Writing the Biography of a Revolution: Archives, Egypt, and Feminist Historiography

Over the past thirty years, feminist historiography has offered new analytical categories to study power, producing a paradigm shift in Middle East Studies. Building on this tradition, in this talk Dr Sorbera will draw on her experience researching the history of feminism in Egypt, which she approaches as the collective biography of a revolutionary movement. By engaging with women activists and scholars, their intellectual productions and political biographies, and archival and oral history sources, it is possible to historicize the present revolutionary and counter-revolutionary moments. In reframing concepts such as space, temporality, memory, and subjectivity from a feminist perspective, she will present a new approach to Egyptian political history, one in which women are historical agents who inspired the 2011 Revolution.

About:

Lucia Sorbera is a senior lecturer in the Department of Arabic Language and Cultures at the University of Sydney. An intellectual historian and literary critic, she has published mainly on the history of Egyptian feminism. Since 2016, she has co-curated the program Arab Souls with Paola Caridi, which focuses on Arabic literature and Arab cultures at the International Torino Book Fair.