The Representation of Gender and Women's Cultural Differences in Bothayna Al-Essa's "Dar Khawla"

Anas A. Alhumam

doi:10.33193/JALHSS.128.2026.1627

Anas A. Alhumam Arabic Language Department, College of Arts, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33193/JALHSS.128.2026.1627

الكلمات المفتاحية: Gender, Cultural identity, Feminist discourse, Heteroglossia, Cultural differences, Colonialism

الملخص

This paper examines Bothayna Al-Essa’s novel Dar Khawla to analyze how gender and women’s cultural differences are represented in Al-Essa’s work. Qualitative study design was employed to investigate these dimensions through textual and thematic analysis with respect to various cultural and feminist theoretical frameworks. As Dar Khawla is centralized on the themes of gender identity, postcolonial critique and cultural identity, it explored the role of language and identity construction within female characters penned by Al-Essa. It focuses on the interconnection of cultural transformation with relation to Butler’s gender performativity theory and Bhabha’s cultural identity. It connects cultural identity to examine Al-Essa’s portrayal of Kuwaiti national identity, highlighting her engagement with cultural diversity. Gender performativity and female identity construction highlighted the themes of freedom and looking at cultural expectations as a means of liberation instead of limitations. It explores the interplay between narrative and lyrical elements in feminist writing, offering rich theoretical insights. The study employs Susan Stanford Friedman’s ideas on narrative and poetic interaction to demonstrate how feminist literature reconfigures literary structures. Al-Essa’s work combines poetic and narrative techniques, amplifying women’s voices in resistance and conveying their experiences as a marginalized group within dominant male narratives. The analysis reveals Al-Essa’s intertextuality in amplifying female voices while addressing empowerment, societal reform, and intellectual inquiry. Her advocacy for the Arabic language and cultural heritage highlights the importance of preserving identity amid globalization, while her engagement with Western culture reflects a blending of traditional values and modern influences.

المراجع

1. Abu-Al-Alala, A. (2021). Linguistic Means and the Construction of Satire Discourse in the Short Story. Arts College Fayoum University Journal, 13(1), 2-13.
2. Appignanesi, L. (2011). Mad, bad, and sad: A history of women and the mind doctors. Hachette UK.
3. Al-Ajimi, M. (1998). In the Style of Satire Discourse. Arts and Human Science Journal in Sousse, 3(1), 10.
4. Al-Amili, Z. (1894). Scattered Pearls in Women's Classes. Grand Prince Press.
5. Bakhtin, M. (1984) Problems of Dostoevsky’s Poetics. (C. Emerson. Trans.). University of Minnesota Press.
6. Bakhtin, M. (1990). Discourse in the Novel. In M. Holquist (Ed.), The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays (pp. 259-422). The University of Texas Press.
7. Bermann, S. (2014). Performing Translation. In S. Bermann & C. Porter (Eds.), A Companion to Translation Studies (P. 290). Willy Blackwell.
8. Bhabha, H. (2012). The Location of Culture. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203820551
9. Brini, K. (2017). Physical Dimensional Study of the Rain Bard written by Bothyna Al-Essa (Unpublished Master’s thesis). Mohamed Khider Biskra University Press.
10. Bordo, S. (2023). Unbearable weight: Feminism, western culture, and the body. University of California Press.
11. Brown, W. (1997). The Impossibility of Women’s Studies, Difference: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies, 9(3), 79-101. https://doi.org/10.1215/10407391-9-3-79
12. Butler, J. (2022). Gender Feminism and Subversion of Identity. (F. Almusikani Trans.). Arab Center for Research & Policy Studies. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203824979
13. Al-Essa, B. (2024). Dar Khawla. Takween Publishing.
14. Friedman, S. S. (1998). Mappings: Feminism and the Cultural Geographies of Encounter. Princeton University Press.
15. Hall, S. (2015). Cultural Identity and Diaspora. In J. Rutherford, (Ed.), Identity: community, culture, difference (392-403). Routledge.
16. Irigaray, L. (1985). This Sex Which is Not One. (C. Porter with C. Buke, Trans.). Cornell University Press.
17. Kristeva, J. (1986). Word, Dialogue and Novel. In T. Moi (ed.), The Kristeva Reader (pp. 34-61). Basil Blackwell.
18. Al-Maliki, D. Place and Violence Formations in Buthaina Elissa’s Novel Maze Maps. Kuwait University Journal, 44(34), 9-70. https://doi.org/10.34120/aass.v44i634.1485.
19. Midday, M. (2022). The concept of femininity in the novels of Bothayna Al-Essa. Tilmeez, 4(39), 178-191.
20. Ridgeway C. L. (2009). Framed before we know it: How gender shapes social relations. Gender & Society, 23(2), 60-145. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243208330313.
21. Shahi, A. M., & Era,M. (2021). An Analysis of women's personality in the novel. Journal of Woman in Culture and Arts, 13(2), 273-290.
22. Alshammari, A. (2019). "The Rise of Bidun Literature: Representation and Advocacy in Kuwait." from https://agsiw.org/the-rise-of-bidun-literature-representation-and-advocacy-in-kuwait/.
23. West, C. and D. H. Zimmerman (1987). Doing gender. Gender & society, 1(2): 125-151.
24. Worton, M., & Still, J. (Eds.). (1990). Intertextuality: Theories and Practices. Manchester University Press.