The Liberation of Women and The New Woman: A New Definition of Feminism in Late 19th Century Egypt

Extract

[...] For many intellectuals, Qasim Amin was even the founder of a feminist branch in early 20th-century Egypt. Although this status is contested - particularly in relation to Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq, who spoke of women's liberation in the mid-19th century - he is probably the first thinker to see female domination as the result of a particular history and culture. The negative comments related to the publication of The Liberation of Women even led him to admit, in the first pages of The New Woman, the necessary modernity of his thoughts and the public to which he addresses himself: We are writing only for the educated and in particular for the young, in whom we place all our hopes; thanks to the correct scientific education they have received, they will be able to devote to the feminine question the attention and study it deserves11. [...]

[...] The emergence of a new societal paradigm of Egyptian intellectuals In the second half of the 19th century, the Nahda movement permeated Egyptian society. This current is inseparable from the progressive decline of the Ottoman Empire. Many political, cultural, and economic actors contributed to modernizing reflections on Egypt's future. Thus, when Qasim Amin questions feminism as a political project, one can only question the critique of foreign interference that would follow. In the same way, one can perceive filiations between different actors of the Nahda movement. [...]

[...] He was then accused of "having failed in religion and inciting women to debauchery6 ». According to specialist Robert Fulford, it is the very negative echo that leads Qasim Amin to extend his work, while radicalizing it7. In the New Woman, The gaze of Qasim Amin emancipates itself from the sole reading and interpretation of religious texts to the benefit of an analysis of the recent contributions of the humanities and social sciences. In fact, the 'Islamic varnish of the first work has flaked off, to reveal a system of thought that stands on its own, and independent of any reference to the Quranic text'"8», or to also enjoy a universal dimension. [...]

[...] In this first part, we have extensively revisited the contributions and definitions of the feminism of this author. We have marked the evolution between his two books on the question and what these writings revealed more about the state of social situation. Without restricting the purely personal scope of his reflections, it is truly nourished by his era that his work has been able to achieve such a decision and such renown. II. The social context of the construction of an Arab feminism and its reinterpretations The thought of Qasim Amin, as modern as it was in Egypt in the early 1900s, could not be reduced to the action of a single actor. [...]

[...] Qasim Amin's ideas are therefore innovative but also crucial in the history of Egyptian feminism, as they have circulated and influenced subsequent reflections on his work. B. From the Incarnation of a Reflection to its Contemporary Reinterpretations For a long time, there was a genuine denial of Qasim Amin's thought in Egyptian intellectual circles. It was necessary to wait a century after the publication of The Liberation of Women to obtain official recognition from the Egyptian government. This took the form of an international conference that brought together, for 6 days, more than 150 specialists in his work or Arab feminism.16. [...]