“Gender Politics in Mahjar Literature: Gibran, Naimy, and ‘Afifa Karam” – Elizabeth Saylor, Assistant Professor

This lecture examines aspects of gender politics in Arabic mahjar (émigré) literature in select works of prose fiction by Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) and Mikha’il Naimy (1889-1988), alongside that of one of their lesser-known female contemporaries, ‘Afifa Karam (1883-1924), whose works offer a unique window into “al-nahda al-‘arabiyya fi Amrika,” or the Arab renaissance in America.

Elizabeth Saylor is an Assistant Professor of Arabic at North Carolina State University. She holds a Ph.D. in Arabic Literature from the University of California, Berkeley (2015) and a B.A. in Comparative Literature and Society from Columbia University (2005).