Elizabeth Fernea’s Guests of the Sheik: An Ethnography of an Iraqi Village

In this essay, female oppression in La Casa de Bernarda Alba will be discussed and analyzed. However, in order to be able to understand the importance of this theme and the impact it has had on the play, one must first understand the role of female oppression in the Spanish society in the 1930s.

Elizabeth Fernea entered El Nahra, Iraq as an innocent bystander. However, through her stay in the small Muslim village, she gained cultural insight to be passed on about not only El Nahra, but all foreign culture. As Fernea entered the village, she was viewed with a critical eye, ?It seemed to me that many times the women were talking about me, and not in a particularly friendly manner'; (70). The women of El Nahra could not understand why she was not with her entire family, and just her husband Bob. The women did not recognize her American lifestyle as proper. Conversely, BJ, as named by the village, and Bob did not view the El Nahra lifestyle as particularly proper either. They were viewing

Poverty and hardship are shown to create vulnerability in female characters, particularly the female servants, allowing powerful men to manipulate and sexually abuse them. Kent illustrates how poverty perpetuates maltreatment and abuse in a society like Burial Rites using the characters of Agnes’ mother Ingveldur and Agnes. Agnes’ mother is forced to make invidious choices as her children are “lugged along” from farm to farm, where she is sexually exploited by her employers. In spite of these circumstances, Agnes’ mother is commonly referred to as a whore in their society which abhors female promiscuity yet disregards male promiscuity as a harmless character trait; as in the case of Natan, who is merely “indiscreet” despite all his philandering. Born into poverty, Agnes experiences similar sexual coercion and manipulation from her “masters” and yet is labelled “a woman who is loose with her emotions and looser with her morals”. The severe poverty of Agnes is explicitly demonstrated to the reader by Kent through the intertextual reference of her entire belongings - a very dismal, piteous list to be “sold if a decent offer is presented”. Furthermore, Kent contrasts the situation of Agnes, a “landless workmaid raised on a porridge of moss and poverty”, to the comparative security Steina has experienced using a rhetorical question from

In the play by Federico Garcia Lorca, The House of Bernarda Alba, a recurring theme throughout the play is freedom. Lorca expresses freedom using characters, situations and objects. The characters in the story are Bernarda’s daughters who are under her control and have extremely little freedom and privacy by being forced to abide by her rules. Freedom and Repression are most significant themes conveyed throughout the play, the two opposing themes together are important to understanding both the characters and the story as well.

Out of all the many countries in the world, each one is unique and individualistic with many exclusive qualities to each one. Many times, the countries get compared to the Western civilization of the United States. The book Guests of the Sheik is just that, but more. An American woman, (Elizabeth Fernea) travels to a completely foreign land, not known at all to her and experiences the culture first hand. She is at first willing, since her husband, Bob, had no choice and his job permitted him to do so (in moving to a completely new country). We learn in the book, that not only is where she staying, completely different than America, but surprisingly, the Iraqi people are not

Through its ethnocentric tales and family based beliefs, Elizabeth Warnock Fernea’s Guests of the Sheik suggests that to find the true representation of Islamic culture, one must leave ethnocentrism behind. Not only will we discuss ethnocentrism and the cultural differences between Western and Middle Eastern societies, we will also take a look at the women of El Nahra and family within the differing societies.

The novella tells the story of a young migrant worker who is faced the the responsibility to help care for her family not only financially but in a manner of leadership as well. Throughout the story the character of Estrella changes drastically from a timid outcast to an outspoken leader. In the beginning Estrella is portrayed as a quiet young woman who is defined as an outsider. When looking at the character of Estrella she is characterized in the category as powerless. One reason that we can attribute Estrella’s state of power is her socio-economic circumstances. Coming from a family of five, Estrella assumes the role as the oldest daughter as well as second mother due to her father’s recent abandonment on the family. It is because of this abandonment that Estrella resents her mother’s older boyfriend Perfecto, who in return has gotten her mother pregnant.

And, finally, Fatima is shocked to learn that some older women in American culture get sent to the retirement centers away from their families (p. 185). First of all, lives of Iraqi women are centered on their womenfolk. Fatima feels sorry that Elizabeth is so far from her mother and all on her own in a foreign country. And then, the older age is the deserved age for Iraqi women when, after life hard work, they “enjoy the repose and respect as members of their children’s households.” (p. 185) Mothers pick wives for their sons. And, as in case of Laila’s friend, they can really spoil lives of their daughters-in-law if they choose to. “In spite of the relative obscurity in which these women lived” they had an incredible influence on men, their husbands and especially their sons. (p. 56) So, Fatima genially feels sorry for Elizabeth with her inferior American customs.

There are many countries in the world and every country is unique and individualistic with many exclusive qualities. Everyone in the world has a culture but it is not easy to accept or agree with other people’s culture. The ethnography, “Guests of the Sheik”, written by Elizabeth Warnock Fernea really captures what it is like to live and to be immersed into another culture. Ethnography is “comprised of the writings of the anthropologist, detailing the life ways of a particular culture, investigated by means of direct fieldwork” (Arenson, and Miller-Thayer 1). Elizabeth Fernea lived in a small village of El Nahra in southern Iraq for two years to gather data for her anthropologist husband Bob. In the beginning, she had limited knowledge of Iraq, its religion or culture, but as she started connecting with the women of the society, she came to learn both about this foreign country and about herself. Acculturation is “the process of acceptance resulting for the contact between two cultures, or an individual interacting in at least two cultures” (517). As she builds relationships with the woman’s, she is acculturated.

“In all his travels the Bishop had seen no country like this. From the flat red sea of sand rose great rock mesas... The sandy soil of the plain had a light sprinkling of junipers, and was splotched with masses of blooming rabbit brush,-- that oliver-coloured plant that grows in high waves like a tossing sea, at this season covered with a thatch of bloom, yellow as gorse, or orange like marigolds.” 94 Both women describe the land of desert with such vividness that one is not left with the idea of a barren, sandy soil but an environment that is rich with history as well as life. This life and history of the land are a part of the culture.

While working with Jordan it would be good to use an Indigenous approach to his case, which is a part of the mountain-moving theories. This approach would be beneficial for Jordan because it would help him understand that “in order to know where we are going, we have to know where we have been” (Ives, Denov, Sussman 2015, p. 55). That particular concept was said to be enforced by the elders of Aboriginal communities. It would be beneficial for Jordan to understand the concept to help him accept his past and move on with the future. It is clear that Jordan has issues with his parents along with his uncle, which could be quite devastating for a child growing up. The poor relationship that Jordan has formed with his parents may affect his ability

We are in love with throwback pictures and can never have enough of them. Filmmaker and choreographer Farah Khan shared an throwback picture on her Instagram account that took us down the memory lane.

I chose this picture to introduce my ethnography project precisely because it shows the march to commemorate Imam Hussain (a.s). It symbolizes the eternal nature of Hussain’s revolution and people’s stand for social injustice and honor. My project focus on the meaning of the Imam Hussain (a.s) to the Muslim people. Imam Hussain (a.s), the grandson of Prophet Mohammad (pbuh), was a leader known widely for his compassion, wisdom and integrity. In the early Muslim community, Imam Hussain, and his family, fought and stood up against injustice and oppression of Yazid. Imam Hussain (a.s) was brutally tortured and murdered in a battle with Yazid in Karbala, Iraq. Since then, mourning for Imam Hussain become a duty and obligation for Shia. The march

Lila Abu-Lughod’s position in the Awlad ‘Ali community had many advantages as well as disadvantages. Her role as “daughter” and “guest” restricted her ability to go out into the community and do work/learn there because she represented the family that was housing her. In her early relationships this worried her, but as she started to gain people’s trust, they opened up to her, so she was able to learn about the role of women and observe other aspects of the community by being accepted and participating as a woman in that community would. It’s important to realize this because I now know that I am viewing the Awlad ‘Ali community through one perspective. There are certain things, like the duties of men or how men interact with one another, that

The text discusses about the El Nahran women’s “influence” over their men and children, I strongly believe that the women are generally oppressed. The article’s explanation of the women’s characteristics of being “hard-working, a devoted wife and mother, a good cook and housekeeper, and a quiet, obedient companion to her husband”. These seemingly positive qualities of a common El Nahran women are just ideas at the subordinate position they really hold. The women are, for what it is worth, class below in comparison to the men. Women do not hold positions of renowned power or glory, like only the men are able to do. Rather, the women serve as sensual caretakers and servants for the men. In addition, the Sheiks of El Nahra and other Islam societies