They analyzed, during a meeting organized at the Fatima Mernissi pavilion as part of the 28th edition of the International Publishing and Book Fair (SIEL), the thoughts and major questions that the writer had tackled in her works, notably feminism, Islam, modernity and individualism.
In this sense, Raja Rhouni, professor at the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences of Chouaib Doukkali University in El Jadida, reviewed, in his presentation entitled “Fatima Mernissi: the demon of coloniality and decolonial exorcism”, the significant moments and the different stages that marked the writer’s career.
She explained that “Fatima Mernissi’s trajectory is marked by three important moments, notably the adoption in her works and publications of an orientalist discourse, then of a post-orientalist discourse and finally her orientation towards decoloniality.”
The academic also explained that in the book “Secular and Islamic Feminist Critiques in the Work of Fatima Mernissi,” she analyzed the complexity of the late sociologist and researcher’s texts, describing her works as “a model of post-colonial feminism.”
For his part, the professor of sociology at the Mohamed V University of Rabat, Mokhtar El Harras, focused on the concept of individualism and individuation in the works of Fatima Mernissi, notably in “Women’s Dreams”, “Fear-Modernity: Islam-Democracy Conflict” and “Scheherazade Goes West”.
In this sense, he explained that Fatima Mernissi highlighted in her works the extent that these concepts have taken in the family life of Moroccans, emphasizing that the late Mernissi also followed the liberation of women, throughout history, from family constraints and pressures that prevented them from highlighting their individual qualities.
Mr. El Harras also stressed that Fatima Mernissi’s works also address several humanist issues and ideas, including freedom of thought, sovereignty, tolerance and consideration of individual feelings.
Born in Fez (1940-2015), Fatima Mernissi studied in Rabat, then in Paris (Sorbonne) and in the United States, where she obtained her doctorate in human sciences in 1973. From the 1980s, she taught at the Mohammed V University in Rabat. In 2003 she received the Asturias Prize in literature and in 2004 the Erasmus Prize in the Netherlands for the theme “Religion and modernity”.
2024-08-16 05:09:43