Autobiographical Bodies: Theory and Practice

Writing about physical human bodies and their sexualities has always been a controversial issue in Arabic literature. Although classical Arabic literature contains a number of exceptions (most remarkable of which is medieval erotic poetry), the love theme – one of the most popular themes in both classical and modern Arabic literature – is, as a rule, highly romanticized and detached from any notion of corporeality. In contemporary Arab narrative culture, some writers took on the challenge of incorporating aspects of sexuality in their works, but in most cases they were careful to avoid graphic depictions. Yusuf Idris, for instance, while bravely focusing his story ’Abū al-Rijāl (published in Arabic in 1987 and translated as A Leader of Men) on a homosexual character, still uses the kind of language that renders the physical desires of the body in a rather subtle, veiled manner. Consider, for example, the following excerpt depicting the protagonist's homoerotic fantasy that avoids any references to sexual organs and, instead, focuses on “neutral” body parts such as arms and legs:

Similarly, many Arab and Western scholars of Arabic literature often preferred to investigate the subject of sexuality from a body-less point of view by treating it as an ideological device and utilizing metaphorical language to talk about it, rather than depicting sexual identities through specific physical experiences. For example, Hilary Kilpatrick suggested that in Arabic literature, “the search for love is intimately connected with the individual's desire for freedom and fulfillment, while the frank affirmation of sexuality, of whatever kind, represents a challenge to a rigid and hypocritical social order” (Kilpatrick 1995: 15).