ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the themes that four authors – spanning the second and third generations of Saudi female writers – have adopted in presenting women and the city. Large cosmopolitan cities like London, Paris and Toronto act as mediators for female writers, who used these urban spaces to critique their own local culture. The urban imaginary and cognitive mappings of values, including concepts of culture and identity, manifest differently in the various works of fiction by Saudi women. While cities such as Beirut, Cairo, London and Paris are often associated with romance and freedom in the imagination of many writers, especially those with Western leanings, the same cities challenge the values and identities of others back home. Through an inquiry into several texts and locations, this chapter explores how the space of the city has been used as a feminist tool and mediator between women’s consciousness and their identity. This exploration spans the mature works of Omima al-Khamis and Zaineb Hefny, as well as the daring and revolutionary voices of millennial writers like Raja al-Sanea and Samar al-Megrin.
