Public Selves, Private Selves, and Mirrored Selves: Muslim Central Asian Women’s Approaches to Life-Writing Restricted; Files Only
Abdugafurova, Donohon (Summer 2021)
Published
Abstract
This dissertation contextualizes Central Asian women’s approaches to life-writing in the Uzbek language. It employs several critical discourses with the aim of studying Muslim Central Asian women’s writing and their overall relationship with their milieu. One of the ways in which it does this is by identifying three major approaches to life narratives in the writings of Saida Zunnunova (d. 1977), Zarifa Saidnosirova (d. 1986), Kibriyo Qahhorova (d. 1996), and Zulfiya Isroilova’s (d. 1996). The first approach, the Direct Self, analyzes the narrator as the central protagonist of a life story in which childhood memories emerge. The second approach, Indirect/Relational Self, argues that through the act of life-writing Central Asian women placed themselves in the webs of familial and spousal relations as daughters, daughters-in-law, mothers, and wives. Although women writers were hesitant to place themselves at the center of their composition in the form of a sole autobiography, our understanding of Central Asian culture and Islamic history enable us to construct their Indirect Self from their writings through attitudes towards their filial and spousal responsibilities. Finally, the Social Self approach to life-writing analyzes Central Asian women’s writings as a particular engagement with the Soviet regime and society as women attempted to archive their experiences through literature. The complexities of literary production and consumption by the Soviet agenda reveal that women’s personal and autobiographical works act as criticisms and accolades to their times. Ultimately, this dissertation argues that investigating Central Asian women’s writings through autobiographical discourse reveals multiple facets of self-writings. As accounts of personal, social, and historical events, the analysis of Central Asian women’s writings exemplifies the works of life writings in the Central Asian context. Although this dissertation's subject is life-writing of Central Asian women, its implicit subjects are professional women under Soviet power and their negotiation with family and society. The findings of this research contribute to the scholarly debates of women’s writings in nonwestern contexts, and to ongoing scholarly conversations in women’s studies, women’s life-writing, Islamic Civilizations Studies, and Central Asian Studies.
Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i-iii
Introduction 1
Biography and Autobiography 4
Self and Autobiography 5
Definition of Terms and Methodology 9
Women’s Life-Writing 12
Research Questions 16
Writing as Agency for Women 17
Outline of Chapters 21
Chapter One: Situating Women’s Life-Writing in Uzbek Central Asian Literature
Forms of Life-Writing in Medieval and Early Modern
Uzbek Central Asian Literature 23
Jadid Discourse and The Women of Central Asia 46
Autobiographical Writing and Literary
Subjectivity in Soviet Times 60
Post-Soviet and Independence Period Life-Writing
in Uzbekistan 70
Conclusion 76
Chapter Two: The Direct Self: Self-Engagement in Writing
Introduction 78
Theoretical framework: life course theory 83
The “I” in the past 86
The “I” in the present 104
The “I” in the future 125
Conclusion 131
Chapter Three: The Indirect Self: Self-Expression Through Family and Marriage
Introduction 135
The life course of traditional Uzbek women
and family responsibilities 136
Life course and family structure in narratives 144
Husband’s biography versus wife’s autobiography 151
Fathers in the eyes of their daughters 160
Dimensions of motherhood 177
Expressing self-sacrifice 180
Conclusion 185
Chapter Four: Social Self: Individual and Society
Introduction 188
Soviet life ethics 201
Beyond the diary 221
Conclusion 234
Conclusion 236
About this Dissertation
| School | |
|---|---|
| Department | |
| Degree | |
| Submission | |
| Language |
|
| Research Field | |
| Mot-clé | |
| Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor | |
| Committee Members |
Primary PDF
| Thumbnail | Title | Date Uploaded | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
File download under embargo until 20 August 2027 | 2021-07-01 11:23:45 -0400 | File download under embargo until 20 August 2027 |
Supplemental Files
| Thumbnail | Title | Date Uploaded | Actions |
|---|