11.09.2025

Review of Manfred Sing's book “Arab Feminism and Islamic History” published

Feminism and the role of women are much debated topics. One example of how women were already strong in the past and in a wide variety of cultures is Widad Sakakini. She was a well-known author in the Arab world in the 20th century, but was later almost forgotten. Manfred Sing, research coordinator at the IEG, has written about her life and work in the volume "Arab Feminism and Islamic History. The Transnational Life and Work of Lebanese-Syrian Writer Widad Sakakini (1913–1991). A review by Astrid Ottosson al-Bitar, who has also worked on Sakakini, has been published in the Orientalistische Literaturzeitung (Volume 119, Issue 6).

Sakakini's thoughts on the role of women and gender relations in 20th-century Arabia are a focal point of Sing's study. The reviewer emphasizes that it is precisely the combination of textual analysis and »detailed and interesting information about the context, the literary scene and its key actors« that makes the book »a rich and valuable study« mache.