Medicines of the Soul: Female Bodies and Sacred Geographies in a Transnational Islam [Paperback]

Fedwa Malti-Douglas (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0520222849 | ISBN-13: 978-0520222847 | Publication Date: March 5, 2001 | Edition: 1

In Medicines of the Soul, the autobiographical writings of three leading women in today's Islamic revival movement reveal dramatic stories of religious transformation. As interpreted by Fedwa Malti-Douglas, the autobiographies provide a powerful, groundbreaking portrayal of gender, religion, and discourses of the body in Arabo-Islamic culture. At the center of each story is a lively female Islamic spirituality that questions secular hierarchies while reaffirming patriarchal ones.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The author's voice is nuanced by her wide knowledge of Islam, of feminism, and of life. One comes to know these women well, and to care about them. I was often deeply moved, and I was also often moved to laughter by the zany, Marx Brothers-like collisions between the registers of East and West, or medicine and religion, or just between the wits of these gutsy, self-aware women and the flat-footed male establishment." - Wendy Doniger, author of The Bedtrick: Tales of Sex and Masquerade "Malti-Douglas crosses linguistic, cultural, national, and religious frontiers; she gives consistency to an Islamic revival differentiated from Islamic fundamentalism, challenging methods, programs, and problematizations of the social and political sciences applied to the study of the contemporary Islamic textual corpus." - Mohammed Arkoun, editor of Arabica" --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Inside Flap

"Fedwa Malti-Douglas . . . crosses linguistic, cultural, national, and religious frontiers; she gives consistency to an Islamic revival differentiated from Islamic fundamentalism, challenging methods, programs, problematisations of social, and political sciences applied to the study of the contemporary Islamic textual corpus. It is a needed contribution to the interpretation of the born-again phenomenon as expressed by female figures emerging from Islamic context where so far women are subjects talked about more than the subjects talking."--Mohammed Arkoun, editor of Arabica

"The author's voice is nuanced by her wide knowledge of Islam, of feminism, and of life. One comes to know these women well, and to care about them. I was often deeply moved, and I was also often moved to laughter by the zany Marx Brothers--like collisions between the registers of East and West, or medicine and religion, or just between the wits of these gutsy, self-aware women and the flat-footed male establishment."--Wendy Doniger, author of The Bedtrick: Tales of Sex and Masquerade

"A remarkable book. Combining textual analysis and biography Fedwa Malti-Douglas opens new vistas in understanding Islamist women and gender relations in contemporary Islam."--John L. Esposito, University Professor, Georgetown University

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Product Details

• Paperback: 245 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (March 5, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520222849
• ISBN-13: 978-0520222847
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #544,095 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2.0 out of 5 stars Muslim female literature 1980s, March 29, 2010

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William Garrison Jr. (Bellevue, WA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Medicines of the Soul: Female Bodies and Sacred Geographies in a Transnational Islam (Hardcover)

Regarding "Medicines of the Soul" by Ms. Fedwa Malti-Douglas, another reviewer wrote: "In Medicines of the Soul, the autobiographical writings of three leading women in today's Islamic revival movement reveal dramatic stories of religious transformation. As interpreted by Fedwa Malti-Douglas, the autobiographies provide a powerful, groundbreaking portrayal of gender, religion, and discourses of the body in Arabo-Islamic culture. At the center of each story is a lively female Islamic spirituality that questions secular hierarchies while reaffirming patriarchal ones." Initially I bought this book in the hope that the author would be providing some type of a scholastic psycho-sociological analysis of how Islam influences Muslim women; but not to be. In short, the author analyses several autobiographical semi-novels written by Muslim authors. Fedwa looks for hidden double-entendre meanings in the novellas, and explains their `meaning' in terms of a Muslim woman's perspective. Fedwa spoke with several of these authors to draw out their thoughts for analysis. However, Fedwa doesn't look at how the Quran or the ahadith influence a Muslim male's perspective of women - only a couple of times does she refer to them. So this book is not a `deep', profound, scholarly research tome by some sociologist who is trying to pry open the female `Muslim mind'. If you like literature analysis, you might find this book informative (but about what I'm not to sure). Fedwa's `conclusions' are rather just too `broad' and `general' to provide any realistic utility in understanding why a Muslim woman has decided to veil herself and go `fundamentalistic.' If you are looking for some Freudian/Weber psychological analysis of the female Muslim, this book is barren.