Guests of the Sheik: Ethnography of an Iraqi Village

Ethnographic Perspective: Guests of the Sheik

Guests of the Sheik: An Ethnography of an Iraqi Village -- analysis

Elizabeth Fernea's book "Guests of the Sheik: An Ethnography of an Iraqi Village" provides readers with a complex description of women in Iraqi village during the 1950s. The text is meant to enable people to abandon stereotypes they might have considered when coming across Iraqi women. The book should not necessarily be understood as a form of criticism with regard to society's understanding of this particular community, as it is actually meant to inform readers and to make it possible for them to employ more open-minded attitudes with regard to the group. The fact that the writer provides a personal account regarding Iraqi women during the 1950s contributes to the overall authenticity of the manuscript.

The book is based on Fernea's experiences in Iraq during her stay there with her husband, an anthropologist studying concepts in the area. The writer's role as an ethnographer does not prevent her from presenting a story that is interactive and that succeeds in making readers feel closer to the overall chain of events that she goes through. The book does not contain a cold and distant ethnographer's account, as it describes the experiences of a woman who gets actively involved in living alongside of people she's studying and who is thus able to understand them much better than someone observing them from the perspective of an outsider. "This book is a personal narrative of those years, especially of my life with the veiled women who, like me, lived in mud-brick houses surrounded by high mud walls." (Fernea)

Fernea probably chose to write this book in an attempt to show people the true image of Iraqi women. Given that she had no anthropological background and that she was a typical western individual, it would be safe to say that she too was inclined to consider stereotypes as being valid before she actually got to live in the Iraqi community. The writer's fieldwork is much more than a simple study of the community, as she becomes a part of that community and provides information from the perspective of a person who actually knows what it feels like to be one of the group's members. Fernea takes fieldwork to a whole new level as she influences readers to be drawn into that world and to understand the strong relationships she developed with people there.

Kinship Systems and Family

Even with the fact that she seems to be particularly appreciative with regard to the culture and the behaviors she comes across, Fernea cannot help but to address the patriarchal nature of the society she became a part of. She relates to how women are often forced to marry individuals their community wants them to marry, as they are provided with little to no say in the matter. "Among merchants of the village the codes were less strict, but still the preferred marriage was that between first cousins on the father's side." (Fernea) While this too might be interpreted as a westerner's tendency to discriminate individuals from other cultures, it is somewhat intriguing because it supports a series of stereotypes regarding Iraqi women.

Fernea presents families as having strict roles for each person, with gender being important in determining an individual's tasks. Men could only do jobs characteristic to men while women were required to do jobs that one could associate with their gender. Her relationship with Mohammed demonstrates the way that men felt with regard to their condition, with the moment when he asks her for a favor showing his thinking. "Half in sign-language and half in simple Arabic, repeated over and over again, he asked me please not to tell anyone he washed our dishes or he would be shamed among men for doing women's work." (Fernea)

Polygamy is a common concept in the book, as the writer came across numerous accounts involving men having more than one wife. In contrast, some women were left unmarried as a result of failing to find someone who was in accordance with their community's legislations. While this might seem controversial, Fernea is quick to emphasize the fact that most women she came across were happy and were not the passive individuals that most westerners tend to associate them with.

Religion

Although Fernea also relates to the community as a whole, her presence in the group of women means that she was more exposed to their values than to the village's community in general. The writer's experience during the Ramadan provides a more complete image of Iraqi women and their religious thinking. Most religious services Fernea attended were held in private houses with a Sayid woman being in charge of the overall rituals. Religious services are often accompanies by fasting - a period during which people have to refrain from performing a series of activities considered to be immoral and in disagreement with religious values during time of religious celebration.

Fasting lasts until the end of Ramadan and people in the community are required to put across best behaviors throughout this period. Tradition then dictates that everyone needs to celebrate the Iid el-Fitr -- a feast associated with the end of fasting. "For the three days of the Iid the sheik's mudhif would be the scene of tribal feasting." (Fernea) Fernea takes part in Ramadan celebrations from beginning till end and this helps her gain a more complex understanding of the celebration as well as of how determined people were to respect their cultural values.

The moment when Fernea becomes accepted by her peers in the Iraqi community things change significantly. One of the high points of her stay there involves her being able to go on a pilgrimage to the holy city of Karbala, a location generally respected by the Shi'a group. The pilgrimage represents the end of a religious process known as Muharram. "Each year during Muharram the pious Shiite community in Iraq and Iran and in India commemorate Imam Hussein's martyrdom, through daily krayas and through mourning processions and passion plays which dramatize each important occasion in the last days of the martyr." (Fernea) The moment when Fernea steps on a person's prayer rug is especially interesting when regarding people's attitudes toward anything they consider in disagreement with their traditions.

Being and ethnographer

The fact that Fernea was somewhat required to become an active part of the community she wanted to study helped significantly with her work. She was provided with a unique perspective on these people and their community -- most ethnographers are unable to reach such a stage, as the communities they interact with are typically hesitant about allowing them in. As a consequence, her ability to adapt and to influence other women to accept her as one of them proves that one needs to do everything in his or her power in order to achieve best results in his or her work.