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Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood
Dreams of Trespass Tales of a Harem Girlhood Author:Fatima Mernissi, Ruth V. Ward (Photographer) "I was born in a harem in 1940 in Fez, Morocco..." — So begins Fatima Mernissi in this exotic and rich narrative of a childhood behind the iron gates of a domestic harem. In 'Dreams of Trespass,' Mernissi weaves her own memories with the dreams and memories of the women who surrounded her in the courtyard of her youth--women who... more », deprived of access to the world outside, recreated it from sheer imagination. 'Dreams of Trespass' is the provocative story of a girl confronting the mysteries of time and place, gender and sex in the recent Muslim world.
Fatima Merissi is a sociologist at University Mohammed V in Rabat, Morocco. She is the author of 'Islam and Democracy,' 'The Veil and the Male Elite,' and 'Beyond the Veil,' among other books. Utne Reader named her one of its 100 visionaries in 1995.
"Wonderful and enchanting. . .Mernissi brings this vanished world to life." --The New York Times Book Review
"A remarkable book. . .its good humor is unwavering; it tempers judgmentalism with understanding; and it provides a vivid portrait of a world that most Westerners can scarcely comprehend." -- The Washington Post Book World
"[Mernissi] creates a necklace of tales as delightful as Scheherazade's." -- Elle
Table of Contents:
1. My Harem Frontiers 1
2. Scheherazade, the King, and the Words 12
3. The French Harem 20
4. Yasmina's First Co-Wife 28
5. Chama and the Caliph 38
6. Tamou's Horse 48
7. The Harem Within 56
8. Aquatic Dishwashing 66
9. Moonlit Nights of Laughter 74
10. The Men's Salon 82
11. World War II. View from the Courtyard 92
12. Asmahan, the Singing Princess 102
13. The Harem Goes to the Movies 112
14. Egyptian Feminists Visit the Terrace 124
15. Princess Budur's Fate 136
16. The Forbidden Terrace 144
17. Mina, the Rootless 156
18. American Cigarettes 174
19. Mustaches and Breasts 188
20. The Silent Dream of Wings and Flights 202
21. Skin Politics: Eggs, Dates, and Other Beauty Secrets 218