al-Marʾah bayna al-ṭarafayn. Una riflessione di Nāzik al-Malāʾikah sulle donne tra passività ed etica

This study focuses on an essay published by the Iraqi poet and intellectual Nāzik al-Malāʾikah on the Lebanese literary review al-Ādāb in 1953. In her essay, al-Marʾah bayna al-ṭarafayn: al-salbiyyah wa-l-aḫlāq (The Woman between two Poles: Passivity and Ethics), al-Malāʾikah investigates the condition of Iraqi women with a philosophical, sociological and political approach. The present study analyses the key features of al-Malāʾikah’s multifaceted critique of a society that denies women autonomy and freedom of choice. It is highlighted how her observations forerun some features of women’s studies applied to the Middle East. A close attention is given to the structure of the text itself, investigating its origin as a conference speech. Literary features are also explored, in order to show the unavoidable link between theoretical analysis and poetry in al-Malāʾikah’s work.