{"product_id":"soft-weapons-gillian-whitlock-9780226895260","title":"Soft Weapons: Autobiography in Transit","description":"\u003cp\u003eAzar Nafisi's \u003ci\u003eReading Lolita in Tehran\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003eMarjane Satrapi's comics, and \"Baghdad Blogger\" Salam Pax's Internet diary are just a few examples of the new face of autobiography in an age of migration, globalization, and terror. But while autobiography and other genres of life writing can help us attend to people whose experiences are frequently unseen and unheard, life narratives can also be easily co-opted into propaganda. In \u003ci\u003eSoft Weapons\u003c\/i\u003e, Gillian Whitlock explores the dynamism and ubiquity of contemporary life writing about the Middle East and shows how these works have been packaged, promoted, and enlisted in Western controversies. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eConsidering recent autoethnographies of Afghan women, refugee testimony from Middle Eastern war zones, Jean Sasson's bestsellers about the lives of Arab women, Norma Khouri's fraudulent memoir \u003ci\u003eHonor Lost, \u003c\/i\u003e personal accounts by journalists reporting the war in Iraq, Satrapi's \u003ci\u003ePersepolis\u003c\/i\u003e, Nafisi's book, and Pax's blog, Whitlock explores the contradictions and ambiguities in the rapid commodification of life memoirs. Drawing from the fields of literary and cultural studies, \u003ci\u003eSoft Weapons\u003c\/i\u003e will be essential reading for scholars of life writing and those interested in the exchange of literary culture between Islam and the West. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Gillian Whitlock\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0226895262\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780226895260\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Chicago Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 12\/30\/2006\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 216\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.95lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.02h x 6.52w x 0.66d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLondon Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e 07\/31\/2008 pg. 25","brand":"Gillian Whitlock","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48086428713215,"sku":"9780226895260","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_dc51cd96-bd9d-438b-b4e1-a4c6350a6d7e.jpg?v=1769094619","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/soft-weapons-gillian-whitlock-9780226895260","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}