UNU-GEST lecture series 29 January - Gender Specifics: A Hidden View from Kuwait

Mai Al-Nakib (PhD, Brown University), Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Kuwait University will give a lecture 29 January at 12 o’clock in The National Museum’s lecture hall.

Her research addresses a wide range of issues linked to cultural politics in the Middle East—from Arab feminisms to the ethical question of Palestinians in Kuwait. Her collection of short stories, The Hidden Light of Objects (Bloomsbury), traces overlooked moments in the lives of those who reside in a region often overwhelmed by geopolitics. The Hidden Light of Objects won the Edinburgh International Book Festival’s First Book Award in 2014, the first short story collection to win the award. She is currently writing her first novel.

How has Kuwait’s historical cosmopolitanism affected the status and lives of women in the country?

Much like Kuwait itself, the status of Kuwaiti women is often lumped together with that of women in neighbouring countries—Saudi Arabia most especially. But Kuwait has a distinct cosmopolitan history that has affected its political and economic development and, coextensively, the role and position of women. Mai Al-Nakib presents this historical cosmopolitanism in Kuwait as a counter to more recent and limited views, which began to consolidate within Kuwait itself after 1991. What accounts for this national amnesia about the country’s cosmopolitan past and what effect does this forgetfulness have on women’s lives? These issues are discussed in relation to her award-winning collection of short stories, The Hidden Light of Objects. Presentation to be followed by reading and discussion.

The lecture is a part of the UNU-GEST lecture series and is held in collaboration with RIKK, Institute for Gender, Equality and Difference at the University of Iceland.

 The lecture is given in English, is open to everyone and admission is free.