Abu Lughod l

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Author(s) of article or chapter: Abu-Lughod, L

TITLE of article or chapter: Guest and daughter

Author(s) / Editor(s) of sourcepublication:

Abu-Lughod, L

TITLE of source publication: Veiled sentiments honour and poetry in aBedouin society

Year, Journal Volume & IssueNumber (if applicable):

1988

Place of Publication and Publisher California: University of California Press

Pages (from to): 1 - 24 ISBN / ISSN:0520054830

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Course of study: SP10206 Intro. to Social Analysis of Development

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One takes the road that westand boulevards of rows

of identical sand-colored with balconies crowded withJ .L t 'V ' - ' ' 'i . L t , - across to .L tv ' ' ' ' - ' - 'L ' ' ' - J.

and clotheslines covered with multi-colored garments thatin the sun. One mus t then cross awhich can accommodate one lane of traffic

their turn horse-drawn carts and passenger cars arelines of trucks and group taxis whitestation wagons nicknamed coffinswho to o often see their abandoned carcassessides th e cross a stream.Once across the malodorous fumes and tall reeds heraldthe shores of Lake Mariut. Fishermen the side of theroad hold their for a sale One continues on

the lake and comes to the of the desertThis is not the stark sand desert found farwhite beach the Mediterranean coast no r evensteppe dotted with shrubs of spurge flax that lies twenty kilo-

meters south of the coast. a

1


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eiled entiments

a limestone dot ted with factories and stor-areas for th e new tr ucks and au tomobil es unloaded on the

Eachn

agedocks of

As on e travels these of the me-thin out, scattered one-story houses of stone

or whi tewashed cement. These c rude s truc tu res, o ft enor embellished with

and surrounded dwarf trees are surethat one has entered the Western which stretches fiveh,,,r.rl,., '''rl kilometers to the border and is the hon1 e of theBedouin tribes known s Awlad 'Ali. These houses

for the most part, t ak en th e of the Bedou ins' t radi -t ional tents of woven woo l. Even summe r tents, sewn f rom old

are not left near t he espe-in this eastern of th e desert where sedentarization has

pnJCc;edled the furthest. A of a woman confirmsthat Bedouins live in these homes: one notes the distinctiveof silver on he r a vibrant dress at thewaist a red a head covered in black

The first time took this all this was ou t to mestralfled to see to commit it to memory, and I vvondered if itwould eve r seem familiar Once I had settled down in a commu-

of Awlad my reaction was different Each t ime I trav-eled this way, my heart raced as we the marshes and facto-ries and came across the open spaces with their housesknew that at the governnlent no t far from thetown, when we turned off t he r oad the desertsouth to we would to pass the tents and houses ofsome of our relatives--which was how came to conceive ofthe ki n of the with whom I l ived I looked to see ifcould spot my favor ite aunt, to able to the

slgnnng to those ahead. loved news from the world n p ~ T A Y 1I noted th e season in the fields we

thanks to green shoots thr ived in


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ues t nd I j ( I U ( ) n U ~ r

some patches and came up in others. The carpets ofwildflowers disappeared during the summer months leaving noth-ing bu t desiccated earth. An occasional camel grazedsmall herds of sheep or goats foraged nibbling on clumps ofgrassesin rock crevices Crouching alongside the road might be a turbanedold man waiting fo r a taxi to come by. An old woman

bounce along on he r More awoman her faceswathed in the black headcloth that doubles as a might walk

a large bundle on he r an infant on her and aof children behind. I turned to see if I could- -- . J> .JL L them again to report to those aheadReturning from the crowded and streets ofCairo or Alex

I often felt relieved to see the open spaces to note thesilence The sounds were shouts in the a l nrr

a barking As we the area where I livedfo r the whole of field there was a bi t more vegetation: evergreens p l ~ m t

the government to retard soil a guava orchardtained with great Then came a barren area A fewhouses and tents stood ou t on theSome were made of s tone and into the HuL .... . . - a ~ some were One modern was made ofwhite blocks. This was where I lived.

off the road onto a track etched a succession of carsb f l n ~ m g visitors and residents to the I strained to see who

be a round. One never cou ld the first tospot th e car were th e on the lookout forTheir initial would vanish as soon passenger. Some would back to announce mywould run toward the the time I arrived at the r I ~ ~ n , r ,the women wou ld have come to meet me unless male guests

ou t front. If men were I would greetinto the house . ou t of of the

women arms around each

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eiled entiments

r r n r t i n t th e entrance. After away my a n d d istr ib -sweets I ha d I would settle down to h av e

drink tea an d cat ch up on what had in m y absenceI lived in this household between October an d

Its shifted numerous times over t he co ur se o f thisbu t th e c or e m e mb er s w er e th e head of th e a

an d somewhat unconventional tribal media-w hom referred to the

of th ewho wa s also his first ~ . . . ~ _ ~ _ w om an w ho s ee med o lde r than he r

years; an d many o f his th e ti me Ichildren. Sometimes his second whom he haddivorced a y ea r b ef or e m y an d all h e r c h ild re n livedsh e spent th e rest of th e tim e in t he o ld h ou se in whichall lived with his m ot he r a nd his brother s until Ithem. 3 N ot all he r children her on these moves. Her

son th e e lde st o f th e l iv ed i n ou rhousehold most o f th e time. the s econd year I wa sth e third wife us he r three c hi ld re n. S he a ndth e ha d months before m y an d he ha d s en t h erback to he r to divorce her When he discoveredthat sh e ha d been pregnant and had birth to he wa s

~ \ - - j l J U a U l \ . - - U to take he r back. Later in th e y ear th e youngerb ro th er t oo k a second whom he to live in ou rhousehold. he sometimes at his o ld h ou se

his fi rst w ife and his six spent m or e t im e atours. In and cousmsa nd au nt s who attended themarket and went.

T h is h o us e ho ld wa s on e o f about fifteen in what its residentsconsidered their There were a du lt s i n thesea nd ab ou t tw ice as many all un -married adolescents. Th e slnallest householda nd th eir the had I n , p I u 1 ,P


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eiled entiments

ties

rooms in tw o virtue of an economic baseand were considered one household. The Bedouins describehouseholds the eat from one bowl.

ne:dcmlns VIew residential communities social units definedo M J H H < V J ~ o 4 The term Awlad Al i use for a residential

th e same term to thetent camps m which used to live. Most take theirname fr om th e or cluster of agnates the core ofthe camp, even most also include other families that haveattach ed themselv es to th e group-some are distant

some maternal others are unrelated clientsoreferred to the in which I lived the camp of the

North of the great-included the five core

households headed the sons of two brotherso the tunderstood in its extended sense twoweak and poor collateral related

as well a number of client families.among the core families were reinforced

in the adult and inin so many of the commu

visited con-at each other s households. was

who were free to eitheraunts, or (if their cous-it h their T n r r P Y T

ins or uncles.In past arrangements within a camp re -

flected social relations. Tents were side side in aall th e same with t he t en t ropes of

households of kin At th e center were the core householdsof the those of the senior kinsmen and the ir

with more distant kin and clients the n p y - r n _ery. Now permanent s truc tures make the fit between social and

distribution less Modern camps are a array ofhouses and tents. houses of th e core members of each


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uest nd L){ UO nl/?r

moret ho se i n townth e transformations in Bedouin

- ,,0. 0 > than poorer a nd m or e isolated groupso f this considered

wa s alsolife o f th e

farther

cluster a nd t ho se who c om e f ro m outsideeither se t up tents near the h ou se ho ld s t o w hi ch are most

attached or move into or new housesIt would be a mistake to assume from this that th e

cluster o f h ou se s w as as is often th e case in th e less popu-lated desert areas f ar the r we st This between atown an d in th e more settled eastern district called

wa s surrounded other houses.and an almost arrangement o f th e social barriersbetween th e households o f separate communities tribal

were and the invisible boundaries we nha d relations with

VUHU.B.e-UU. ,,o.>, with there wa s little c on ta ct e x -cept w ho on at them o s qu e a tt ac he d to a saint s tomb.

of contact individuals ha d with t ho se o ut si de th evaried The ha d traveled far

to visit a fri end h e ha d me t while falcon th eWe s te r n De se r t. Some o f th e me n ha d been to th e cities o f Alexan dria a n d C a ir o . Most ha d b ee n t o Marsa th e mth e Western and e ve n t o in the before the borderwa s closed all of th e me n at least attendedth e m ar ke t t o th e w est and did business th e nonBedouin market town to th e east went to th etown or th e b e tw e en w h ic h their T he w om enwere more r e str ic ted in th eir movements. All bu t th e o lde st womentraveled to visit their t o a tt en d a nd f un er -

an d to see th e doctors at the clinics town an dlocal


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eiled entiments _._ _._

and most of its inhabitantsinterest there. The core families

which suffered a brief setback in the 1950S bu tthe s shrewd economic had

shielded from interference and freed them fromto cooperate in government settlement schemes. This eco

a llowed th e co re farnilies to support clients andthus them within t he g roup . It also en -

to set its own moral standards and maintaina separateAll the trends Bedouin economy be described

m 2 in the d iverse activities whichthe members of this themselves. The corefamilies had viewed as t he ir main

and had snlall camel herds for hadolive and almond trees and olive oi l for

their own owned bits land fromwhich to make some year sowed

The first year of lTIy stay t here was little rain and no har -vest; the second yea r t he re \vas a small crop. unlike his

had contacts in Cairo and Alexandria for whom he actedas a middleman in real estate ventures on the coast and in turn hewas to invest with his partners ill urban property. All ofthe brothers had m in an earlier Thevanous client families a tt ached to these core families worked as u, - , jJU, - L . t and did odd

and so for their patrons.~ / ~ ~ J u . J , and a f ew goats .rh ,.- , , ,< m had made were

tations to conditions. had takenof government assistance in tree had built their own

and when the government claimed all Western Deserthad for the of their traditional land.

had last to desert seven years before mybu t fo r a host of and emotional reasons had

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u st n L/V H

gomg; each year the idea was raised anew.had no although the Haj had a genera-

to r that sat broken most of t he t ime I was there. One house hadinto a that brought water bu t most of the

households sent their adolescent girls with carrymg Jerry-cans to fetch water f rom the main taps In the spring, after the

got some of their water from a well shared sev-communities. had that a gov-

ernment school be built which many of their childrenattended.

This sketch must serve an introduction to a J.UUAA .....the r eade r wil l come to know in The

became apparent to me in the course of with thisgroup of and part a function of the interactions I hadwith them. the r eade r wil l need some sense of thefleldwork before the theoretical are

An honest account of the circumstances of no ta note the dates the was in thehost country, as out in his introduction

both essential for the evaluation of the facts and 11t.. t p r ~ .pt l_.repor t and somet imes embar

msecureabout the ir p r o { ~ s s l m a l

the fieldworkfantasiesquacy theward them.

final Pf()Q1Kl:S.when


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eiled entiments

from fever and eaten alive fleas ora child fun at you , th e of whether this s

that carries such labels s research orscientistic data collection nags And yet the natureof what learn is affected

the of their this should beI do no t believe that the encounter between A ~ h G P G ~ V ~ : : L

the ir hosts should be th e sole of .. r -and can redeem the ,J V.H -> caCHHto the encounter not

such factors as social locationof contact, and luck to mention theoretical orientation

and self-conscious to fieldwork and itsuc t bu t also the conventional fictions ofand omniscience th at mar k the genre. 6

an intermediate I will present a few ofthe elements in my fieldwork situation that wer e mos t sal ient in

the parameters of what 1 could do and discover. Out ofthis how others in the perceived me and what I felt comfortable with in my relations with

arose the issues t reated in this book. Thus the exercise snecessary to introduce the proper of which is the

between Awlad l i sentiments and anddiscourses that express and inform them: a

genre poetry of love and on the oneand the of honor conversat ion and

behavior on the other.arrived Cairo at the

sconcedtions ofThe hotel boasted a view of thethe great o ld hotels-the - - LH.auL ,and easy dis tance to the Americanyears since I had last there s a young

nothJcn2 much


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ues t nd UCl U n r l : f

p ~ s o n n l l bore th e inevitable marks o f ol dage. th e city s eem ed t o be in the throes o fchange. Th e progressive o f old had in somecases led t o their and in other parts o f th e city constructiono f massive new h ot el s w a s l l nr j pr U 7 U

familiarized with th e more crowded an dthan ever a n d a w ai te d my father s arrival. H er e t he readerpause. suspect that if any fathers o f accompany them to th e field to make their initial contacts. But myfather ha d insisted that he ha d to do an d

as well his coincide with mine. hadacc:eptea his offer to have th e company bu talso a bi t embarrassed the after with th eBedouins a time di d to some o f whatha d underlain m y father s bu t firm ins is tence. As an

he knew his own c ul tu re a ndto know that a young unmarried woman

alone on uncertain b u sin es s wa s Sh e wouldb e s us pe ct an d would have a h ar d t im e o f he r

o f course knew o f th e o f Westernfed rumor to be sure th e fre

quent o f Western women to local standards o f moral-an d social communication patterns. 7 But ha d assumed

would b e able firstup the Arab half o f m y with West-erners an d second w as c on fi de n t o f my

t o c ult ur al because o f myha d l iv ed i n fo r four years a more

ha d also spent m an y s um me rs w it h relatives inJan. o f t ha t h ou se ho ld had had to conform to some

codes o f conduct to Arab mymodels fo r this behavioL feIt h a d in te r na l-ized that would me find my wa y with t he B ed ou in s

an d no t offend theIn.What ha d no t considered wa s was reckoned

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eiled entiments

without their social father s beautifulArabic an d th e fact th at he wa s no t an bu t a

he ha d been o f much discussion. Th eBedouins believe that all Arabs are tledoUlfls

a decent dialect an d a s im il ar t o t he ir own. Soconsidered my father a fellow tribesman an d a p er so n w i th

noble roots th e of which will be in th enext tw o I often heard them defend their acceptance o f meon these o - Y \ 1 1 Y 1 r t CMost o f me my father ha d shown thosewith whom I would be an d on whose an dCfPlr1P C,t-u my life an d work would that I wa s a d u g h t ~ ro f a whose m ale k in were concerned about he r an dwanted to protect even when o f e du ca ti on f or ce d h erinto The an d his relativestook wh o ha d themth e sacred trust o f th e understoodthat I was there to find o ut ab ou t t he ir c us to ms a nd t ra di ti on s

an d in ou r initial c h at a ss u re d me that I must feel nUHTh rp that m y I informed

wl1eX eabo uts I soon d isc o ve r ed th at my freedom wa sin fact restricted. t he s ub tl e cues o f tactful bu t stubborn

I came t o u n de r st a nd that I was to feel free to gowi thin the cam p bu t that to step th e bounds of th e com-

wa s no tmovements hadseveral m ot iv es . A s th e

- Aj- HUU. . . . . . to m e in one feared fo rwould be if

me did not r el is h t he idea o f bec:onnmlgvengeance matters. with them wa s a U ~ V j . H . o ... ~ . a .identified as a member o f their Perceived all on e ofth e women in th e ki n group my actions reflected on theman d affected their had to make sure I di d noth-

that could them far I conformed to t he s am e standards o f women


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u st n J . J l U l ) n l t ~ r

did m e an i ng t ha t I wa s restricted in where I could go whom Ico ul d b e seen an d with whom I could speak Bu t I also realizedlater t ha t a n ot h er reason they discouraged me from visiting thoseoutside th e community wa s that I would thus them insocial o bl ig at io ns t he y h ad no t If I v is ited another tribalgroup I would be greeted as a member o f th e H aj s g ro up .usually offer a feast f o r f ir s t- time guests an d I would thus incur a

d eb t f or th em .T he o th er consequence o f my introduction to the communityas m y father s wa s that I wa s an d took on th e

role of anentailment o f this but so wa s my in t he

m y identification with t he k in group a nd t he processwhich I learned about th e a sort o f socialization to the

role I never lost my status as a guest intheir my role as it Th echoice of meat set aside for me were latero ff er ed t o other g u es ts in stea d. b ec am e p ar t o f th ew he n w e had company found more to house-hold work than I an d ha d m y ow n chores Men occasion

shouted commands at me and fel t f ree to ge t me up late atwith th e women an d to serve tea to visitors

I should not the that this role was forced on mecollaborator. In a where defines

to have a role as a fictiveo rd er t o I k ne w w ha t wa s o f an

. . , , . , . n , . ~ a nd f ou nd it h ar d t o resist those expec-I di d to in the household was because

I was to the in my house-In :::mlGlng me i n t he ir lives and me as a

J U ~ U V U ~ H I wa s no t that much o f an extraidle when th e women

dose with the was t o assist them that

penClds such as when

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eiled entiments

wa s an d was before he r co-wifehousehold with th e o f on e adolescent r I 1111O h r . > rhe r difficult pregnancy I spent much t im e w i th massag-

he r an d about her to take o ve r w ha tlittle o f he r work I wa s competent to do these Ifilled water collected straw fo r th e oven carried trays of

endless zucchinis for would worry thatwas not m y n ot eb oo k w i th information a nd t ha t time was

If I wa s I felt t hat t he p er-sonal I ha d toward th e individuals who cared for mea n d t re at ed me not as a researcher bu t as a member o f a householdcame first

Tw o other aspects affected th e n a tu r e socialrelanOnSl1 rps with the and thus th e type o f research I wa sable to carry out I could not have been a without

female As a WOlnan I often found confronted withdifficulties no t faced male bu t 1also advan-tages o f access an d in th e women sworld In m y first f ew w ee ks I t ri ed t o move back and fo rth be-tween th e m en s an d women s worlds I realized that Iwould have to declare m y in order to be meither. W ith the whom I go t to know verywell almo st conversations and occasional carrides to I found visits with th e men because o f th el imited r a ng e o f we could cover. So I f or t hewomen s more an d more t o l ea ve t he ir companywhen th e me n called This choice m et with silent fromth e women and and so I was into theirinvolved in their an d made to their secrets Becauserelations in the w om en s w or ld ar e more informal than m th e

I wa s able to g et conversation moreTh e other factor wa s m y unmarried status th ewhich h av e b ee n noted tw o Arab women trained as anthro

p ~ n s t s in the West who returned to do f ie ld wo rk i n t he ir soci-eties o f 1973; Abu-Zahra unmarried

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18/36

ues t nd

a ne w womancnangcCl over

pu t me in ans ta tu s c au se d

certain aboutan d ha d no intentionwanted to protect my

at

no t cast m e in the role o f bu t since I was far olderthan th e unmarried Bedouin girls it also me anou s I wished to be part o f th e women s but di dno t have on e o f th e m os t i m po rt an t characteristics o fwomen: children. The ga p th e tw o categories isized an d when d ec id ed t o convert to clorh

like theirs I was in a Married women wear blackveils and r ed belts whereas unmarriedkerchiefs on their heads a nd a ro un d th eir waists.

some women s and som emy kerchief in a n o n ~ e o u i n way. In th eintermediate category. The realwa s that it me from

was assumed to beo f this

B ut w om en seemed to talkeven in front o f and so I di d not feel that

closed.In the first even as th e warm acceptance

I c ha fe d a t th e restrictions o f my role an d DOSlnon wa s difficult so GejperlGc nrin th e

comfortable around th eidea o f whatshould beand surveys. di d no t think it l .... . .r . lmy contacts to one kin group or corn:mllnJltyhosts would have been J.uC UJ.UU. -OJU-.C, , - - - m y relations with them.to p ro te ct a nd care fo r me .r es p ec t th eir an d m y role as a U ~ F - . H C ~ ~

among th e Eskimos


19/36

eiled entiments

U,- UCl UU.t.U, - -< - l . . J


20/36

uest nd U( UO rltl,:r

subsided. As I,n ,-nr ,-more fully in the and loosened my ties to my

other and as we came to share a common and set ofexperiences on which we could bui ld relationships, I ec me theperson that I was with them. That was sufficient for honest inter-

HA ..... -


21/36

eiled entiments

we of the men s t en t en ro ute to the women ssection. this time I would have felt uncomfortable had I no tbeen able to veil.

On the t en t c rowded with women, I knewwhich c luster to of our relatives.comed nle and tome about the o ther s present. This sense of u s versus socentral to their social had become central to me, too,and I felt that I to an us. when there

of th e tea for the guests , Ia U l . l . H H ~ the proper role a dose U ~ h _ J

I l ef t the festivities with a few of the women from ou r r n n > r t uand spent the rest of th e from household to n O U S t ~ n O l l a ,

a U . L H ~ up, to different sides of the s tory of thelatest canlp an argument between an aunt and niece. In the lateafternoon a few of the adolescent came to find me, me tocome with them while collected firewood from a o l i ~ eorchard tha t was It was a beautiful and I wel-comed the chance to b e so I hurried of f with them.s howed me whe re their cousins had killed a snake and x p l ~ n n more about the argunlent I had been neanngabout. We hauled branches and and loaded them ontocarts fo r a and t he sun we started for home. A

cart driven two young men from our campCOmj aIUOlns-tw o women, three and a toddler, all from my

n u u s e n O J ~ : l - - n a g g e Q them for a ride. But th e youngmen were in a and tried towave us an honored guest to be We gave

onto the cart,insults with the young men.

That as we sat aroundabout the celebration we had anenaelCl,tion we had and because we eatenmeat, I became aware of how comfortable I every-one my own t idbi ts and mt:erpn::tatlOns,


22/36

Guest n

and easily the of the child who had fallenmy lap as I sat cross-legged on the ground. t was thatwhen dated the page in my journal, that realized it was only afew until Christmas. My American life seemed very faraway.

Even my feelings t owar d t hem had Cl1:anj2;e lthink it was until a certain funeral that became humanv en ,-,,, social) to many in the camp. fears that did no tcare about them in the same way cared about me came ou t intheir accusations t hat would them as soon as left and tha t would never return to visit. The mother wasno t bu t sh e was a in the camp, the ulti-mate moral knew that she liked me, shewondered what was and she was a bi treserved. Her brother s funeral her attitude towardme. When we got word that he had insisted on withthe women our household to pay condolences. fou nd thewhole scene very with the and 8 When

- \...1,- - .... ,, before the old woman to embrace her and her my found Her me, and be-

cause she had been l l fo r a feared for her health. Witheach new arrival the ritualized laments wouldand could not hold back my tears This funeral had awak-

ened my own over the death of my and aneither of whom had mourned . p -I

later heard from others how touched the old woman had beenthat had come like he r kinswomen and u . a u i . u ~ . L

to mourn with her. Others told me that had meant agreat deal to her to know that cared and could feel

her th e over the loss of her blood brother Fromthat on , she t reated me as she sangme a few pOlgJ:1aJ1I: songs about before leftfield.

The sorts of constraints andcreated for my enmc)grap.mcn

21


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Veiled Sentiments

apparent from what have described if m y hosts as-that was p art of their moral no t a or-

with restrictions on me it also allowedme to way a wasforced to le arn th e standards fo r women s b eh av io r fr om t he in -

as it w e r e - i t wa s a process o f socialization much observation. The drawback wa s like Altorki f oun d th at me to know that di d no t infact an d m y hesitation to my < 1r,,,,,,matters o f di d p re ve nt m e f ro mthat otherw ise havedefined the same boundaries those -- V -LH U - - -o f the allowed me to grasp more I m m e C 1 : l a t l ~ lho w th e social w o rld w o rke d an d ho w its members understood it

It my an d my interests to be confmed to asmall g rou p w h os e members could come to know As became more familiar with th e lived fel t less andless strangers. found the conver-

1 J - ; : > : l1 . iU L - with them an d tired o f answer-about what grow m amrika. ha d become

interested in th e relations in Bedouinan d was the w h ic h A w la d Ali under-

stood their social world an d acted within it. T hi s k in d o f knowl-could come from a nd o ver

life are no thistories o f

patterns o f territorialwas

o n w hi chdraws. And out-married kins-

about whom heard a great deal bu tthat my o f th e than th e fifteen h o u se h old s th at f o rme d

n ev er m etbased on at he c or e - - U . U C A H U ~

time.Th e lacunae that result from a dose

minor sometimes that Nas no tthe relations between tribal groups orcontroL But what sacrificed in breadth

- - L . U . I J - h ~ - - for afollowan d am


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u st n

Whether this could be considered ofAwlad Ali is perhaps a meaningless question. Insofar as other Bedouins were considered within t he s ame social and moral universe

those I met on visits to other communitiesseemed to differ little except in the quality and of traditional and modern goods they possessed-I would say that this

was representative. However, cultures de-i n any close individual families and in

this sense my differed from all others. I dono t think this makes my observations less valid.

concentration on the women s world also con-sidered a limitation. In many ways, my access to bothworlds was more balanced than a man s would have been. mrare male researchers in societies have farless access to women than I had to men. Not was my host anpv,rrpn- l ,c . I articulate and generous informant about himself and his

bu t his younger sons and and the client-status men were all visitors in the women s wor ld withwhom I could the structure ofinformation f low between the men s and women s worlds was no tsymlne:rn.cal. Because of the men to oneanother in the presence of women , but the reverse was no t true. 9In young and low-status men informed aunts

and the wives about men swhereas no one news to the adult men. A ofsilence excluded men from the women s world 10

research was most affecteddirective took. The result of the confluence

pncQ].le


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eiled entiments

or at odd momentswhen were

or event instead of ou t blue. In this manner I was ableto elicit the Bedouins conceptlO:ns of their social and Iwas led to the of social life. Had I

structured my research in I would have been blindto both.

any desire to do so. I ofme as differentfrom those researchers encountered. I heardstories of the exams these researchers had them

and the wild tales th e Bedou in s had fed them.Bu t because I had wished to live with them assumed it must beon social terms. I was reluctant to violate these terms, and

took notes or whenbu t rather wrote notes from

the and tried to

A of r> J,r shroudsthe eye, when i t s tarts to dear .

dhbabil- en wen rna

poem was reci ted to me the wife of atribal leader. We wer e at a ceremony of

reconciliation dose tribal seg-men ts t ha t had after from a be-tween cousins. The atrnospnelce was tense. The women ,

overJO lKlng th e where several white ceremonialpu:cn.ea fo r the men, watched the men sAt one several of the women

house and a chant. When Ithe woman who had taken me her reS pCIilSlbll-


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eile L JerU YJvtenrs

poemsin conversation

songs heard women

Sh e told me to write in my notean d he r poem to make sure ha d it

She t he n t ol d Ine to recite it to a certain woman in my camp.Before asked for t he o ld woman s name and s he g av e meone. When returned what to me werethen nonsense Th e women were when gave thename of th e woman in th e other ca:mp on anothername an d later realized sh e ha d me a false na me. F or a

in e ve ry h o us e ho l d went to in my comrnumt:yasked me to recite th e poem this woman ha d sentan d wa s about she ha d he r

first realization o f th e sensitive nature o f th e poems came abi t later A wife wa s ou t in ou r house-hold bread at ou r makeshift oven. After a minor

sh e broke into on e o f these poems. insisted that sheit so could write it do wn . Th at as talked with

abou t w ha t ha d seen and heard that himan d read hi m His

an d hed em an de d t o know w ho ha d recited it that ha d bu t when fi

confessed that it wa s th e wife o f on e of his he wasrelieved He that th e poem had to do with

sh e sang it b e ca u se s h e ha d lost o n e h us b an d an dh e r p re se nt husband wa s old and about to die then understoodthat he ha d feared that on e o f his wives ha d recited th e poem.When my confession to th e seniorshe scolded me fo r m y i nd is cr eti on a nd t ol d m e n ev er to revealan y women s poems to me n.

reactions to these poems were m y first dues to the- nA r l 1 r 1 , p o f as a vehic le fo r an d con-fidential communication. to

whenever individuals recited them sp,ontar}C W 1or sang them. It turned ou t that th e


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ues t nd lL P l-H H fH r:r

a nd s om e ti m es m en sing were t he s am e g en re as th e short poemsthey recited. Th e Bedouins k e en in te r es t in th e poems a nd t he irapproval of m y recognition o f their importance assured me that Iha d chanced on something critical. Ye t most women were no t ableto explain po ems to me . When I asked what a poem meanteither simply r ep e ated th e w or ds o r described th e type o f situationthat might elicit t ha t p oe m. I rarely ha d a chance to discuss th epoems with men fo r reasons that will become clear in laterchapters. Fo r a while I them under-standing little because the was obscure thedensed an d th e referents with th eboth a few individuals in the and a patient an d

educated young I began to n t p . ,.,'them.

I fou nd that these poems littlewere poems like haiku in form bu t more

like th e American blues in c o nt e nt a nd e mo ti on al tone. usu-described a s en t im en t a nd were others as per-

sonal statements about situations. Th e eUln()gra :)ll]Cliterature on AwI ad Ali ha d no t me for the vital partoral literature in their lives. O f the a n t n l L O t O j l O ~ ~ l S C Swho ha d w or ke d w it h Awlad A li an d their

Peters made an y mention o f songs or poetry and hedi d no t elaborate on their What material Iwa s later able to locate on Awlad A li poetry offered n o i nf or ma t io n a bo ut th e social contexts in w h ic h p o et ry was recited. 13

Ye t cultural o f poetry an d song which are~ ~ ~ . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ into life in o th er A ra b is apparentfrom some o f t he b est studies. Unmatched inth e modern literature are t he r ec or ds o f such

as I 1935 an d Musilyears ago studied Palestinian and Rwala nC:CiCiUlns.

texts are with poemsan d minor life event of the

Musil also collected rich material

27


29/36

eiled entiments

from the Rwala Bedou ins. For th e most partthe with which scholars of Arab culture comment onthe value Arabs on poetry few have t ried to situate thispoetry in its social context. Those who do deal withmatters are nei ther record poems as

no r do themr i p u r . nnO most of their attention

poetry. such as wetderare to consi de r classical forms in thewhat we know about oral

t o cons ider one of thesocial context

Because most of the poetry collected was recited in social contexts I could no t bu t re ::OllnJlZeform of discourse well into Bedouin s oc ia l life ratherthan an obscure a rt form se t apa rt f rom life and of concern

> - , v ~ H 4 . L , . > < 15 The for all those whofrom poetry to prayer is how

relate to s ocial life. Two recent studies ofArab t riba l poetry 1979; Caton 1984f6 define the relaOonS]: p between poetry and in ways that go boththe o ld not ion of folklore as a and source of culturalwisdom and values and the Western aesthetic notion of the arts asthe of individual Michael in a brilliantand of Rwala Bedouin poetry and basedon from the part of this century defmes thel ink thus:

Bedouin far more than Bedouincente r of an effort to work out the various > - , , - , u .. > .LUU.LH v >; JVc :> , :HU.L t . l .U _ c : > of uncertain ;JV UUL a l

some

28


30/36

uest nd JL tHH fH I : r

should be noted here, Meeker ties literature toare the central concerns of Rwala

uncertain / , J v , u u a. .. relations and the struggle among mounted menwith weapons. like Levi-Strauss, who at leastas in Th e of Asdiwal argues that is a means

dilemmas at the heart of a sociintellectual means

maticMeeker s intuition that poetry

fo r a more prag- - . l ~ H J U ; ~ U j . l J between Yemeni tribal and Yemen i so-

H - ~ . l i , j l H , of Kenneth Burke and roc:uSJmghe argues

S an act embedded in socio-historical an ag- < 0i 7?> instrument like swords or rifles bu t brandished in a verb l

for PCI>


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eiled entiments

con-

genres: somematter are recited or

Beauvoir 1953; Elshtain\ - -UCUk ,- ,Uj , - , this V J u U . F ~

descr ibe a o f social life in modern WesternI would not accuse

or an y others o fa it strikes me that a rel1Cl:WllS oonrespc1ncierlceth e views of A ra b t ri be sm en a nd t ho se o f me n has ledeach to reinforce interests o f th e other an d to otheraspects o f a nd c on ce rn . T he se aspects such as the per-sonal an d as to th e abstract an d 2T 10UD onl

the and informal as to th ea nd t he to th e U ,, JLU

no means t he c o nc e rn o f women or Bed-are more difficult to if on e includes women s

e X p e l r l e ] r l C e ~ s in th e o f a women in Bedouinconcerned with matters concern-

t he t ri be a nd group affairs such as th e tribal reconciliation a bo ve i n which their and sons are, -11, , p . r Hu involved share t he m ar ti al e th o s o f BedouinBut as Bedouin women are to the t ri be a nd dedi-cated to autonomy so Bedouin men are more thanactors. to o have and an d suffer

, - a . k U . . ~ . , in l ov e a nd I a rg ue t ha t we shouldbroaden our vision o f Middle Eastern tribal societies to encompassthese dimensions of in the o f social life It will

become clear how these aspects of life are.In aU these societies there are numerous

u . ~ U J l . , , - an d heroic inceremonial occasions or

sn:npler in s t ru c tu r e a n d v JH . . ..... .L .LU.UI.s= , 1 - F , - , r , c ~ r ; . L - l : , u mat-exts; 18ters an d aretions. Th e former ar eth e l at te r t en d to be

t o i nf or ma l social situath e exclusive domain of men an d

devalued male elders as theo f women an d 19 as a

consequence the love poems a nd s on gs o f tribal o f the


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u st n . u l U 9 r n U ~ r

Middle reference to their arevirtually unstudied. 20

Meeker a nd C at on follow this dealing exclusively withth e former type because o f their interest in th e 21Fo r th e choice was deliberate O f th e rich corpus o f poemsavailable i n M u si l s he c ho se t o analyze only th e poemsan d narratives of war f ou nd in o ne ignoring th e many lovepoems an d ditties included i n another This choice is indi-

rationalized Meeker s argument 26 t ha t t heRwala were little concerned with the domes tic life o f t he c am p incontrast to Middle Eastern In

life o f the campth e

who spent a considerableresearch in ha d less choice He moved almost v-r l1 , , , , , , ,I Hin th e world o f me n in this s e J { s e g r e l ~ a t : e dpoems recited men at formalwelcomed as a guest a m on g o th er guests an d tribalpoets. His access to t he d om es ti c world o f home an d intimategal nenrlgs o f close friends an d relatives wa s limited.

The fact that I m o v ed w it h in th e intimate world o f th e Awladas a research inte re st ne ither poe tr y no rtics bu t social the life o f hassome on the genre o f poetry I e nc ou nt er ed a nd f ou ndcentral an d on th e I draw be twe en Be douinp oe tr y a nd can be considered th e poetryo f life individuals recite such socialcontexts for the most part sentimentsabout their situations and c losest relatl Oflsnllps

Th e most about th e poems recited Awlad A lime n an d women I knew wa s th e radical difference between th esentiments in them a nd t ho se about t he s am e

social interactions an d conversations. TheBedouins to about or concernmatters an d to express anger i n d if fi cu lt s it ua ti on s h ad s tr uc k me


33/36

eiled entiments

consideration of ' - ' ' - . l ' l . JLhHU - , between the

social

as defensive. Bu t the constellation of sentiments e n ~ s s e d in theirpoems, for the most to do with vul

an d a tt achmen t to I couldand ones that

~ ilieHow is the fact that individuals express such different sentiments in and in discourse to be understood? Is onediscourse a more authentic of thanthe other? Robert in his assessment of theof the states that communication is themedium which we discover how individuals eX Der lerlCetheir lives and how cultural beliefs that V ~ f P - P

He notes the difficulties such communicationarenas and media and the of

The messages of poetry in Arab Bedouinare and are thu s

critical to an of Awlad l i expenence.The central that emerges from a

AwIad Al i concerns theBedouin discourse and the discourse oflife. 3 To to this we mus t look p nr iboth the immediate context of the recitation situation and thebroader context of the life events of the reciters and attempt tounderstand the b asic c ultu ra l notions the Awlad A li hold about

social and the individual-in the H.' - ' _ ' - ' Vl .of social life. 24 To this I outline in 2, 3 and 4 thebasic elements of this the concepts the Bed-ouins use to make sense of their world and the dominant ideasthat orient their actions and interactions.

Because the of m the ofblood in its two aspects of ancestry and structures theAwlad Ali v is ion of their social defines social

rip nr l u and collective cultural and individual attitudes and sentiments toward I discuss it first. The organ-ization of l ife tak es form around this Bu t per


34/36

u st n v C l u J n l ~ r

more concerns o f social living for theoeaClUlns who hold autonomy dear an d pride themselves on theiregalitarianism at least in political life are matters o f hierarchy andof power an d status. Here th e k ey t er ms o f honor an d modestycome in. M os t w ou ld agree that values associated with the notiono f however are at th e heart o f th e social ideologiesof various societies. 25 Most also recognizet he l in k between honor and stratification.26 But t he t e rm s th e honor th e arena o f its ex -th e link between honor an d sexual and under-

this code is s o c en tr al have proven less tractabletasks. These must be undertaken in the context o f

In th e o f th e of honorand the to honor in Awlad A lishow how this serves to rationalize social H n ~ uth e control some have over th e lives o f others in a system thatidealizes th e o f agnates a nd t he autonomy o f individuals. Itdoes so reference to which guaranteesthat individuals will be motivated to act i n w ay s t ha t th ei - J.u , ,- ,a, an d social system. In Awlad A li greater moralworth is th e basis o f one s or social withmoral worth measured the extent to which individual embodies th e ideals o f t he cod e o fhonor an d around the values o f autonomy. Bu t if honorderives from virtues associated w it h a ut on om y t he n t he re aremany most women who because of theira n d e co n om i c i n t he ir efforts to realizethese ideals. ethos an d

o f th e virtues o f autonomy under certain L-OJU -,,AHOJU J,honor this system is different.

must show rn , r < . ~ r Hd ef er enc e t o t hos e in moreideals. sexual

aspect o f this deference to social


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eiled entiments

m a

indirej: re:;entatlOrlS that

senior male agnates is elucidated inp hlr rp Bedouin ideas about a nd th esystem based on th e bonds o f Th e soundness o f this

te r pret;ltlICm o f sexual is demonstrated itsmake sense o f honor an d t he p at te rn of women s

H ow this moral system associated with th e o f honoraffects in div id u als in what say an d do an d even in th e mostintimate realm o f what sa feel is th e of th e secondpart o f t h e b oo k . But once we ar e about life we areb ack t o poetry because express sentiments and responses to

. . . ~ . b H _ J U < U situations both conversation an dafter a briefintroduction in 5 to the genre

o f Awlad Ali and to the contextual o f thispoetry I tu rn in 6 an d 7 o f Bedouinresponses t o v ar io us life crises o f loss an dlove. H er e th e consistent o f th e s e ntime n ts individualsexpress statements on th e on e an d state-ments on th e l eads us t o c on cl ud e t ha t th e sentimentsexpress have cultural In I use th e term sentimentrather than emotion or the orconventional nature o f these responses. the embeddedness

all emotional responses in c ul tu ra l c on te xt s t ha t d l t t e I ~ e n l t l 3 J lvalue certain sentiments has been th e o f much recent work

an d Geertz 1973a;Riesman 1977 I want to

this further. I intend.uUJV.I..I.L. values a nd t ha t e x p r l e S ~ o n

viduals contributes to o f th ear e tied to which in turn is U . l l 1 . U J l a l v - 1 .broadest sense. The sentimentswith th e of honor an d The sentiments h - . . I . ~ a HP V 1 . . 1 t P ~ C P r i in poetry suggest a self that is vulnerable and a self

.....U Jl o f l ov e a nd These are no t at firstth e sentiments an d autonomous nor are

th e sentiments o f chaste individuals.


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u st n U I U 9 m l ~ r

What are individuals about themselves ex -n r F c r n o f these non-virtuous sentiments? What is it aboutthat allows it to be used to express sentiments contrary t o t ho se

to th e ideals o f h o n o r w i th o u t jeopardizing th e r p r 1 1 1 T L _tions o f those who recite it? What are individuals communicatingabout themselves an d the they live in through poems thatexpress sentiments suggesting defiance o f t he m or al Rec-o g ni zi ng t h at both sets o f responses are what is thesignificance o f tw o cultural discourses for th e articulation o findividual sentiments? T o t he e xt en t t ha t what say either in

discourse or in th e conventional an d discourse ofpoetry ca n serve as a window into their what does th er l l < : r r p r > n r u b e tw e en t he tw o modes o f discourse tell us about th epower o f th e o f honor an d to

what does th e cultural valuation of th ediscourse tell us about the between th ehonor an d not individual bu t also th e Orl :al zatlono f Bedouin social an d life as a w ho le ? W e turn to thesequeS [lo ns in th e final w he re w h at as a aboutth e o f a g en re b ec om e s a refle ction on th efundamental issues o f th e o f the discourses thenature o f an d th e between an d hu -ma n expe:nenoe.

Abu Lughod l

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