Patriarchy, Subordination, and Rise of the Individual in Hisham Matar's In the Country of Men

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.13169/arabstudquar.43.4.0333
• Published date: 01 October 2021
• Date: 01 October 2021
• Pages: 333-348
• Author: Nevine Abraham
• Subject Matter: Matar,individualism,collectivism,authoritarianism,patriarchy,subordination

ASQ 43.4 Produced and distributed by Pluto Journals

Nevine Abraham is Principal Lecturer of Arabic Studies, Department of Modern Languages, Carnegie

Mellon University.

PATRIARCHY, SUBORDINATION, AND RISE OF

THE INDIVIDUAL IN HISHAM MATAR’S IN THE

COUNTRY OF MEN

Nevine Abraham

Abstract: This article examines the narrative of resistance to social subordination and the

manipulated notions of faithfulness and treason in Hisham Matar’s In the Country of Men

(2006) observed through the lens of the child narrator, 9-year-old Suleiman, who grows criti-

cal of the patriarchy and power hierarchy of Libyan society’s private and public spheres. In

the private sphere, his mother’s retelling of her forced marriage at a young age informs his

initial aversion of patriarchy. In the public sphere, the Revolutionary Committee’s policing

and suppression of dissent, and the neighbor’s public execution amid a cheering crowd, shed

light on the dynamics of subservience and divisiveness. Though the novel takes place in 1979

Libya, it raises questions on the possibility of individual agency and rise of the citizen against

a post-colonial Arab despotic regime, where patriarchal authoritarianism, rooted in colonial-

ism, creates a system of dependency and subjugation that undermines citizens’ power and

manipulates faith as a medium of submissiveness. This article concludes with some reflec-

tions on the outcomes of 2011 Arab uprisings with regards to active citizenship.

Keywords: Matar, individualism, collectivism, authoritarianism, patriarchy, subordination

The Labourer and Artisan, notwithstanding they are Servants to their Masters,

are quit by doing what they are bid. But the Tyrant sees those that are about him,

begging and suing for his Favour; and they must not only do what he commands,

but they must think as he would have them [think] and most often, to satisfy

him, even anticipate his thoughts. It is not suff‌icient to obey him, they must also

please him, they must harass, torment, nay kill themselves in his Service; and [. . .]

they must leave their own Taste for his, Force their Inclination, and throw off their

natural Dispositions. They must carefully observe his Words, his Voice, his Eyes,

and even his Nod. They must have neither Eyes, Feet, nor Hands, but what must

be ALL upon the watch, to spy out his Will, and discover his Thoughts. Is this to live

happily? Does it indeed deserve the Name of Life? (Estienne De La Boëtie, 2012)

334 ARAB STUDIES QUARTERLY

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In his Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts (2008),

James Scott’s opening citation of Etienne De La Boëtie’s depiction of the serv-

ants’ submissiveness to their masters introduces his theory on dominance, resist-

ance, and the power dynamics between the dominant and the dominated who, “out

of prudence, fear and the desire to curry favor, [is] shaped to appeal to the expecta-

tions of the powerful” (2). This servants-masters dichotomy echoes the familial

and national relationships in Hisham Matar’s (2006) debut novel, In the Country

of Men, where, as this article aims to analyze, the interplay of collectivism, patri-

archy, and loyalty to a higher authority—be it God or the regime—along with the

regime’s appropriation of religion to maintain its grip complicate the citizens’

complicity in prolonging injustices and reinforcing power hierarchy. The novel

extensively references the analogy of Scheherazade and Shahryar in One Thousand

and One Nights to examine the implications of choosing to endure “slavery over

death” (Matar, 2006: 13), that is, slavery to a forced marriage or dictatorship, and

vowing loyalty to survive.

While In the Country of Men is set in a 1979 Libya “full of bruise-checkered and

urine-stained men, urgent with want and longing for relief” (168) ten years after

Muammar Qaddafi topples the monarchy of King Idris and seizes power, the article

sets off to demonstrate that the dynamics of dependency and subordination in the citizen-

state relations in the novel mirror those in many Arab countries where the shared

effects of colonial history have subverted citizens’ voices and facilitated the institution

of post-colonial patriarchal authoritarianism. It then examines the effects of the “cul-

tural patterns of domination and subordination” (Scott, 2008: 4) and the narrative of

resistance to a collectivist patriarchal system as seen through the lens of a 9-year-old,

Suleiman, the witness-narrator in the novel. Innocent, with limited knowledge, he tries

to make sense of the populace’s absurd adaptations of the notions of faithfulness and

betrayal that render them subservient to authoritarian propaganda. As this article will

show, Suleiman’s examination of the prevailing social codes and religious and cultural

practices in the inseparable private and public spheres voices the nuances of subordi-

nation and informs the possibility of rising against patriarchal and collective hierar-

chies through an imagined manhood founded on agency, free will, and independence.

Although Matar shares in a conversation with Afikra (January 2021) that he had not

read Scott’s Domination and the Arts of Resistance, this article draws on the many

intersections of ideas between Scott’s theory and Matar’s novel to explain oppression

and resistance. Finally, the article concludes with a commentary on the outcomes of

the citizens’ uprisings in 2011 and their effect on power struggle and place of citizen-

ship ten years later.

History is important in demonstrating that the crisis of the Arab citizens’ sub-

ordination to their patriarchal despotic regimes preceded the post-colonial period.

Sharabi (1992) argues that patriarchy, a deep-rooted trait of Arab societies that