Representation of Egyptian Women in Nayra Atiya's Biography Khul-Khaal 1984: A Feminist Stylistic Analysis

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The study aims to investigate the stylistic tools used in the biography "Khul-Khaal"; a narrative discourse written from a feminist perspective by Nayra Atiya in 1982. This biography reflects different images of the Egyptian women; oppressed, marginalized, and powerful women. The study examines the feminist ideology as represented in the biography. The biography was chosen for analysis because it is a different genre in literature and it is not taken into consideration like other genres as few researchers apply their studies on biographies. "Khul-Khaal" includes real stories of Egyptian women. These stories show the relations between men and women; men are born to dominate and control, while women are born to be housekeepers and child-bearers. The stories can be analyzed through Systemic Functional Grammar - which pays attention to clauses and lexical items through the application of Transitivity System and Modality- and, Metaphor. Finally, the application of the mentioned theories signifies the different images women are compared to, and their objectification and focuses on the attitude and point of view of the speaker, allowing the reader to get a general idea about the characters’ opinions and thoughts.

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