Empowering Iraqi Woman’s Voice and Revolt in Muhsin Al-Ramli’s “I Killed Her Because I Loved Her”

Abstract

This paper investigates the representation of Iraqi woman in Muhsin Al-Ramli’s “I Killed Her Because I Loved Her”. Through its focus on one Iraqi family, a mother and her three daughters, Al-Ramli’s story sheds light on the drastic impact of wars and US invasion of Iraq in 2003 on the Iraqi woman. Moreover, it conveys how the Iraqi woman has become a site of conflict between armed ‘nationalist’ groups and the invading US troops. Drawing on the works of Iraqi scholars, namely, Nadje Al-Ali, this paper examines the role of Iraqi woman before, under, and after the Baath’s regime. Further, it explores the technique of narration in the story to argue that, by making the mother and her three daughters the focus of the story, Al-Ramli uses the male characters as a medium for empowering female voices. By employing Elizabeth Grosz’s notion of the female body as a site of resistance, this paper considers the two daughters’ tragic death, which is described as an act of crucifixion, as a sign of revolt and recalcitrance. As such, the story succinctly articulates how the borders of contact between the invaders and the armed groups are no longer confined to the ordinary frontlines between the two sides, but incorporates the female body as well. Relying on the premises of leading figures in trauma studies such as Freud and Cathy Caruth, this paper argues that the US invasion has unleashed traumatic events where Iraqi women, such as the female characters in the story, are its main targets.