NAWAL EL SAADAWI, The Innocence of the Devil, trans. Sherif Hetata (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998). Pp. 278.

Abstract

Originally published in 1994, The Innocence of the Devil, by the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, has been reissued in a paperback edition with a striking cover. Included in this edition is a well-written and well-documented Introduction by Fedwa Malti-Douglas, which provides a review of El Saadawi's life, a summary of the story, and insights into many aspects of the book. Malti-Douglas is a professor of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at Indiana University, Bloomington, and a commentator on El Saadawi's works and life. El Saadawi, a medical doctor and a writer, has used both her fiction and nonfiction as social commentaries on Egyptian—and more specifically, Muslim—society. She was educated in Cairo and the United States, practiced as a physician in Egypt, was director of health education in the Egyptian Ministry of Health from 1958 to 1972, has served on United Nations commissions, and is a practicing psychiatrist. Over the years, she has written several nonfiction books along with numerous short stories and novels. In this book, she comments on many facets of Egyptian culture, but the main thrust is that religion is the underlying cause of women's oppression. She emphasizes theological patriarchy in terms of monotheism (a single male god), the weakness of Eve as fallen woman, a male Satan (the serpent), and males designated as religious leaders who hold authority over women.