Grad Studies: Tuning in to Narrative Polyphonies

Joy Burhan Mazahreh launched academic year 2024-2025, her second as a PhD student in English, by publishing the essay "Contrapuntality and the Veil in Mohsin Hamid's Exit West" in Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific (issue 51)—and didn’t let up. In November, she presented a paper at the Midwest Modern Language Association conference; January featured a presentation at the Modern Language Association conference, followed by a webinar for the University of Central Punjab Department of English. In April, Mazahreh presented "Youssef Ziedan's Azazeel: Between Heresy and Critical Consciousness" at the Upper Midwest American Academy of Religion conference at Augsburg University. As her busy year ended, Mazahreh took time to graciously answer questions via email.

Please describe what you’re working on right now.

My project compares Victorian and Modern Arabic novels that explore similar motifs or are invested in similar narrative worlds. My current attention gears towards Charles Kingsley’s 1853 Hypatia and Youssef Ziedan’s 2008 Azazeel as novels that do not only share fifth century Alexandria as their setting or are centered around the murder of Hypatia by Cyril’s mob but that explore the possibilities of intellectual rebellion, questioning religious authority, and embracing personal transformation—away from the confinements of constituent belonging.

This is an exciting project for me because rather than comparing the novels on the basis of difference in geographic origin (like many approaches within the study of world literature), I read them both in unison as works that challenge dominant ideology despite their varying contexts. I focus on how both novels have sparked similar reactions and were accused of heretical tendencies, and wonder if their “embrace of the heretical” can be read as a determined retelling of history.

Edward Said’s oeuvre is foundational to the literary and theoretical understanding that drives my project. I am inspired by his philological method, exilic attitude, humanist logic, and worldly lens in knowing and learning about literature and life. His works (especially The World, the Text, and the Critic as well as Culture and Imperialism) and concepts (contrapuntality, secular criticism, beginnings and representation, to name a few) are what I am the most aligned with in my current research and analysis.

Have certain professors here been especially helpful?

I have been extremely grateful for the support of my co-advisors, Professor Nabil Matar and Professor Timothy Brennan. I am thankful for Professor Matar’s countless meetings to check in on my work as well as our directed reading, which has ignited what I am currently doing by asking the right questions and paying extra attention to detail. I am grateful that Professor Brennan’s graduate seminars constitute a substantial amount of my course work, as his teaching has transformed my approach to literary analysis and has equipped me with rigor and passion towards my work.

What have you appreciated most about your studies here at the U?

The sense of community I have at the U, especially in the department and with my cohort. Although we work on a broad spectrum of specializations and ideas, we are all able to sit and share our current work, ask for feedback, and gain insight from the perspective we offer to each other.

If you are not from Minnesota, what has been your favorite discovery, living here?

I just love living in Minneapolis! The city is not too big nor too small, and there is always something to do. I especially look forward to the Twin Cities Arab Film Festival by Mizna every year, and I love discovering new coffee spots for reading and writing.