Abu banat: The Mizrahi Father of Daughter/s
Abstract
This article focuses on the character of the father in Mizrahi literature who has only daughters, including fiction from Yitzhak Shami (1888‑1949) to Shani Boianjiu (b. 1987). The relationship between the father and his daughter/s challenges the conventional image of the patriarchal Mizrahi father and reveals its failure, albeit in different – and gendered – ways. In the male-authored works discussed, the daughter is a cipher. Those written by women not only question the traditional paternal trope but even propose alternative masculinities, alternatives that are only possible when the father cedes some of his authority.
Submitted: April 1, 2025 | Accepted: July 15, 2025 | Published Dec. 15, 2025 | Language: en
Keywords Father • Masculinity • Daughter • Fatherhood • Mizrahi
Copyright © 2025 Nancy Berg. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/979-12-5742-004-8/001