Offering Guidance for Arab Women in the West in Leila Aboulela’s Minaret and Bird Summons

Abstract

The current study explores Leila Aboulela’s literary representations of the problems faced by Arab women living in the West, and how they overcome them in her novels Minaret and Bird Summons. Both novels are analyzed through the lens of postcolonialism, and especially through the views of Edward Said. The contribution of the current study lies in the fact that limited studies have been conducted on Bird Summons since it is considered a new literary work. Moreover, previous studies tackle each literary work independently, whereas the current research tackles both novels together. Furthermore, Aboulela’s Minaret has been the subject of many studies, but little research has been done on how she embodies the challenges that Arab women living in the West encounter.