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Agency and creativity: An eye on gender identity in four Egyptian novels
For most scholars, agency is a term that has most traditionally been coined with free will, resistance, and intentionality (Giddens, 1979; Ahearn, 2001). In this study, however, the construct is examined from a linguistic perspective aiming at exploring its creative dimensions in relation to gender...
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AUC Knowledge Fountain
2019
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| _version_ | 1867613412077338624 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Mosalem, Maha |
| author_browse | Mosalem, Maha |
| author_facet | Mosalem, Maha |
| author_sort | Mosalem, Maha |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | The author retains all rights with regard to copyright. The author certifies that written permission from the owner(s) of third-party copyrighted matter included in the thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study has been obtained. The author further certifies that IRB approval has been obtained for this thesis, or that IRB approval is not necessary for this thesis. Insofar as this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study is an educational record as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 USC 1232g), the author has granted consent to disclosure of it to anyone who requests a copy. |
| description | For most scholars, agency is a term that has most traditionally been coined with free will, resistance, and intentionality (Giddens, 1979; Ahearn, 2001). In this study, however, the construct is examined from a linguistic perspective aiming at exploring its creative dimensions in relation to gender identity in four Egyptian novels; Bayna ʔal-qaṣrayn (Palace Walk), ʔal-Bāb ʔal-maftūḥ (The Open Door), ʔu:ri:du rajulan (I Need a Man), and ʃaġaf (Passion). By adopting a mediated discourse analysis approach (MDA) (Scollon, 2002), this study examined the connections between discourse and action in social interactions. Using the grammatical, semantic, and discursive analysis, the examination focused on representations of agency emerging in contexts and dialogic interactions. For the grammatical investigation, the study followed Dixon’s (1994) classification of the subject as well as the category of voice while the semantic strategies included the semantic roles of the subject, verb types, and sentence moods for an interpretation of further character dimension. In addition, three discourse strategies were utilized, i.e. dialogicality, parallelism, foregrounding and backgrounding, the aim of which was to understand the macro-context of subjects’ actions. Based on this examination, the study identified five creative forms of agency characteristic of gender identity. For Amina in Bayna ʔal-qaṣrayn (Palace Walk), agency is associated with her maternal powers, whereas agency is relevant to self-actualization for Layla in ʔal-Bāb ʔal-maftūḥ (The Open Door). For Amina’s ʔu:ri:du rajulan (I Need a Man), the construct is associated with revenge. Finally, love and ambition are two terms through which the protagonist in ʃaġaf (Passion), Zaynab, exercised her power. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:fount.aucegypt.edu:etds-1795 |
| institution | American University in Cairo (Egypt) |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:35:43.583Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from AUC Knowledge Fountain — bepress |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publishDateRange | 2019 |
| publishDateSort | 2019 |
| publisher | AUC Knowledge Fountain |
| publisherStr | AUC Knowledge Fountain |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | AUC Knowledge Fountain — bepress |
| spelling | oai:fount.aucegypt.edu:etds-1795 Agency and creativity: An eye on gender identity in four Egyptian novels Mosalem, Maha For most scholars, agency is a term that has most traditionally been coined with free will, resistance, and intentionality (Giddens, 1979; Ahearn, 2001). In this study, however, the construct is examined from a linguistic perspective aiming at exploring its creative dimensions in relation to gender identity in four Egyptian novels; Bayna ʔal-qaṣrayn (Palace Walk), ʔal-Bāb ʔal-maftūḥ (The Open Door), ʔu:ri:du rajulan (I Need a Man), and ʃaġaf (Passion). By adopting a mediated discourse analysis approach (MDA) (Scollon, 2002), this study examined the connections between discourse and action in social interactions. Using the grammatical, semantic, and discursive analysis, the examination focused on representations of agency emerging in contexts and dialogic interactions. For the grammatical investigation, the study followed Dixon’s (1994) classification of the subject as well as the category of voice while the semantic strategies included the semantic roles of the subject, verb types, and sentence moods for an interpretation of further character dimension. In addition, three discourse strategies were utilized, i.e. dialogicality, parallelism, foregrounding and backgrounding, the aim of which was to understand the macro-context of subjects’ actions. Based on this examination, the study identified five creative forms of agency characteristic of gender identity. For Amina in Bayna ʔal-qaṣrayn (Palace Walk), agency is associated with her maternal powers, whereas agency is relevant to self-actualization for Layla in ʔal-Bāb ʔal-maftūḥ (The Open Door). For Amina’s ʔu:ri:du rajulan (I Need a Man), the construct is associated with revenge. Finally, love and ambition are two terms through which the protagonist in ʃaġaf (Passion), Zaynab, exercised her power. 2019-06-01T07:00:00Z thesis application/pdf https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/796 https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/1795/viewcontent/Thesis_20__20Maha_20Mosalem.pdf The author retains all rights with regard to copyright. The author certifies that written permission from the owner(s) of third-party copyrighted matter included in the thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study has been obtained. The author further certifies that IRB approval has been obtained for this thesis, or that IRB approval is not necessary for this thesis. Insofar as this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study is an educational record as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 USC 1232g), the author has granted consent to disclosure of it to anyone who requests a copy. Theses and Dissertations AUC Knowledge Fountain agency linguistic devices grammatical categories semantic roles mediated discourse analysis novels. NA NA |
| spellingShingle | agency linguistic devices grammatical categories semantic roles mediated discourse analysis novels. NA NA Mosalem, Maha Agency and creativity: An eye on gender identity in four Egyptian novels |
| title | Agency and creativity: An eye on gender identity in four Egyptian novels |
| title_full | Agency and creativity: An eye on gender identity in four Egyptian novels |
| title_fullStr | Agency and creativity: An eye on gender identity in four Egyptian novels |
| title_full_unstemmed | Agency and creativity: An eye on gender identity in four Egyptian novels |
| title_short | Agency and creativity: An eye on gender identity in four Egyptian novels |
| title_sort | agency and creativity an eye on gender identity in four egyptian novels |
| topic | agency linguistic devices grammatical categories semantic roles mediated discourse analysis novels. NA NA |
| url | https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/796 https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/1795/viewcontent/Thesis_20__20Maha_20Mosalem.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mosalemmaha agencyandcreativityaneyeongenderidentityinfouregyptiannovels |