Writing Beirut

Samira Aghacy is Professor of English and Comparative Literature and interim Director of the Institute for Women’s Studies in the Arab World at the Lebanese American University. She is author of Masculine Identity in the Fiction of Arab East since 1967 (2009), and has published numerous articles on contemporary Arabic fiction. She also served for seven years (1997-2003) as editor of Al-Raida, a feminist peer-reviewed journal published by IWSAW.

• IntroductionThe Rural/Urban Divide: Subverted BoundariesThe Rhetoric of Walking: Cartographic Versus Nomadic ItinerariesSexualising the City: The Yoking of Flesh and StoneTraffic between the Factual and Imagined: Beirut DeferredExcavating the City: Exterior and Interior RelicsInconclusive ConclusionBibliographyIndex

Samira Aghacy has once more provided us with a well-thought-out, brilliant discussion on the pertinent issues plaguing our part of the world. She has thus contributed in raising awareness with this new book, so carefully researched and written. It will no doubt have a great impact on the literary criticism field, as well as gender studies, war studies, and studies of the city.