Postcolonial Masculinities

Emotions, Histories and Ethics

Amal Treacher Kabesh

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781317077435
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Gender Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

Exploring the similarities and differences between and across masculinities in the Middle East and the West, Postcolonial Masculinities avoids the constant reinforcement of divisions and stereotypes created by the process of 'othering' and the problematic discourse of the clash of civilisations, examining instead how subjectivities in Western and Arab societies are intertwined, operating through envy of the other and the desire to be at once the same and yet fundamentally separate. With a focus on England and Egypt, this book reveals the manner in which masculinities are shaped in and through a history of colonialism and postcolonialism, irrespective of colour, ethnicity, religion, class, sexuality, or the wishes of the individual. By concentrating on the shared ground of postcolonial, masculine subjectivities, Postcolonial Masculinities looks beyond the dissonance often iterated between the apparently rational Western man and the apparently oppressive, patriarchal Middle Eastern man. Shedding light on the shared and distinctive aspects of masculinities across the Middle East and the West, whilst illuminating the influences upon them, this book will appeal to social scientists with interests in cultural studies, masculinities, psychoanalytic theory, gender and sexuality, and colonialism and postcolonialism.

The Feminist Imagination – Europe and Beyond

Series Editors: Kathy Davis, Utrecht University, The Netherlands and Mary Evans, London School of Economics, UK

With a specific focus on the notion of ‘cultural translation’ and ‘travelling theory’, this series operates on the assumption that ideas are shaped by the contexts in which they emerge, as well as by the ways that they ‘travel’ across borders and are received and re-articulated in new contexts. In demonstrating the complexity of the differences (and similarities) in feminist thought throughout Europe and between Europe and other parts of the world, the books in this series highlight the ways in which intellectual and political traditions, often read as homogeneous, are more often heterogeneous. It therefore provides a forum for the latest work that engages with the European experience, illuminating the various exchanges (from the USA as well as Europe) that have informed European feminism. The series thus allows for an international discussion about the history and imaginary of Europe from perspectives within and outside Europe, examining not only Europe’s colonial legacy, but also the various forms of ‘cultural imperialism’ that have shaped societies outside Europe. Considering aspects of Europe ‘abroad’ as well as Europe ‘at home’, this series is committed to publishing work that reveals the central and continued importance of the genealogy of feminist ideas to feminism and all those interested in questions of gender.

Also in this series

Repudiating Feminism

Young Women in a Neoliberal World

Christina Scharf

Transatlantic Conversations

Feminism as Travelling Theory

Edited by Kathy Davis and Mary Evans

Framing Intersectionality

Debates on a Multi-Faceted Concept in Gender Studies

Edited by Helma Lutz, Maria Teresa Herrera Vivar and Linda Supik

Postcolonial Masculinities

Emotions, Histories and Ethics

Amal Treacher Kabesh

University of Nottingham, UK

First published 2013 by Ashgate Publishing

Published 2016 by Routledge

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Copyright © 2013 Amal Treacher Kabesh

Amal Treacher Kabesh has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:

Kabesh, Amal Treacher

Postcolonial masculinities : emotions, histories and ethics / by Amal Treacher Kabesh.

pages cm. – (The feminist imagination : Europe and beyond)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4094-2238-9 (hardback)

1. Masculinity–Cross-cultural studies. 2. Masculinity–Developing countries. 3. Masculinity–Western countries. I. Title.

HQ1090.K33 2013

155.3’32–dc23

2013005639

ISBN 9781409422389 (hbk)

DOI: 10.4324/9781315601632

I dedicate this book to Ahmed Kabesh and Amir Hawash with love and gratitude.

Contents

• Acknowledgements
• 1 In the Shadow of the Other
• 2 Landscapes of Masculinities
• 3 The Necessity of the Other
• 4 Visceral Anxiety: Inhabiting Fear
• 5 Insidious Humiliation: Invidious Shame
• 6 Precarious Power
• 7 Cutting Tails
• 8 Silences, Spectres and Shards
• Afterword
• Bibliography
• Index

Acknowledgements

I am fortunate to work at the School of Sociology and Social Policy that provides a collegiate and supportive atmosphere and a sabbatical both of which have enabled me to develop this monograph. I am grateful to Srila Roy for the initial idea for this book and to Nick Stevenson for suggesting two of the novels that I have used. I am very thankful to Alison Pilnick and the late and much missed Bill Loach who read the manuscript and due to their generous encouragement and engagement provided a much needed boost of confidence. I also thank Clare Hemmings for reading the final chapter and for her exceptionally useful advice. My thanks to Rebecca Swift and Alison Haigh who tolerate my inefficiencies and numerous administrative queries with good humour and have stepped into help on far too many occasions.

Paul Cowdell is a gift of a copy editor and I am grateful to him for his careful reading of the manuscript. I thank Agnes Bezzina who pulled together the references with careful attention. I also thank Neil Jordan at Ashgate for his help and efficiency and especial thanks are due to Neil for suggesting such an evocative image for the cover. Kathy Davis and Mary Evans are exemplary editors and I cannot thank them enough for their careful editorial suggestions, enthusiasm and gentle encouragement and faith in this project.

I owe a long-standing debt to the Editorial Collective of Feminist Review for thoughtful dialogue and disagreements over many years and these debates have influenced my thinking and analysis – I thank them all. For standing by me and providing cups of tea, conversation, distraction, support, laughs and numerous acts of friendship and kindness I thank: Alice Bloch, Annabell Bell-Boule, Christian Karner, Clare Hemmings, Clemens Scheidegger, Graham Lee, Helen Crowley, Ian Greenway, Jan Lees, Julia O’Connell Davidson, Lucy Sargisson, Mandy Roland-Smith, Nick Stevenson, Pauline Henderson, Sally Alexander (to whom I owe a debt which reaches back to my days as an undergraduate), Sally Weintrobe, Stephanie Newell, Susannah Radstone, Thomas Herzog, Tracey Warren and Volker Scheid.

1 In the Shadow of the Other

DOI: 10.4324/9781315601632-1

In the Spectre of the Postcolonial

A number of years ago I was on a long train journey, sharing a table with three men who were immersed in conversation. I was absorbed in my novel, which I quickly finished, so with nothing to do I started to eavesdrop on their conversation, that mainly focused on sport. Initially I was bored, but something about the quality of the conversation began to interest me and I listened more intently. I suddenly recognised the variety and intensity of feelings being articulated by these men, ranging from pleasure to hurt, anger to jealousy, betrayal to despair.

Postcolonial Masculinities: Emotions, Histories and Ethics started on that train journey. It has had a long gestation since I first pondered the matter of masculinity and emotion and my perceptions, feelings and thoughts changed thanks to my shameless eavesdropping. It was through listening to these men (who I do not know but I thank them nonetheless) that my previous thinking began to shift as I realised the depth and sincerity of the emotions that they expressed. Before this incident I had gone along unthinkingly with the commonplace assumptions that men are rational, out-of-touch with their feelings and shy away from expressing affect. At the beginning of my eavesdropping I was caught in the banal and dismissive views that all men talk about is sport and while it is true that sport (specifically football) was the focus of their discussion I began to recognise that it is through sport that so much more is expressed. I then began to reflect on men that I know (family and friends) and started to understand the various modes of expression that men use to express themselves, engage with others and make themselves known and recognised.

This monograph is my engagement and attempt (at times struggle) to listen differently and understand men anew in relation to emotions. If that was not enough, my engagement has widened to thinking through Egyptian and British masculinities and exploring what may be their distinctive and shared characteristics. I am working across a web of interconnected themes – masculine subjectivity, emotion and narrative, socio-political events – that at times coincide, and at other times pull in different directions. Postcolonial Masculinities focuses on exploring emotions and (I have to acknowledge) negative emotions. It elucidates some beliefs and fantasies that men hold about each other and the...