Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2019, Near Eastern Languages and Cultures

The subject of this study is contemporary Saudi women's literature and art between 2005 to 2017. In this research, I examine a selection of novels written by Saudi women and paintings composed by Saudi women artists to discuss how women negotiate their individuality, independence and rights to personal decision-making. This research argues that Saudi women have used literature and art to transform the way their society thinks about women. Novelists intertwine love stories, a traditionally taboo topic, with social issues on which there is broad agreement, for example the critique of terrorism, thus hoping to mute criticism. Saudi women artists, on the other hand, focus on portraying women's faces and figures in ways that show emotion and reveal depth of feeling. The key themes in these novels and works of art contribute to the authors' and artists' goals. Both the novels and the paintings focus on depicting some intimate aspects of women's lives in order to create empathy and make their society think differently, thus act differently. This dissertation highlights the importance of including Saudi women's literature and art in discussions of world literature and arts. It contributes to our understanding of Saudi women's shared challenges and seeks to establish that although Saudi women struggle with some sociopolitical issues, as do other women throughout the world, they do not allow these obstacles to prevent them from having open conversations about their position within society. They create conversations by confronting the power structures that women face and using techniques that foster audience engagement. This research was designed to describe Saudi women's concerns as told through their own literary and artistic expressions, in hopes that it may also inspire women in other societies who may share similar social circumstances.

Committee: Johanna Sellman (Advisor) Subjects: Art Criticism; Art History; Comparative Literature; Literature; Middle Eastern Studies; Womens Studies