Portrayal of Women as Construct of Culture in Alifa Rifaat's Distant View of a Minaret

Abstract The notion play of culture in reinforcing relegate depiction and perception of women in most African societies, embedded in patriarchal domination and rulership have been a prevailing unacceptable yet reversible phenomenon which had increasingly proven detrimental to societal progress and prosperity. More than ever before, it has become quite expedient for women to assume recognized noble roles detached from existent and inherent vague cultural dogmas, in harnessing their profound potentials and making significant contributions. Drawing on these postulations, this paper examines the multi-faceted portrayal of women within such entangled context in Alifa Rifaat’s Distant View of a Minaret. Feminism proves a compelling engaged theoretical approach for the critical deduction of the multi-dimensional portrayal of women in the text under discourse. As clearly revealed, the existent trends are indicative of gendered relations of power and reinforced by the forces of patriarchal dominance and supremacy entrenched within the Egyptian Muslim African society. Also, strongly underpinned and demonstrated in the text, such appropriations and manifestations conveyed in the instrumentality of culture unarguably distort and inhibit remarkable prospects for women.