Ahdaf Soueif, The Map of Love

Anastasia Valassopoulos (University of Manchester)
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Ahdaf Soueif’s

The Map of Love

(1999) has been discussed and analysed in many different, exciting and often surprising ways. The novel sought to bring to life a particularly volatile moment in Egyptian and Arab history and to interweave this with contemporary debates that circulate in the Middle East; as a result, it is grand in its ambition, and successfully tackles a wide range of social and political issues. Among these are the dynamic position of women in political activism; the role of education and representation; egalitarianism across class and gender; and cross-cultural understanding. The novel also highlights broader, more insidious themes, such as sexism, bigotry, racism and ignorance. It has been considered as a feminist text; a postcolonial text; an inter-textual exercise…

3313 words

Citation: Valassopoulos, Anastasia. "The Map of Love". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 January 2014 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=30181, accessed 21 November 2024.]

30181 The Map of Love 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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