WOMEN AND FAMILY LIFE: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ARABIC AND MALAY FOLK TALES
Rahmah Binti Ahmad H. Osman[1], Nur Aini Binti Ariffin[2], Toyyib Abiodun Mustapha [3]
, Usman Jaffer[4], Amany Suleiman[5]Saleh Alzeheimi[6]
[1] Professor at the Dept. of Arabic Language and Literature, AHAS Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences; ISTAC, IIUM.
[2]Nur Aini Binti Ariffin, Akademi Pengajian Bahasa, UiTM Cawangan Negeri Sembilan, Kampus Rembau, 71300 Rembau, Negeri Sembilan Darul Khusus.
[3] Toyyib Abiodun Mustapha, Dept. Arabic & Islamic Studies, Nigerian Islamic Association of Chicago, 932 W Sheridan rd, Chicago IL, 60613.
[4]Correspondent Author- Assistant Professor at Dept. of Fundamental and Interdisciplinary Studies, AHAS Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences; ISTAC, IIUM.
[5] Associate Professor University of Al-Azhar Alexandria, Egypt
[6] Zakirat Oman, Sultanate of Oman.
Literary writers have divided Arabic literature mainly into two complementary areas –poetry and prose. This article attempts to offer a comparative analysis research focusing on the image of women in family life as mothers, wives, and sisters in both Arabic and Malay folk tales. It is base on selected stories from two famous books: Hikayat Sha’biyyah by Ahmad Ziyād Mahbak and Himpunan 366 Cerita Rakyat Malaysia by Othman Puteh and Aripin Said. This study adopts literary analysis and comparative methods. Therefore, through these methods the image of women in family life as a mother, wife, and sister in selected texts are introduced. The comparative method has also been used to do a comparative analysis between the image of women in Arabic and Malay folk tales. This study reveals that the image of women in both folk tales shares several common features, suggesting the universality of folk tales. There are also minor differences between the two genres of folk tales because of factors such as environmental and cultural differences and the taleteller’s inclinations and preferences.
Keywords: Malay Women/Arab folk tales, mother, wife, sister, Hikayat Sha’biyyah.