PhD Oral Exam - Ranya Essmat Saad, Art Education

When studying for a doctoral degree (PhD), candidates submit a thesis that provides a critical review of the current state of knowledge of the thesis subject as well as the student’s own contributions to the subject. The distinguishing criterion of doctoral graduate research is a significant and original contribution to knowledge.

Once accepted, the candidate presents the thesis orally. This oral exam is open to the public.

Abstract

This dissertation presents a diffractive analysis of Zār, the ritual of adorcism rooted in the mythic belief of women’s vulnerability to spirit possession and their reconciliation through the ritual. Originating in the nineteenth century and spreading from Ethiopia to Sudan and Egypt via enslaved Abyssinian women, this dissertation begins with tracing Zār’s practices in Sudan and Egypt amid colonial, religious, and social pressures. I analyze how Zār interacts and overlaps with Ateetee, Indigenous Oromo ritual to reveal patterns of differences which encourages consideration of how Zār ‘s spiritual healing may function as a coping mechanism for gender-based violence (GBV). Rather than treating Zār in contemporary Egypt as a fixed tradition, I trace and analyze its performativity, visibility, and meaning-making across four frameworks: (1) colonial and postcolonial anthropological literature; (2) real-life Zār ceremonies highlighted by its dissemination though media platforms; (3) heritage-stage performance observed in the Egyptian capital, Cairo; (4) my own intermedial research-creation. Employing diffraction analysis alongside intersectional feminism and theories of Deleuze and Guattari, I scrutinize Zār’s ambivalent meanings of gender roles and women’s bodies as well as the complex interplay between human and non-human worlds. Ultimately, the dissertation adopts a trace-and transform approach, combined with research creation, to demonstrate how engaging with theoretical framework can produce a Zār that embodies a new form of authorship, accountability, and visibility in relation to women roles and agency.