Yielding Memories of Nubian bodies

Abstract

The proposed text is a collection of memories; they tell visceral politics stories in a Nubian displacement village. The stories are my attempt to understand the effect of different power institutions on our bodies as Nubian women. I position myself, my Cairo education, and my presuppositions concerning the spaces of our village of Qustul, one of the state-built displacement settlements that fell victim to the high dam and its reservoir in the 60s. I recall three scenes of tension between myself, women of my kin, and the built environment’s flesh to inspect the buildings’ complicity in the struggle of Nubian womanhood. The three scenes are located in a Nubian house, a state-built dwelling, the school, and the state-built community centre. Through these scenes, I try to make sense of our experiences after 50 years of displacement and capture the struggle of state, religion, and indigenous politics while they take place on Nubian women’s bodies.