Nazik al-‘Abid’s Nur al-Fayha: A Kurdish Woman’s Magazine in 1920 Damascus
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Authors
Cribb, Ceighley
Issue Date
2016-05-01
Type
thesis_campus
Language
Keywords
Women's History
Alternative Title
Women's History Theses
Abstract
This thesis considers Arab nationalism in a new light by looking at Nazik al-‘Abid’s Nur al- Fayha, a Kurdish woman’s magazine in 1920 Damascus. 1920 was a year of turbulent regime changes in Syria. I examine how al-‘Abid interpreted nationalism, how she argued for suffrage, education, and unveiling, and how she took on an Arab identity. Al-‘Abid ignored her Kurdish roots and instead identified with the Arab cause for the good of the nation. She chose to ignore difference in order to forge bonds between citizens. Despite her arguments, many male nationalists did not assign women’s rights to the same level of importance. Nur al-Fayha ceased publication in July 1920, when Faisal was deposed and the French Mandate took effect. Interpretations of nationalism and what it meant to be Arab continued to develop and evolve in Syria after this point.