Rethinking Hawaa

This article analyzes the representation of Hawaa (Eve) in Kenyan poet Abdilatif Abdalla’s epic poem Utenzi wa Maisha ya Adamu na Hawaa [Epic of the Life of Adam and Eve]. Building on Alamin Mazrui’s contention that the poem can be compared to John Milton’s Paradise Lost, scholarly debate on Milton’s treatment of Eve becomes a lens through which to more closely examine Abdalla’s Hawaa and the larger gender implications of her role in the poem’s narrative. Close reading of Abdalla’s poem through this lens reveals a far less misogynistic interpretation of Hawaa than previous critics of the poem have recognized. Taking into consideration Abdalla’s depiction of Hawaa’s creation, her role in the couple’s transgression against God, and her relationship with Adam before and after their expulsion from Paradise, this article argues that the poet offers Hawaa as an archetype not of female inferiority and treachery but of human fallibility and capacity for growth

Archetype · Art · Art history · Depiction · Interpretation (philosophy) · Literature · Narrative · Paradise · Poetry · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · History · Islamic Studies and History · Marriage and Sexual Relationships · Philosophy

• The Cambridge Companion to Milton

  Open Access•D Kyle Danielson, Dennis Richard Danielson et al.•The Cambridge companion to Milton•1999

  Incluir item

• The Reformation of the Subject

  Diane Parkin-Speer•Sixteenth Century Journal•1996

  Incluir item

• Life in the Garden

  Anthony C Yu•The Journal of Religion•1980

  Incluir item

• Social and Moral Concepts in Swahili Islamic Literature

  Open Access•Jan Knappert•Africa•1970

  Incluir item

• Projecting Islam

  Farouk Topan•Journal of African Cultural Studies•2001

  Incluir item