Maysoon T A H E R Muhi | University of Baghdad (original) (raw)
Papers by Maysoon T A H E R Muhi
The Egyptian writer Tawfiq al-Hakim (1898-1987) is one of the leading figures in Arabic literatur... more The Egyptian writer Tawfiq al-Hakim (1898-1987) is one of the leading figures in Arabic literature and drama. In his masterpiece, The Sultan's Dilemma (1960), al-Hakim discusses an eternal question, which is mightier and has a lasting, influential role. Is it the power of authority or the power of the principles? Is it the sword or the law? The play is set in the medieval past, but its moral is addressed to the modern world. It explores the legitimacy of power through the character of a Mamluk Sultan raised into power. Suddenly, this Sultan faced a dilemma that he is neither a legible ruler nor released from the slavery of the earlier Sultan. Hence, the Sultan finds himself trapped between using forceful authority to establish his kinghood or applying the rightful law that might be difficult to be achieved, and it might take time. Sultan's dilemma symbolizes the political predicament that the modern world is facing.
Asosjournal, 2018
Lutfiya al-Dulaimi is one of the distinguished Iraqi women writers whose full awareness of the wo... more Lutfiya al-Dulaimi is one of the distinguished Iraqi women writers whose full awareness of the women's crisis has enabled her to diagnose the extrinsic, as well as the intrinsic, circumstances that affect women's character, behaviour and survival. Al-Dulaimi's Saturn Ladies (2009) tells a story of five Iraqi women and a journalist who are living during the War and its aftermath in 2003. The novel shows ostensibly and artistically how violence and loss have impacted these women's life which is turned into a hell in every sense of the word. The title connects these ladies with planet Saturn which in Arab heritage is described as a planet of misfortune and happiness. Paradoxically, they are the victims of war, yet, basically life in Iraq depends on them. The novel shows how after all the devastating effects of wars that cause despair and death over centuries, most of these women are able to resist war trauma and defeat depressed and darkened life in a continuous war-zone Iraq. These women are portrayed as having profound power of survival, which might be the power of hope, or love or might be the power of their country, Iraq. They are like the mythical phoenix that renews itself from its ashes and emerges to return to life. The current paper will concentrate on the traumatic effects of war and violence in al-Dulaimi's novel Saturn Ladies , concluding that her women's characters are able to survive by sharing the old-new way of surviving, which is 'storytelling' or narrative.
journal of the college of basic education, 2018
International journal of Arabic-English studies, Jun 1, 2020
Various literary studies have investigated the psychological, social and cultural effects of trau... more Various literary studies have investigated the psychological, social and cultural effects of traumatic events. They give voice to traumatised victims and enable them to convey and confront their traumas. However, these studies present a one-sided view, concentrating largely on the presentation of trauma in the industrial societies of the Western world. Recently, increasing attention has been devoted to identifying and depicting the forms and types of trauma that have been experienced in marginalised and neglected societies, such as the Iraqi society. Iraq has witnessed the unexpected fall of a brutal dictatorship, Western invasion and an unprecedented rise of sectarian discourses. This extreme violence has deeply affected many aspects of cultural production, particularly the rise of trauma in dramatic works of art. The present paper aims to examine two plays, namely, Jawad Al-Assadi's Baghdadi Bath and Mithal Ghazi's A Feminine Solo, using trauma theory in analysing the notions of the traumatic effect of war on survivors and Antonin Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty in explaining the issue of staging violence. This paper concludes that these plays bear witness to and expose the devastating effect of war on the identities of traumatised Iraqi characters, while at the same time, endowing them with a sense of hope to overcome their traumatised state.
الاستاذ, Sep 15, 2019
This study aims to depict the image of the Jew by two different authors of various periods of tim... more This study aims to depict the image of the Jew by two different authors of various periods of time. Undoubtedly, the Image of the Jew had been discussed and depicted in many plays of famous and prominent authors, especially during The Renaissance Era, such as Christopher Marlowe in his brilliant artistic work The Jew of Malta. In addition to, William Shakespeare's glorious piece of art The Merchant of Venice which is described by Dr. Mahmoud Shetywi, in his article "The Merchant of Venice in Arabic" as the play that is considered till now as the most prominent Elizabethan comedy that has been studied, performed and adapted by many universal and Arab modern and contemporary authors ; who one of them is the Yemeni author and playwright Ali Ahmed Bakathir with his adaptation of The Merchant of Venice which is called The New Shylock , in which he relates the traditional Elizabethan image of the Jew to the issue of (The Arab-Israeli Conflict). So, this study endeavors to show the genius dramatic techniques, that are used by both authors and the effect of Shakespeare on Bakathier. The New Shylock can be considered an adaptation of The Merchant of Venice with modern modifications and new concepts that serve the purpose of Bakathir. Accordingly, the researchers will rely on the theory of adaptation in excavating the treasures of both texts. Moreover, there are various (psychological, political, social and anthropological) aspects of depth that they tried to convey within their creation of the character of Shylock and what does this character really imply of the essential issues, to criticize and relate them to their own societies and times.
مجلة كلية التربية, Jan 24, 2019
This study focuses on the impact of technology on creating a dystopian world as presented by the ... more This study focuses on the impact of technology on creating a dystopian world as presented by the English playwright Caryl Churchill in her play A Number (2002). This dramatic work came as a reaction to the most crucial and valuable turning point in the scientific achievements of human engineering, namely, the cloning of the sheep called Dolly. Therefore, A Number is a play that presents an analytical stage for imagining the biotechnological and scientific future. This dramatic vignette captures the playwright’s fears towards the abnormal progress of technology and science and how far such technological progress affects human relationships and identity. It also portrays how technological progress results in the feeling of a lack of ‘uniqueness’ and potential psychological problems. It shows that biotechnological attempts at human cloning are the heights of science irresponsibility. Human beings desire to have children, but there are limits to this desire. It should not include whatever kind of technology is available to meet such desires. The playwright, through her dramatic characters Salter, B1, B2 and Michael Black, draws a ‘near’ futuristic world in which the misuse of technology raises ethical, scientific, medical and legal
Journal of University of Human Development, Jul 21, 2019
Lynn Nottage's Ruined, a Pulitzer Prize play, tackles the plight of women's survival during the c... more Lynn Nottage's Ruined, a Pulitzer Prize play, tackles the plight of women's survival during the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The play is a loud scream for the whole world to view the physical violence of women and hear their traumatic memories, hoping that this attempt might save them from their disastrous lives resulting from the brutalities of civil war. In this play, women are portrayed beyond victims of the political and armed conflicts as they serve as a reflection of a serious issue that threatens the human race in general: the continuing dehumanization whereby women are considered minorities and the "others," even within their own society. By applying a critical analysis technique, the current paper aims to shed light on women's experience of their violated bodies and their unspeakable suffering in the context of their trauma.
Mustansiriyah Journal of Arts, 2010
JOURNAL OF THE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION FOR WOMEN, 2010
Abstract In The Bluest Eye (1970), the American-African writer, Toni Morrison explores how Wester... more Abstract In The Bluest Eye (1970), the American-African writer, Toni Morrison explores how Western standards of ideal beauty are created and propagated with and among the black community. The novel not only portrays the lives of those whose dark skinned and Negroid features blight their lives; it also shows how the standard of white beauty, when imposed on black youth, can drastically damage one’s self-love and esteem which usually occurs when beauty goes unrecognized. Morrison in this novel focuses on the damage that the black women characters suffer through the construction of femininity in a racialised society where whiteness is used as a standard of beauty.
International journal of language and literary studies, Mar 30, 2020
This study investigates the motif of the female agency and self-affirmation of traumatic and marg... more This study investigates the motif of the female agency and self-affirmation of traumatic and marginalized women in For Colored Girls/ Who Have Considered Suicide/ When the Rainbow is Enuf (Henceforth, For Colored Girls) by the African-American writer, Ntozake Shange. This play addresses Afro-American women's long history of trauma and pain that caused a hole in their souls, hoping to heal and transcend their pain by deregulating and proving their spiritual and solidarity strength. The long-kept silence of the marginalization and abuse of the women of color has been shattered by women's narrating their personal stories and by their transition from invisible to visible and from insecurity to awareness. Women in Shange's play are victims, and they are wronged, yet they are winners; they "attain victory while being oppressed." Shange's untraditional technique of using dance, movement, song, music, and poetry, forming them in one performance, makes her play a unique one as it is able to speak the unspeakable and invoke the invisible in order to subvert dominant discourse.
In Persuasion, Jane Austen offers a penetrating critique of the standards of the British class sy... more In Persuasion, Jane Austen offers a penetrating critique of the standards of the British class system. She criticizes a system based on social distinctions and definitions like “Superior” and “Inferior.” Through irony and satire, she vividly shows Victorian class rigidity and its traditional values. This paper aims at showing that through her realistic portrayal of families and characters; Austen manages to capture the major defects of her social circle and sets to expose them one by one.
In Persuasion, Jane Austen offers a penetrating critique of the standards of the British class sy... more In Persuasion, Jane Austen offers a penetrating critique of the standards of the British class system. She criticizes a system based on social distinctions and definitions like Superior and Inferior. Through irony and satire, she vividly shows Victorian class rigidity and its traditional values. This paper aims at showing that through her realistic portrayal of families and characters; Austen manages to capture the major defects of her social circle and sets to expose them one by one.
The Egyptian writer Tawfiq al-Hakim (1898- 1987) is one of the leading figures in Arabic literatu... more The Egyptian writer Tawfiq al-Hakim (1898- 1987) is one of the leading figures in Arabic literature and drama. In his masterpiece, The Sultan’s Dilemma (1960), al-Hakim discusses an eternal question, which is mightier and has a lasting, influential role. Is it the power of authority or the power of the principles? Is it the sword or the law? The play is set in the medieval past, but its moral is addressed to the modern world. It explores the legitimacy of power through the character of a Mamluk Sultan raised into power. Suddenly, this Sultan faced a dilemma that he is neither a legible ruler nor released from the slavery of the earlier Sultan. Hence, the Sultan finds himself trapped between using forceful authority to establish his kinghood or applying the rightful law that might be difficult to be achieved, and it might take time. Sultan’s dilemma symbolizes the political predicament that the modern world is facing.
Al-Adab Journal, 2018
A new vision has been created in the 1980s' drama to overcome the sense of entrapment that th... more A new vision has been created in the 1980s' drama to overcome the sense of entrapment that the modern man feels in the attempts to keep his/her will and free choice liberated from severe confiscation Though considered as a possibly negative vision, suicide started to be seen as to hand man the sense of control that is aspired at least over the end of one's life. A further control was well reflected by the female figures in the late 20th century drama as it appeared in Marsha Norman’s ‘Night, Mother' (1985). This study traces the suicidal vision undertaken by a 40-year-old lady whose identity and sense of selfhood has been long confiscated by her mother and her whole universe. She tries to revive a romantic vision, rooted much in her strong tie with her dead father, in an attempt to reunite herself to her autonomous entity.
International Journal of English Linguistics, 2018
Pauses and hesitations are phenomena that can be found in speech. They can help both the speaker ... more Pauses and hesitations are phenomena that can be found in speech. They can help both the speaker and the hearer, due to the functions they have in a dialogue. Their occurrence in speech has a value that they make it more understandable. In this regard, the researchers intend to critically examine the pauses and hesitations used in the two texts as well as their functions. The present paper aims to identify the types of pauses and hesitations used by Pinter’s The Homecoming and Baker’s Circle Mirror Transformation as well as the functions they serve and to compare both playwrights in this regard. To do so, the sequential production approach of turn taking, in combination with the contributions of some scholars who state the multifunctional use of pauses and hesitations, has been used. The findings of the present study show that pauses and hesitations do not exist arbitrarily in speech but they are found to serve certain functions depending on the context in which they occur. Regardin...
IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 2013
Canadian Social Science, 2011
This study investigates the motif of the female agency and self-affirmation of traumatic and marg... more This study investigates the motif of the female agency and self-affirmation of traumatic and marginalized women in For Colored Girls/ Who Have Considered Suicide/ When the Rainbow is Enuf (Henceforth, For Colored Girls) by the African-American writer, Ntozake Shange. This play addresses Afro-American women's long history of trauma and pain that caused a hole in their souls, hoping to heal and transcend their pain by deregulating and proving their spiritual and solidarity strength. The long-kept silence of the marginalization and abuse of the women of color has been shattered by women's narrating their personal stories and by their transition from invisible to visible and from insecurity to awareness. Women in Shange's play are victims, and they are wronged, yet they are winners; they "attain victory while being oppressed." Shange's untraditional technique of using dance, movement, song, music, and poetry, forming them in one performance, makes her play a unique one as it is able to speak the unspeakable and invoke the invisible in order to subvert dominant discourse.
The Egyptian writer Tawfiq al-Hakim (1898-1987) is one of the leading figures in Arabic literatur... more The Egyptian writer Tawfiq al-Hakim (1898-1987) is one of the leading figures in Arabic literature and drama. In his masterpiece, The Sultan's Dilemma (1960), al-Hakim discusses an eternal question, which is mightier and has a lasting, influential role. Is it the power of authority or the power of the principles? Is it the sword or the law? The play is set in the medieval past, but its moral is addressed to the modern world. It explores the legitimacy of power through the character of a Mamluk Sultan raised into power. Suddenly, this Sultan faced a dilemma that he is neither a legible ruler nor released from the slavery of the earlier Sultan. Hence, the Sultan finds himself trapped between using forceful authority to establish his kinghood or applying the rightful law that might be difficult to be achieved, and it might take time. Sultan's dilemma symbolizes the political predicament that the modern world is facing.
Asosjournal, 2018
Lutfiya al-Dulaimi is one of the distinguished Iraqi women writers whose full awareness of the wo... more Lutfiya al-Dulaimi is one of the distinguished Iraqi women writers whose full awareness of the women's crisis has enabled her to diagnose the extrinsic, as well as the intrinsic, circumstances that affect women's character, behaviour and survival. Al-Dulaimi's Saturn Ladies (2009) tells a story of five Iraqi women and a journalist who are living during the War and its aftermath in 2003. The novel shows ostensibly and artistically how violence and loss have impacted these women's life which is turned into a hell in every sense of the word. The title connects these ladies with planet Saturn which in Arab heritage is described as a planet of misfortune and happiness. Paradoxically, they are the victims of war, yet, basically life in Iraq depends on them. The novel shows how after all the devastating effects of wars that cause despair and death over centuries, most of these women are able to resist war trauma and defeat depressed and darkened life in a continuous war-zone Iraq. These women are portrayed as having profound power of survival, which might be the power of hope, or love or might be the power of their country, Iraq. They are like the mythical phoenix that renews itself from its ashes and emerges to return to life. The current paper will concentrate on the traumatic effects of war and violence in al-Dulaimi's novel Saturn Ladies , concluding that her women's characters are able to survive by sharing the old-new way of surviving, which is 'storytelling' or narrative.
journal of the college of basic education, 2018
International journal of Arabic-English studies, Jun 1, 2020
Various literary studies have investigated the psychological, social and cultural effects of trau... more Various literary studies have investigated the psychological, social and cultural effects of traumatic events. They give voice to traumatised victims and enable them to convey and confront their traumas. However, these studies present a one-sided view, concentrating largely on the presentation of trauma in the industrial societies of the Western world. Recently, increasing attention has been devoted to identifying and depicting the forms and types of trauma that have been experienced in marginalised and neglected societies, such as the Iraqi society. Iraq has witnessed the unexpected fall of a brutal dictatorship, Western invasion and an unprecedented rise of sectarian discourses. This extreme violence has deeply affected many aspects of cultural production, particularly the rise of trauma in dramatic works of art. The present paper aims to examine two plays, namely, Jawad Al-Assadi's Baghdadi Bath and Mithal Ghazi's A Feminine Solo, using trauma theory in analysing the notions of the traumatic effect of war on survivors and Antonin Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty in explaining the issue of staging violence. This paper concludes that these plays bear witness to and expose the devastating effect of war on the identities of traumatised Iraqi characters, while at the same time, endowing them with a sense of hope to overcome their traumatised state.
الاستاذ, Sep 15, 2019
This study aims to depict the image of the Jew by two different authors of various periods of tim... more This study aims to depict the image of the Jew by two different authors of various periods of time. Undoubtedly, the Image of the Jew had been discussed and depicted in many plays of famous and prominent authors, especially during The Renaissance Era, such as Christopher Marlowe in his brilliant artistic work The Jew of Malta. In addition to, William Shakespeare's glorious piece of art The Merchant of Venice which is described by Dr. Mahmoud Shetywi, in his article "The Merchant of Venice in Arabic" as the play that is considered till now as the most prominent Elizabethan comedy that has been studied, performed and adapted by many universal and Arab modern and contemporary authors ; who one of them is the Yemeni author and playwright Ali Ahmed Bakathir with his adaptation of The Merchant of Venice which is called The New Shylock , in which he relates the traditional Elizabethan image of the Jew to the issue of (The Arab-Israeli Conflict). So, this study endeavors to show the genius dramatic techniques, that are used by both authors and the effect of Shakespeare on Bakathier. The New Shylock can be considered an adaptation of The Merchant of Venice with modern modifications and new concepts that serve the purpose of Bakathir. Accordingly, the researchers will rely on the theory of adaptation in excavating the treasures of both texts. Moreover, there are various (psychological, political, social and anthropological) aspects of depth that they tried to convey within their creation of the character of Shylock and what does this character really imply of the essential issues, to criticize and relate them to their own societies and times.
مجلة كلية التربية, Jan 24, 2019
This study focuses on the impact of technology on creating a dystopian world as presented by the ... more This study focuses on the impact of technology on creating a dystopian world as presented by the English playwright Caryl Churchill in her play A Number (2002). This dramatic work came as a reaction to the most crucial and valuable turning point in the scientific achievements of human engineering, namely, the cloning of the sheep called Dolly. Therefore, A Number is a play that presents an analytical stage for imagining the biotechnological and scientific future. This dramatic vignette captures the playwright’s fears towards the abnormal progress of technology and science and how far such technological progress affects human relationships and identity. It also portrays how technological progress results in the feeling of a lack of ‘uniqueness’ and potential psychological problems. It shows that biotechnological attempts at human cloning are the heights of science irresponsibility. Human beings desire to have children, but there are limits to this desire. It should not include whatever kind of technology is available to meet such desires. The playwright, through her dramatic characters Salter, B1, B2 and Michael Black, draws a ‘near’ futuristic world in which the misuse of technology raises ethical, scientific, medical and legal
Journal of University of Human Development, Jul 21, 2019
Lynn Nottage's Ruined, a Pulitzer Prize play, tackles the plight of women's survival during the c... more Lynn Nottage's Ruined, a Pulitzer Prize play, tackles the plight of women's survival during the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The play is a loud scream for the whole world to view the physical violence of women and hear their traumatic memories, hoping that this attempt might save them from their disastrous lives resulting from the brutalities of civil war. In this play, women are portrayed beyond victims of the political and armed conflicts as they serve as a reflection of a serious issue that threatens the human race in general: the continuing dehumanization whereby women are considered minorities and the "others," even within their own society. By applying a critical analysis technique, the current paper aims to shed light on women's experience of their violated bodies and their unspeakable suffering in the context of their trauma.
Mustansiriyah Journal of Arts, 2010
JOURNAL OF THE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION FOR WOMEN, 2010
Abstract In The Bluest Eye (1970), the American-African writer, Toni Morrison explores how Wester... more Abstract In The Bluest Eye (1970), the American-African writer, Toni Morrison explores how Western standards of ideal beauty are created and propagated with and among the black community. The novel not only portrays the lives of those whose dark skinned and Negroid features blight their lives; it also shows how the standard of white beauty, when imposed on black youth, can drastically damage one’s self-love and esteem which usually occurs when beauty goes unrecognized. Morrison in this novel focuses on the damage that the black women characters suffer through the construction of femininity in a racialised society where whiteness is used as a standard of beauty.
International journal of language and literary studies, Mar 30, 2020
This study investigates the motif of the female agency and self-affirmation of traumatic and marg... more This study investigates the motif of the female agency and self-affirmation of traumatic and marginalized women in For Colored Girls/ Who Have Considered Suicide/ When the Rainbow is Enuf (Henceforth, For Colored Girls) by the African-American writer, Ntozake Shange. This play addresses Afro-American women's long history of trauma and pain that caused a hole in their souls, hoping to heal and transcend their pain by deregulating and proving their spiritual and solidarity strength. The long-kept silence of the marginalization and abuse of the women of color has been shattered by women's narrating their personal stories and by their transition from invisible to visible and from insecurity to awareness. Women in Shange's play are victims, and they are wronged, yet they are winners; they "attain victory while being oppressed." Shange's untraditional technique of using dance, movement, song, music, and poetry, forming them in one performance, makes her play a unique one as it is able to speak the unspeakable and invoke the invisible in order to subvert dominant discourse.
In Persuasion, Jane Austen offers a penetrating critique of the standards of the British class sy... more In Persuasion, Jane Austen offers a penetrating critique of the standards of the British class system. She criticizes a system based on social distinctions and definitions like “Superior” and “Inferior.” Through irony and satire, she vividly shows Victorian class rigidity and its traditional values. This paper aims at showing that through her realistic portrayal of families and characters; Austen manages to capture the major defects of her social circle and sets to expose them one by one.
In Persuasion, Jane Austen offers a penetrating critique of the standards of the British class sy... more In Persuasion, Jane Austen offers a penetrating critique of the standards of the British class system. She criticizes a system based on social distinctions and definitions like Superior and Inferior. Through irony and satire, she vividly shows Victorian class rigidity and its traditional values. This paper aims at showing that through her realistic portrayal of families and characters; Austen manages to capture the major defects of her social circle and sets to expose them one by one.
The Egyptian writer Tawfiq al-Hakim (1898- 1987) is one of the leading figures in Arabic literatu... more The Egyptian writer Tawfiq al-Hakim (1898- 1987) is one of the leading figures in Arabic literature and drama. In his masterpiece, The Sultan’s Dilemma (1960), al-Hakim discusses an eternal question, which is mightier and has a lasting, influential role. Is it the power of authority or the power of the principles? Is it the sword or the law? The play is set in the medieval past, but its moral is addressed to the modern world. It explores the legitimacy of power through the character of a Mamluk Sultan raised into power. Suddenly, this Sultan faced a dilemma that he is neither a legible ruler nor released from the slavery of the earlier Sultan. Hence, the Sultan finds himself trapped between using forceful authority to establish his kinghood or applying the rightful law that might be difficult to be achieved, and it might take time. Sultan’s dilemma symbolizes the political predicament that the modern world is facing.
Al-Adab Journal, 2018
A new vision has been created in the 1980s' drama to overcome the sense of entrapment that th... more A new vision has been created in the 1980s' drama to overcome the sense of entrapment that the modern man feels in the attempts to keep his/her will and free choice liberated from severe confiscation Though considered as a possibly negative vision, suicide started to be seen as to hand man the sense of control that is aspired at least over the end of one's life. A further control was well reflected by the female figures in the late 20th century drama as it appeared in Marsha Norman’s ‘Night, Mother' (1985). This study traces the suicidal vision undertaken by a 40-year-old lady whose identity and sense of selfhood has been long confiscated by her mother and her whole universe. She tries to revive a romantic vision, rooted much in her strong tie with her dead father, in an attempt to reunite herself to her autonomous entity.
International Journal of English Linguistics, 2018
Pauses and hesitations are phenomena that can be found in speech. They can help both the speaker ... more Pauses and hesitations are phenomena that can be found in speech. They can help both the speaker and the hearer, due to the functions they have in a dialogue. Their occurrence in speech has a value that they make it more understandable. In this regard, the researchers intend to critically examine the pauses and hesitations used in the two texts as well as their functions. The present paper aims to identify the types of pauses and hesitations used by Pinter’s The Homecoming and Baker’s Circle Mirror Transformation as well as the functions they serve and to compare both playwrights in this regard. To do so, the sequential production approach of turn taking, in combination with the contributions of some scholars who state the multifunctional use of pauses and hesitations, has been used. The findings of the present study show that pauses and hesitations do not exist arbitrarily in speech but they are found to serve certain functions depending on the context in which they occur. Regardin...
IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 2013
Canadian Social Science, 2011
This study investigates the motif of the female agency and self-affirmation of traumatic and marg... more This study investigates the motif of the female agency and self-affirmation of traumatic and marginalized women in For Colored Girls/ Who Have Considered Suicide/ When the Rainbow is Enuf (Henceforth, For Colored Girls) by the African-American writer, Ntozake Shange. This play addresses Afro-American women's long history of trauma and pain that caused a hole in their souls, hoping to heal and transcend their pain by deregulating and proving their spiritual and solidarity strength. The long-kept silence of the marginalization and abuse of the women of color has been shattered by women's narrating their personal stories and by their transition from invisible to visible and from insecurity to awareness. Women in Shange's play are victims, and they are wronged, yet they are winners; they "attain victory while being oppressed." Shange's untraditional technique of using dance, movement, song, music, and poetry, forming them in one performance, makes her play a unique one as it is able to speak the unspeakable and invoke the invisible in order to subvert dominant discourse.