Veiling and unveiling fears in Leila Aboulela’s Minaret

Leila Aboulela’s Minaret presents the life of a young Sudanese woman, who was expelled after a coup in the country. Together with her brother and mother she moves to London. In Sudan she was part of the higher social class but in London, after her mother’s death and her brother’s imprisonment, she...

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Main Author: Agnieszka Stanecka
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Humanities and Economics in Łódź 2018-12-01
Series:Civitas Hominibus
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Online Access:https://ojs.ahe.lodz.pl/index.php/civitas_hominibus/article/view/233
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author Agnieszka Stanecka
author_facet Agnieszka Stanecka
author_sort Agnieszka Stanecka
collection DOAJ
description Leila Aboulela’s Minaret presents the life of a young Sudanese woman, who was expelled after a coup in the country. Together with her brother and mother she moves to London. In Sudan she was part of the higher social class but in London, after her mother’s death and her brother’s imprisonment, she needs to work and earn money. She feels endangered by contemporary London realities, lack of financial security, lack of a husband, who in eastern culture takes the role of a protector. She is also overwhelmed with the freedom she unexpectedly has in London. There is also emotional anxiety evoked by something unexplained which appears to be faith. Interestingly, with time the protagonist decides to wear hijab which, in Islamic culture, denotes modesty and surrender to Allah. It turns out that in contemporary London Najwa feels more secure when she is veiled rather than unveiled.
format Article
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issn 1896-1819
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language English
publishDate 2018-12-01
publisher University of Humanities and Economics in Łódź
record_format Article
series Civitas Hominibus
spelling doaj-art-029211ccaa3f4103ad8701b04571b4912025-08-20T03:06:06ZengUniversity of Humanities and Economics in ŁódźCivitas Hominibus1896-18192391-51452018-12-011310.25312/2391-5145.13/2018_75-83Veiling and unveiling fears in Leila Aboulela’s MinaretAgnieszka Stanecka0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2342-0289Uniwersytet Jana Kochanowskiego w Kielcach Filia w Piotrkowie Trybunalskim Leila Aboulela’s Minaret presents the life of a young Sudanese woman, who was expelled after a coup in the country. Together with her brother and mother she moves to London. In Sudan she was part of the higher social class but in London, after her mother’s death and her brother’s imprisonment, she needs to work and earn money. She feels endangered by contemporary London realities, lack of financial security, lack of a husband, who in eastern culture takes the role of a protector. She is also overwhelmed with the freedom she unexpectedly has in London. There is also emotional anxiety evoked by something unexplained which appears to be faith. Interestingly, with time the protagonist decides to wear hijab which, in Islamic culture, denotes modesty and surrender to Allah. It turns out that in contemporary London Najwa feels more secure when she is veiled rather than unveiled. https://ojs.ahe.lodz.pl/index.php/civitas_hominibus/article/view/233fearsecuritya womanveilpostcolonial studiesreligion
spellingShingle Agnieszka Stanecka
Veiling and unveiling fears in Leila Aboulela’s Minaret
Civitas Hominibus
fear
security
a woman
veil
postcolonial studies
religion
title Veiling and unveiling fears in Leila Aboulela’s Minaret
title_full Veiling and unveiling fears in Leila Aboulela’s Minaret
title_fullStr Veiling and unveiling fears in Leila Aboulela’s Minaret
title_full_unstemmed Veiling and unveiling fears in Leila Aboulela’s Minaret
title_short Veiling and unveiling fears in Leila Aboulela’s Minaret
title_sort veiling and unveiling fears in leila aboulela s minaret
topic fear
security
a woman
veil
postcolonial studies
religion
url https://ojs.ahe.lodz.pl/index.php/civitas_hominibus/article/view/233
work_keys_str_mv AT agnieszkastanecka veilingandunveilingfearsinleilaaboulelasminaret