Cultural Considerations
Invoking Women Poets and the Formation of Arab Identity
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Majd Al-Mallah
The formation of Arab identity in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is typically connected to the Nahdah (or revival) movement. While many leaders of this movement that advocated for reviving the Arab rich heritage are men, the fact that Arab women were central to this movement is something that is rarely discussed or studied. The goal of this paper, then, is to explore the invocation of women authors as key to this effort of forming Arab identity in this period. While my paper examines the specific case of invoking the Andalusī woman poet Buthaynah bint al-Muʿtamid, the daughter of the famed king and poet of Seville, al-Muʿtamid b. ʿAbbād (d. 487/1095), I also bring to the fore examples of other women who were invoked as well, including Walladah bint al-Mustakfi and others. Although we don’t know much about Buthaynah, the intention here is to explore how she is depicted in two major works: The first is Nafḥ al-ṭīb, which al-Maqqarī (d. 1041/1632) wrote to preserve the cultural memory of al-Andalus, and the second is Amīrat al-Andalus (The Princess of al-Andalus), which Egyptian poet Aḥmad Shawqī (d. 1932) wrote toward the end of his life as his only prose play. Against the backdrop of the lack of information and material about Buthaynah in the classical sources, this paper explores why these two authors were intrigued by her story and how they utilized that story to formulate a narrative about the formation of Arab identity.
The Influence of Trauma in the Identity Development of Second Generation Refugees View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Zamzam Dini
This study employed phenomenological methodology to understand the lived experiences of 2G refugees’ experiences growing up with trauma-affected refugee parents. Narratives of six participants revealed important glimpses into their lives, offering thoughtful insights about how their parents’ trauma affected them as children growing up. Their journey unfolded in four sequential phases with specific characteristics. The first phase involved a growing realization of the ongoing burden influenced by the past trauma inflicted on their parents. This led 2G refugees to navigate their developmental tasks and life alone, without parental guidance that ‘fit’ the challenges of their new environment. Eventually, 2G refugees found belonging and connection in communities outside their families but fostered sibling relationships contributing to solidarity and support. The final phase of their journey involved a growing recognition of and respect for their parents’ humanness. They were able to honor their parents' sacrifices to give them a better chance at life, and they did not hide the pain and loss that permeated their adolescent years, freely expressing grief over those losses. Due to trauma experienced by their parents, their identity development became more salient, increasing awareness in real-time.
