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This book explores the plight of women who struggle with silence and different forms of oppression, revealing ways in which women express themselves in literature and film when they are restricted, censored and confined. The works surveyed in this book demonstrate the opposition between silence and articulation with its immense complexity in Latifa al-Zayyat´s novel The Open Door (1960), Moufida Tlatli´s film Silences of the Palace (1994), and Toni Morison´s novel The Bluest Eye (1970). The chosen works employ two different media: novels and film and come from three different origins: Egypt, Tunisia, and the US; however, they are similar in exploring the different conditions of female expressiveness. Though from different regions, all three artists have gender issues on their mind, exploring how the female protagonists in these works find ways to express themselves, whether through words, action, madness, or through their physicality. It acknowledges the silence imposed on women by class, race, and gender; however, more so, it amplifies the methods and abilities of these women´s expression.

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Yasmina Shouair obtained her MA in English and Comparative Literature, American University in Cairo. She lives in Cairo, Egypt, and works in Alif:Journal of Comparative Poetics in the American University in Cairo. Her interests include Feminist Studies, Cinema, and Arabic Literature.

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