A Feminist-Postcolonial Analysis of Power and Ideology in Ayaan Hirisi Ali's Infidel

This paper will examine Ayaan Hirsi Ali's memoir, Infidel which illustrates her journey from a child growing up in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Kenya. Throughout, the text, the author lives in a society where customs such as female genital mutilation, the wearing of Hijab and Burqas and the concept of Baarri are observed in terms of honour and the protection of women from being stigmatised as immoral, before her intellectual awakening in the Netherlands. She reveals how the Islamic religion gives men institutional power to construct laws that create an asymmetrical relationship between men and women which oppresses and dehumanises women. Based on a concept by Lewis and Mills (2003), concerning the Harem and the Veil, this study will adopt a feminist-postcolonial approach to the discussion of two key issues in the memoir: (i) power and control; (ii) substantial freedom. This study will propose that freedom is never free, whereas power is nothing but an act of negotiation in which women learn to achieve a certain degree of autonomy whilst in confinement.