Figures of the Oriental Woman's Solitude in the Works of Sahar Khalifa and JanaElhassan

Abstract

Diary of a Utopian Woman (1992) by the Palestinian novelist Sahar Khalifa and All the women inside me (2013) by the Lebanese Jana Elhassan plumb the depths of the psychological
interior of two young women (Afāf and Sahar) and their attempts to define themselves instead of
being defined by others. Their imposed and inevitable solitude is not easy to face. It only leads to
anguish and despair. Their quest for happiness ends in failure and unsought solitude is understood
as punishment.