Counter-conduct and Persistence in Selected Works by Egyptian Women Writers

Abstract

In this paper, Michel Foucault’s concept of “counter-conduct” and Judith Butler’s concept of “persistence” are deployed, explored, and applied to rethink the relationship between the dominant patriarchal power and women’s dissent as represented in the writings of Latifa al-Zayyat (1923-1996), Nawal El Sadaawi (1931-2021), and Salwa Bakr (1949). Analyzing al-Zayyat’s The Open Door [al-Bāb al-maftūḥ], El Sadaawi’s short story “The Picture” [al-Sura] and Bakr’s “Thirty-one Beautiful Green Trees” [Ihdā wa thālathūn shajarah jamīlah khadrā] in terms of the twofold approach allows in-depth explorations of various strategies of dissent and different modes of counter-conduct and persistence in the selected literary texts. It also allows for rigorous and authentic evaluation of how the female protagonists - Layla, Narjis and Kareema – endeavor to carve out other ways of being that lead to the emergence of their new subjectivities and their gendered identities. Keywords: Agency, Counter-Conduct, Everyday Acts of Resistance, Persistence, Women’s Writing