Feminist Identity Within Islamic and Social Constraints in Fatima Mernissi’s Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood

Abstract

This study aims to explore the ways in which feminist identity is constructed in Fatima Mernissi's memoir, "Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Girl in the Harem," by analyzing the interactions between the self and socio-religious constraints within the Moroccan context. The study proposes that women within the "harem site" practice a form of feminist agency that goes beyond mere trespassing on social norms and religious teachings, manifesting in the internalization and adaptation of cultural norms to preserve their feminist identity. The study deconstructs Orientalist perceptions that have reduced the harem to erotic dimensions, redefining the harem instead as a socio-political space managed by women in their domestic life and maintaining their feminist identity. Through a qualitative analytical method, the author analyzes the novel and highlights the subtle strategies and social practices, such as storytelling, employed by Mernissi's characters to negotiate the imposed harem or 'Hudud.' The study concludes that feminist identity in Mernissi's autobiographical novel is constructed to operate within—rather than outside of—religious frameworks, to understand and question them. Thus, the research offers a twofold critique: first, it challenges the Western-centric view of the harem; second, it criticizes local patriarchal structures that have employed religious interpretations to confine women's agency in both the private and public spheres and maintain their power.