Mohja Kahf
Mohja Kahf (born 1967, Damascus, Syria) is an Arab-American poet and author.
Kahf moved to the United States in 1971. Her family has been involved in Syrian opposition politics, a theme reflected in the life of her character Khadra of The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf.
She received her Ph.D. in comparative literature from Rutgers University and is currently an associate professor of comparative literature and faculty member of the King Fahd Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.
Literary career
Kahf's work explores themes of cultural dissonance and overlap between Muslim-American and other communities, both religious and secular. Islam, morality, modesty, gender and gender-relations, sexuality, politics, and especially identity are important aspects of her work.
Her first book of poetry, E-mails From Scheherazad, was a finalist for the 2004 Paterson Poetry Prize.
Published works
Poetic works
E-mails from Scheherazad 2003, University Press of Florida
Novels
The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf 2006, Carroll & Graf
Scholarly Monographs
Western Representations of the Muslim Woman: From Termagant to Odalisque 1999 U of Texas Press
Articles and Book Chapters
"Writing on Muslim Gender Issues in the West Today: Slipping Past the Pity Committee," in Rabab Abdal Hadi, ed., Studies in Arab American Feminisms (forthcoming).
"From Her Royal Bod the Robe Was Removed: The Trauma of Forced Unveiling in the Middle East" in Jennifer Heat, ed., The Veil (UC Berkeley, 2008).
"The Silences of Contemporary Syrian Literature" World Literature Today, Spring 2001.
"Politics and Erotics in Nizar Kabbani's Poetry: From the Sultan's Wife to the Lady Friend" World Literature Today, Winter 2000.
"Packaging Huda: Sha'rawi's Memoirs in the US Reading Environment" in Amal Amireh & Lisa Suhair Majaj, ed., Going Global: The Transitional Reception of Third World Women Writers (Garland, 2000)
"Braiding the Stories: Women's Eloquence in the Early Islamic Era" in Gisela Webb, ed., Windows of Faith: Muslim Women's Scholarship and Activism (Syracuse UP, 2000).
Critical Studies
Sabiha Sorgun, “‘Into the state of pure surrender’: Spirituality in Mohja Kahf’s The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf,” 30th Annual Meeting of Southwest Texas Popular Culture and American Culture Associations, February 25–28, 2009. Albuquerque, NM.
“For in song lies the mystery of Being.”
“You do not know your own beauty, you struggle in grief, but I, I have seen it all, and I know: You yourself are the secret essence.”
“All women speak two languages: the language of men and the language of silent suffering. Some women speak a third, the language of queens.”
“...Her eyes sparkle like she's about to cartwheel through a mosque.”
“I cannot operate from fear anymore.”
“I'm not defending their views. I'm defending their right to have their views. There's a difference.”
“And together they did eat of the candy corn. And it was good.”
“Here was an exposure, her soul an unmarked sheet shadowing into distinct shapes under the fluids. Fresh film. Her self, developing.”
“A treasure that fire cannot eat. my little secret. I've carried them wrapped in a handkerchief in my bosom through some tight places. Not for nothing do Shamy girls have good boobs.”
“Peeling an eggplant was like unveiling an ivory-skinned woman dressed all in black.”
“[He] [w]ent deep into the cave where wounded men go when they walk around not talking to anyone about what's happening to them on the inside. Also known as Terre Haute.”
“Juma: I'm not a woman--I don't know HOW to cook!Khadra: Well, it didn't come with my BOOBS!”
“You knew you were an Arab if your ride form the airport was two dozen people.”
“That's Pete Seeger,' Joy said, indicating the snake with a nod. 'Baker beaned 'im, Dad stuffed 'im, and I named 'im.”
“One time her father told her Shakespeare was really an Arab. 'Just look at his name: It's an Anglicization of Sheikh Zubayr,' he said with a straight face.”
“Generally speaking, Americans cussed, smoke, and drank, and the Shamys had it on good authority that a fair number of them used drugs. Americans dated and fornicated and committed adultery. They had broken families and lots of divorces. Americans were not generous or hospitable like Uncle Abdulla and Aunt Fatma; they invited people to their houses only a few at a times, and didn't even let them bring their children, and only fed them little tiny portions of food they called courses on big empty plates they called good china. Plus, Americans ate out wastefully often...Americans believed the individual was more important than the family, and money was more important than anything. Khadra's dad said Americans threw out their sons and daughters when they turned eighteen unless they could pay rent--to their own parents! And, at the other end, they threw their parents into nursing homes when they got old. This, although they took slavish care of mere dogs. All in all, Americans led shallow, wasteful, materialistic lives.”