Veiled
Sentiments
By Lila
Abu-Lughod
The World of Women, Religion and
Poetry
Learning More About
Veiling and Poetry
Among a Tribal Culture
Veiled Sentiments is academic.
It is the result of the author's living in a Bedouin community in
northern Egypt (the Western Desert) for two years, a feat of no
mean proportions. She came to a deep understanding of such aspects
of the culture as blood ties, veiling and poetry, not only because
of her talent and training, but also because she has ties to that
culture. She calls academics like herself "halfies" because
they belong both "inside and outside the communities they write
about." She realizes that such a situation benefits them in
terms of gathering knowledge within close cultures.
The
veiling of women (or rather women's veiling of themselves) is an
important topic because of recent events including world politics
and of the ongoing research in feminism. It is also important because
it is so often misunderstood and so difficult to understand even
when it is explained.
After reading Lila Abu-Lughod's renowned
(in the world of academics) book, Veiled Sentiments, I think
I have a better handle on veiling than I ever would have had otherwise.
It was not easy to absorb the concepts that surround it. That it
took ¼ of a 315 page book to do it (a conservative estimate)
is a testament to the intricacies of and the psychological motivations
behind this cultural /religious practice.
That
alone made this study one well worth reading. But the surprise for
both the reader, and-as explained by Ms. Abu-Lughod-the author herself
is the discovery of this culture's use of poetry. To take it one
step further, the insight into how societies in general (at least
ours and that of the Bedouins) similarly use their poetry and relate
to it.
Abu-Lughod
finds that poetry is used somewhat differently among women in the
Awlad ' Ali tribes than it is used by men. Because I am writing
my own book of poetry called Skyscapes: A Woman's View, I
was especially interested in this aspect of Sentiments; it also
was, by the author's own admission, an amazing and important cultural
discovery. A group of women in China have their own secret language
apart from the men; now this anthropologist brings to our attention
how the poetry and veiling customs of these women reveal their emotions
and are rooted in the traditions of a society in which they live
quite separately from men.
Though
this book is not meant for mainstream readers, I hope that many
who have no ties to anthropology will make an effort to read it.
I believe that women will find it especially interesting, but men
will also find pertinent information for today's political climate
within its pages. No amount of travel could impart the depth of
understanding of this culture, and-by extension-similar cultures
that this book does.
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