The status of foreign women in the Arab novel

The figure of the foreign woman forms a central core of a mythologized West, and is the most common imported character. It has served, in turn, as a pretext for tackling the Western adventure, approaching the foreign woman and giving vent to the reveries and imaginings of the Arab character and his visions of an unknown feminine universe. Almost all Arab writers have used this female figure to express their opinions, impressions and fantasies about the West and its women. Moreover, as we shall see, her representation is varied, not static.