How to make a killing in veiled cliches October 9, 2008
Posted by Fatemeh in Books/Magazines, Culture/Society.Tags: honor killing, Orientalism, publishing, sexism
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This was written by Amal Awad and originally published in The Sydney Morning Herald.
As I spot one veiled cliche after another in the bookshop, I realise that when it comes to Muslims in print, if kidnapped children and enslavement were the flavour of the ’80s and ’90s, honour killings are the leitmotif of the Noughties.
Every Muslim-related book must have a beginning, an honour killing, and an end. And if there’s one thing Dan Brown’s success demonstrates, it’s that mediocrity sells.
Fortunately, the Muslim oppression shtick allows for a fairly elastic interpretation of the “bio”. And, as a Muslim, I feel equipped to offer an insider’s view to aspiring writers who wish to go from honour killing to making a killing.
Despite being exposed for fabricating her story Forbidden Love, Norma Khouri recently starred in her own documentary. The lesson is you cannot let facts tyrannise when penning your tale of woe – and you, too, should strive for infamy.
Infuse your story with a generous amount of evil. Make your Muslim male protagonists all nasty and powerful and swarthy. Your heroine, however, should be unemployed and devoid of personality and possibly even mute. This will inject a wonderful amount of pathos.
Image courtesy of Xulon Press, Inc.
This isn’t Chomsky, so don’t make things difficult for your demographic and avoid burdening your readers with “the other side of the story”.
Research. Travel to your location to find the best villains. When you think about the money you’ll make from book sales and appearances, it’s a small investment. And these stories make good telemovies – you’ll be at the Emmys before you can spit.
The cover can make or break your success. Nothing says you are serious and authentic like a veiled woman – preferably with only her frightened, beautiful, kohl-lined eyes peering out, beseeching you to help her by forking out $32.95 for the book.
Keep titles simple and don’t fear formulaic. Start with a word such as “hidden”, “caged”, or “veiled” and follow with “love”, “lust”, or “passion”. For example, Hidden Lust, Caged Love, Veiled Passion. They guarantee you will attract the attention of the average daytime soapie viewer.
Finally, use Arabic-looking scripts. It looks exotic and screams danger, intrigue and honour killings, as well as displaying a healthy respect for Arab culture.
haha
Thanks for the advice, Ill keep this in mind for the next time i need to make a few quick bucks.
Nicely written
Great post!
This reminds of the piece How to Write About Africa (http://www.granta.com/Magazine/92/How-to-Write-About-Africa?view=articleAllPages) by Binyavanga Wainaina.
Oh, don’t forget “Secret” or “Forbidden.” This is funny, but would be even funnier if it weren’t true.
That’s publishing for you. I have noticed these days that the stereotypical oppressed Muslim woman seems to the flavor in publishing. Don’t bother with publishing a novel about a Muslim woman who has something different to say.
A lot of 90’s books on Muslim women were also about female genital mutilation aka ‘female circumcision’. I was told to read alot of these by my feminist high school teachers. I vastly prefered Do They Hear You When You Cry to the others that I read, I wonder where Fauziya is now? Interestingly these were some of the first contacts with self identifying Muslims and it was clear to me that their poor treatment was not due to Islam. Although it is sad I didn’t realise one of my classmates for 2 years was Muslim or that I had exposure to more positive perspectives on Muslims, I am glad that these books made very clear that FGM is not Islamic and that Islam was comforting to these women rather than opressive.
I’ve never really understood how FGM has been associated with Islam. In South Asian culture this practice is absolutely unheard of. And I’m sure the same is true in East Asia as well. As far as I can see it only occurs in West Asia/Africa.
So how did it come to be associated with Islam when the vast majority of Muslims have not even heard of the concept??
@ Sobia, some East Africans practice it; Somalis, Ethiopians, and Sudanis (not sure about Eritreans though.) I think part of the reason FGM has been associated with Islam is because when you typically see women on television speaking about it they hail from predominately Muslim countries or communities. Apart from a few exceptions you hardly see women of other religions represented on television when this discussion comes about. It seems like I READ about non-Muslim women who practice it though…
You know, I actually had a few Muslims try to convince me that FGM is sunnah!
Yeah, I TOO had a few Muslims try to convince me that FGM is sunnah!
Jamerican, your right, except that in my Somalian community the number of women who have been through FGM is around 95%. All the women in my family (mother, aunts, cousins) have gone through it except for me and sisters because my father was educated enough to say NO. Some of cousins have died from this procedure. This includes Dijbouti (a Somalian speaking nation) as well. When I went to Dijbouti a few years ago all the women I encounter thought there was something wrong with my sisters and I. Those who have not gone through this procedure come from families with higher levels of education, also because the Somalian immigrants are aware this practice is illegal in their host country and that it carries a harsh sentence. For example, this happened in the Somalian Ethiopian community in the USA a few years ago, one of the parents was sentenced to 10 years in prision. On the day the parent of the girl was being sentenced the court house was full of Somalian Ethiopians who where visibile Muslims (they were wearing hijabs) and they were protesting the charge claiming athough the young girl was mutilated it wasn’t the father that performed it but the mother’s family (men never perform this act, it’s women. It’s just a really shady case)
In East Africa the practice is slowly dying out because of the rise in education and awareness for women. They also practice FGM in Eritrea, and this is a country where Muslims make up around 40-45% of the population. However, interestly it’s dying much out faster in Eritrea because of the culture. For example, in Somalia a girl goes through FGM around the ages of 6-9 years old, they can not dispute their mother’s decision. Whereas in Eritrea, the practice is carried out when a girl is around the ages of 12-18 years old, at this age their not as vulnerable as a 6-9 year old. By 12-18 years old, some of those girls went to school in Eritrea and push the awareness button, and they have considerably more power over their bodies. For example, many Eritrean women refused FGM by running away and joining the Military. In certain Western African communites the age begins at a 1 week old baby girl and up.
What’s disturbing is in Egypt, where they have television debates about FGM, and the side that is for this practice always sites that 1 hadiths (that has NO credability in other Muslims countries). Honestly, on t.v. the side that is for FGM mostly likely comprises of MALE clerics.
Non-Muslims in Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya etc. also practice FGM, but none of them use religion as an excuse to perform it (it’s becoming a more popular excuse b/c culture doesn’t carry the same weight).
It’s more popular in Muslim countries where the number of Muslim Women mutilated is much higher (it’s a culture heritage that is hard for them to let go)
Here’s a short clip about the first US prosecution of FGM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40-2vvz6Vuc
sorry for the lenght.
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