Female Homosexuality in the Middle East Histories and Representations [Paperback]

This book, the first full-length study of its kind, dares to probe the biggest taboo in contemporary Arab culture with scholarly intent and integrity - female homosexuality.

Habib argues that female homosexuality has a long history in Arabic literature and scholarship, beginning in the ninth century, and she traces the destruction of Medieval discourses on female homosexuality and the replacement of these with a new religious orthodoxy that is no longer permissive of a variety of sexual behaviours.

Habib also engages with recent gay historiography in the West and challenges institutionalized constructionist notions of sexuality.

Part 1: Introducing Studies on Female Homosexuality and Contemporary Critical Theory  1. Introduction: Contemporary Views of Female Homosexuality in the Middle East  2. Constructing and Deconstructing Sexuality: New Paradigms for Gay Historiography  Part 2: The History and Representation of Female Homosexuality in the Middle Ages  3. An Overview of Medieval Literature Concerning Female Homosexuality  4. A Close Reading of Ahmad Ibn Yusuf Tifashi's Nuzhat al Albab: Toward Re-Envisioning the Islamic Middle East  Part 3: The History and Representation of Female Homosexuality in the Contemporary Middle East  5. Contemporary Representations of Female Homosexuality in Arabic Literature and Criticism  6. Some Like it Luke-Warm: A Brief History of the Representation of (Homo)Sexuality in Egyptian Film  Part 4: Conclusion and References  7. Conclusion: Homosexuals, the People of Lot and the Future of Arabic Homosexuality  8. Notes

Samar Habib is a scholar, editor, and novelist. Her literary novel, A Tree Like Rainwas published in Sydney in 2005, and she is currently&aml“-