Over the past few months, I have been reading almost exclusively novels written by Arab writers or about the Arab World. Nevertheless, I have decided to take a short break and read the new novel from one of my favorite authors, Nuriddin Farah, entitled Knots. All of his novels take place in his native Somalia, and while Somalia is not per se an Arab nation (though some people consider it to be so), it is a Muslim country and has many Arab influences.
While reading a particular passage today, I was reminded of something that I have witnessed in Naguib Mahfouz’ works as well as in other Arab novelists — the effect produced in the minds of young men by women covered by veils, masks or full-body coverings as dedictated by the norms of the societies in which they live. In Mahfouz’s works, for example, you can see the incredible and almost debilitating desire felt by young men when glimpsing a woman’s ankle or even a collar bone.
In the following passage from Knots, the main character, Cambara, reflects on how strange it is for her to return to Somalia after so many years and find women camoflaging themselves underneath veils and full-body covers, and how such disguises actually increase desire Continue reading
Grave Error 