6 march 2007
Hamas censors Libido in Palestinian folktales
Palestinian
Intellectuals in the West Bank are protesting Hamas government decision to withdraw from schools
a book on Palestinian folkore. The
book Speak, Bird,
Speak Again- Palestinian Arab Folktales is authored by two Palestinian professors,
Ibrahim Muhawi (Darwish) and Sharif Kanaana. The Hamas minister of education claims the book (in its arabic translation) is « full of sexual
expressions ». He is probably referring to five tales alluding
to « sexual awakening and courtship ».
Palestinian poet Zakariya Mohamed, quoted in « al Hayat »,
says: « the Hamas
government has provided nothing to Palestinians, except censorship. The Hamas minister of culture had banned movies in
The introduction to the five tales from the website
of Scholarship
Editions (http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft4s2005r4/).
*
SEXUAL AWAKENING AND COURTSHIP
In
general, the five tales in this group portray the early
stirrings of sexuality, when they are still
subjective feelings and before
formal arrangements for marriage
have been made. Except for "Jbene,"
the individuals in the tales, whether male or female, handle these feelings in a way that communicates them to those for whom they are intended.
In "The Little Bird," the theme of sexual awakening is manifested
in the bird's preparation for marriage. By collecting her trousseau, and by beautifying and putting herself on display, she arouses the
interest of the sultan's son. In "Jummez Bin Yazur, Chief
of the Birds," the youngest daughter's
request is ambiguous enough that the father
can acquiesce without
feelings of shame. The girl
is sending the message of her readiness, which Jummez is able to decipher. In "Sackcloth,"
the sexual awareness begins even before the
girl leaves home, producing
feelings of confusion, shame, and
guilt, especially since she seems
to arouse a most unnatural passion in her father. Hence her
desire to cover her body completely, so as to appear to be not only of the opposite sex but also a horrible freak whom no one would want to touch. Only later, when
she has had more experience and feels secure at
the palace of the king's son, is she able to accept her sexuality. Her dancing in public in the wedding dress her
father had brought her is
a declaration of her new awareness, her readiness to accept a mate. In
"Šahin," the girl
is the more mature of the two protagonists,
and she awakens
Šahin to his manhood. The emotional
upheavals arising out of the first stirrings
of sexuality are here shown not to be limited to young women: young men
feel them also. Šahin must work through his
frustrations and his
confusion to assume the responsibility
of his manhood.
In
"Jbene," in contrast,
the girl attempts to hide or deny her
sexuality. Her behavior differs from the straightforward
courtship behavior shown in the other
tales in this group. She is more concerned with the welfare
of her family than with her
own; thus, her feminine, "nurturing," character emerges in relation to them, not
to the husband-to-be, even though they
were not willing to accept the responsibility
that might have prevented her abduction. The tale shows the poignancy of separation, the isolation of the new bride. Jbene overcomes this isolation through acceptance of her mate, which in turn leads
to reunion with her family. In "Jbene," sexual identity must be drawn forth from
a reluctant woman, and her sorrow
over the loss of her home security overcome.
The narrative devices used
in these tales reinforce the theme of sexual
awakening and the attendant personality
changes. While the use of disguise is common
in folktales, it seems to be particularly
appropriate here. In the last three tales in the group, the heroines or heroes put on some form of disguise
in an effort to mask their
confusion while in transition to the
new identity. The first two tales share the metaphorical
disguise of the bird symbol, thus
conveying a culturally complex meaning that would be
impossible to communicate directly.
Jbene's disguise of staining
her body black literalizes the metaphor of ruining one's reputation;
it serves as an appropriate
symbol of her ambivalence and confusion, and of the shame or dishonor
she might feel concerning her sexuality. She stains her
body black not only to remain
anonymous but also to protect her reputation
and ward off possible advances from the
son of the emir. Her longing for her parents is expressed in her ditty, which at
the same time is instrumental in attracting the attention she is trying to avoid.
Similarly with Sackcloth, if merely being a woman is
sufficient to arouse unnatural passions, then her disguise transforms
her into a monster of the opposite sex. The son of the king signals his
readiness for marriage by his willingness to disguise himself as a woman, which, as can be seen
from "Šahin," is a humiliating thing to do, especially if the disguise were
to be discovered. Whereas in "Šahin" the feminine disguise
is at first
thrust on the hero against his
will, he later assumes it voluntarily; here, then, the use of disguise helps to convey the role
reversal on which the tale is based.
As
a group, these tales also convey something of the power that women possess. through their
sexuality. The first half of "The Little Bird"
presents us with the archetypal image of a girl ready for marriage who, having made all the preparations, sends out her signals
to attract the male. She appears to be passive and receptive, prey to be hunted. On the
other side we have the archetypal
male, an authority figure with
symbolic gun in hand, ready
to assert his will. Yet he
could not be more wrong than to assume that he can
have the upper hand, either because he is a male or because of his
social position, or both. In "Jummez Bin Yazur,"
the lover risks his life by admitting his secret to his sweetheart. And in "Sackcloth," as we have noted, the king's
son risks his masculinity by wearing women's clothes. Finally, in "Šahin," it seems that
no matter what the vizier's daughter
does to the hero, his attraction to her only increases.
The images here are reversed: she is
the hunter and he the hunted.
In
the Introduction we discussed the potential
for conflict between husband and wife,
especially when they are not first cousins. In this group of tales we can glimpse the
source of this conflict: the power residing in women's sexuality on the one hand and the superior social position accorded males on the other. In this respect the first and
last tales in the group ("The
Little Bird" and "Šahin") differ markedly from the others
("Jummez Bin Yazur," "Jbene," and "Sackcloth"), where the female
is presented as having no concern but to be taken for a mate by the male. In "Šahin" and "The Little
Bird," however, the roles themselves
are put. to the test. Whereas the male, as represented by the son of the sultan, with his hunting tools
and pretensions, receives his power from the role
endowed on him by society, the power of the female is from
within, from her own being.
It is the
source not only of her procreative power, but also of her creativity, her playfulness. For only the female
is presented as playful, her playfulness
in the courtship ritual being an outward expression of the power
of her sexuality.
Yet this playfulness
has serious overtones,
because in the end the private passion must be channeled into
public behavior that is in harmony with
the norms of society. As Šahin says, "We have no recourse but for each of us to ask for the hand of his bride from. her father."
In other words, legal and public sanction must be sought to validate
private desire; otherwise, the whole process of courtship will remain at the
level of a game. "The Little Bird"
teaches us that underneath the charming acquiescence of Jbene and Sackcloth lies a power that no man can master. And "Šahin" teaches us that behind the apparent role of male domination sanctioned
by society there may lie another reality altogether.
http://content.cdlib.org/view?docId=ft4s2005r4&chunk.id=d0e4639