This Egyptian Woman Writer Gave A Masterclass In Decolonization, Criticizing The Word "Middle East”
“Middle to what? Middle to whom? You have to ask yourself,”
A video of a renowned late Egyptian feminist writer from 2015 has gone viral for being a masterclass in decolonization and how language shapes how global events are understood and perceived.
During a live discussion at the De Balie program in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Nawal El Saadawi refused to continue the conversation when the host used the word “Middle East.”
“This is colonial language. It’s like third world, like post-colonial,” Saadawi said.
She explained that geographically the term “Middle East” doesn’t make sense.
“Middle to what? Middle to whom? You have to ask yourself,” she said.
She pointed out that the Middle East was named that because it was a British colony, and Egypt was middle east, relative to London, whereas India, another British colony, was called the far east relative to London.
She said when she goes to the UK, she calls it the “Middle West” and when she goes to the US, she calls it the “Far West”, which people find funny.
However, she said that people don’t find the “Middle East” funny. “That’s colonialism. That’s colonial language; we need to decolonize the language,” Saadawi said.
Saadawi had said in a statement at the World Forum in 2012 that she rejects the term "Middle East" because it reflects a colonial worldview imposed by Western powers.
She argued that such terms are not neutral but carry colonialism embedded within them and that using this language continues the colonial influence by shaping how people think about the region and their own identities.
Saadawi said that to achieve true freedom and democracy, people need to dismantle the inherited colonialism in politics, culture and even everyday language.
She was an outspoken writer and activist known for her work on women's rights, sexuality, patriarchy, and colonialism.
She died in Egypt on March 21, 2021, at age 89, but her words and thoughts continue to live through her writings.
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