of oppression,
and in so doing encourages others to do the same. ... Recommended to readers with an interest in the Middle East,
women's rights and the struggle for autonomy. -- ForeWord
This is an engaging and perspective work by an exemplary woman. -- MultiCultural Review
A fascinating account of one woman's eventful life...Ms. Kanafani's narrative is engrossing...This book is
valuable both as an historical document and as the personal expression of a member of a group whose voice
has been marginalized in historical narratives. -- The Middle East Journal
Not only does Fay Afaf Kanafani's riveting autobiography, Nadia, Captive of Hope, detail the decades-long conflict
in Israel, Palestine, and Lebanon, it also provides a valuable insight into the process by which an Arab woman
recognizes her feminism...Kanafani's voice is a valuable and timely one, especially as the West understands
more about Arab women and Arab feminism. -- So to Speak
The life is extraordinary in personal terms, as an historical document, and as an emblem of an Arab women.
The Middle East Studies Association Bulletin
There is no doubt that this kind of frank and courageously told story moves one and gives a deep insight,
not only into the nature of the times, but also into the infinite possibilities of the human spirit. -- The Hindu
... the book is experiential feminism at its articulate best, woven into the geographical and political history
of one of the most turbulent periods in recent times acted out in the strife-riven Middle East. -- Indian Review of Books
Anyone reading her straight, matter-of-fact account of her life is bound to wonder at her fiery indomitable spirit,
sheer tenacity and a steely determination in face of disasters. People like her restore our faith in the human race.
... A valuable book, a must-read for students of gender studies and contemporary history. -- The Statesman, New Delhi
Her narrative offers a personal portrait of constraint and defiance, oppression and resilience, resistance and
transformation. It is testimony to that most famous of feminist dictums, that the personal is political. At the
same time, it also accentuates the inverse of this truth, that the political is also personal. Fay Afaf Kanafani
has told her story vividly, passionately and to her credit, has told it well. -- Business India
...this energetic octogenarian's story opens the window into the political and social life of Lebanon and Palestine
in the 20th century and inspires the reader by the author's enlightened insights, choices, and actions unheard of
by her peers. ...This book is a must-read not only for the contemporary Arab woman but for anyone interested
in women's ongoing struggles for basic human rights and dignity. -- Middle East Womens Studies Review
