On becoming good women: a study on 'the fragmented self' in Malaysian Muslim women's writing in English

Malaysian Muslim women’s writing in English is a new literary phenomenon, and hence, there is not much critical literature. This paper examines some samples of writings in English by Malaysian Muslim women. It begins by providing the background of English language and literature in Malaysia in an at...

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Main Author:	Abdul Manaf, Nor Faridah
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Korean Society for Feminist Studies in English Literature 2007
Subjects:	PN Literature (General)
Online Access:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/32708/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/32708/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/32708/1/On_Becoming_Good_Women.pdf

id	iium-32708
recordtype	eprints
spelling	iium-327082016-07-19T02:43:48Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/32708/ On becoming good women: a study on 'the fragmented self' in Malaysian Muslim women's writing in English Abdul Manaf, Nor Faridah PN Literature (General) Malaysian Muslim women’s writing in English is a new literary phenomenon, and hence, there is not much critical literature. This paper examines some samples of writings in English by Malaysian Muslim women. It begins by providing the background of English language and literature in Malaysia in an attempt to address the complexities of writing in English in Malaysia. The paper also raises issues of importance to Malaysian Muslim women writers by focusing on the struggles and conflicts that they encounter, writing as Muslim women. This is because of cultural tensions faced as a result of urbanization and modernization, which bring in new values, very often based on Western mores. The paper examines how identities are fragmented as these women address taboo subjects like sex, sexuality, and illegal abortions. Their writings express the tension between succumbing to the dictates of society and the need to expose reality as it is. Muslim women writers are also at pains to voice their Muslim identity in a world so misinformed on matters relating to Islam and Muslim women. Muslims are expected to be virtuous by their religion, and where the women are concerned, the expectations are often higher than for men as interpretations of “good” behavior are often focused on women. This unbalanced representation of Muslim women, be it by Muslims themselves or Western media, has elicited gross misrepresentations of women in Islam or Muslim women in general. This paper documents the voices of Malaysian Muslim women writers in their attempts to represent themselves and their world but not without conflicts and predicaments. The paper focuses on the women’s ‘fragmented selves’ as they struggle to define and redefine what it is like to have multiple roles as Muslim women. Korean Society for Feminist Studies in English Literature 2007 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/32708/1/On_Becoming_Good_Women.pdf Abdul Manaf, Nor Faridah (2007) On becoming good women: a study on 'the fragmented self' in Malaysian Muslim women's writing in English. Feminist Studies in English Literature, 15 (2). pp. 113-133. ISSN 1226-9689 http://www.fsel.org/bbs/view.php?id=feminism_journal&page=18&sn1=&divpage=1&sn=off&ss=on&sc=on&select_arrange=headnum&desc=asc&no=58&PHPSESSID=e4ffc4102f80577a5906ec86a930d8cc
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	International Islamic University Malaysia
building	IIUM Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
topic	PN Literature (General)
spellingShingle	PN Literature (General) Abdul Manaf, Nor Faridah On becoming good women: a study on 'the fragmented self' in Malaysian Muslim women's writing in English
description	Malaysian Muslim women’s writing in English is a new literary phenomenon, and hence, there is not much critical literature. This paper examines some samples of writings in English by Malaysian Muslim women. It begins by providing the background of English language and literature in Malaysia in an attempt to address the complexities of writing in English in Malaysia. The paper also raises issues of importance to Malaysian Muslim women writers by focusing on the struggles and conflicts that they encounter, writing as Muslim women. This is because of cultural tensions faced as a result of urbanization and modernization, which bring in new values, very often based on Western mores. The paper examines how identities are fragmented as these women address taboo subjects like sex, sexuality, and illegal abortions. Their writings express the tension between succumbing to the dictates of society and the need to expose reality as it is. Muslim women writers are also at pains to voice their Muslim identity in a world so misinformed on matters relating to Islam and Muslim women. Muslims are expected to be virtuous by their religion, and where the women are concerned, the expectations are often higher than for men as interpretations of “good” behavior are often focused on women. This unbalanced representation of Muslim women, be it by Muslims themselves or Western media, has elicited gross misrepresentations of women in Islam or Muslim women in general. This paper documents the voices of Malaysian Muslim women writers in their attempts to represent themselves and their world but not without conflicts and predicaments. The paper focuses on the women’s ‘fragmented selves’ as they struggle to define and redefine what it is like to have multiple roles as Muslim women.
format	Article
author	Abdul Manaf, Nor Faridah
author_facet	Abdul Manaf, Nor Faridah
author_sort	Abdul Manaf, Nor Faridah
title	On becoming good women: a study on 'the fragmented self' in Malaysian Muslim women's writing in English
title_short	On becoming good women: a study on 'the fragmented self' in Malaysian Muslim women's writing in English
title_full	On becoming good women: a study on 'the fragmented self' in Malaysian Muslim women's writing in English
title_fullStr	On becoming good women: a study on 'the fragmented self' in Malaysian Muslim women's writing in English
title_full_unstemmed	On becoming good women: a study on 'the fragmented self' in Malaysian Muslim women's writing in English
title_sort	on becoming good women: a study on 'the fragmented self' in malaysian muslim women's writing in english
publisher	Korean Society for Feminist Studies in English Literature
publishDate	2007
url	http://irep.iium.edu.my/32708/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/32708/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/32708/1/On_Becoming_Good_Women.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T20:47:14Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T20:47:14Z
_version_	1777409756108947456

On becoming good women: a study on 'the fragmented self' in Malaysian Muslim women's writing in English

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