Dans cette thèse de doctorat, “Mapping the Captive Body in Three Twenty- First Century Diasporic Women’s Writings,” j’analyse le fonctionnement du pouvoir de l’État en relation avec le corps, comme le montrent les mémoires de Edwidge Danticat, Azar Nafisi and Marina Nemat. En m’appuyant sur leurs écrits, j’explore les différentes manières dont la violence, la dictature, et le patriarcat, parrainés par l’État, modifient les constructions du corps, de l’esprit, de la voix et de la subjectivité. En examinant ces formes institutionnalisées de violence et de coercition, je montre comment le confinement physique engendre la captivité de l’esprit et la dé(con)struction de soi. Ainsi, je conceptualise la captivité comme étant physique, psychologique mais aussi sociale. En outre, je soutiens que la lutte pour résister à cet effacement identitaire afin de récupérer la subjectivité et la corporealité prend la forme d’une action individuelle et/ou collective. Le premier chapitre contextualise les oeuvres étudiées pendant le règne de deux Duvaliers, de Khomeini, en plus de la politique d’immigration des Etats-Unis après le 11 septembre. En outre, ce chapitre fournit le cadre théorique. Le deuxième chapitre est consacré à l’analyse l’emprisonnement et la privation des droits fondamentaux de Joseph Dantica, soulevant ainsi des questions sur le biopouvoir qui définit le Centre de Détention de Krome. Je montre comment Edwidge Danticat a récupéré l’identité de son oncle à titre posthume. Le troisième chapitre étudie la captivité des femmes engendrée par la surveillance et l’imposition d’un code vestimentaire. J’analyse aussi comment Nafisi et ses étudiantes prennent refuge dans la littérature afin de résister. Dans le dernier chapitre, je regarde comment la prison régularise le genre et l’identité de Nemat. Je soutiens que le viol conjugual, étant une violence politique liée au genre, devient un moyen par lequel la soumission et la domination de Nemat deviennent possibles. Enfin, la dernière partie étudie l’importance de l’amitié carcérale et de l’acte de l’écriture dans la résistance à et la défiance de l’effacement. / In my doctorat project, entitled “Mapping the Captive Body in Three Diasporic Women’s Writings,” I analyze the workings of state power in relation to the body, as illustrated in the works of Edwidge Danticat, Azar Nafisi and Marina Nemat. I explore the different ways state-sponsored violence, dictatorship and patriarchy alter the very constructions of body, mind, voice, and subjectivity. By considering these institutionalized forms of violence and coercion, I demonstrate how physical confinement engenders the captivity of the mind and the de(cons)truction of the self. In so doing, I conceptualize captivity as physical, psychological and social. In addition, I contend that the struggle to resist this erasure and reclaim subjectivity and corporeality takes the forms of individual, communal, and/ or collective action. The first chapter contextualizes and historicizes the studied works with the era the Duvalier, Khomeini’s dictatorship, in addition to the post 9/11 US immigration policies. It also provides the theoretical framework that frames this dissertation. The second chapter focuses on Joseph Dantica’s imprisonment and disfranchisement and raises questions about the biopwer that defines Krome Detention Center. I demonstrate the way Edwidge Danticat posthumously recover her uncle’s identity. The third chapter studies female captivity in terms of forced veiling and constant surveillance. I analyze how Nafisi and her students take refuge in and resist through the power of literature. In the fourth chapter, I look at how prison regulates Nemat’s gender and identity. I argue that marital rape, as a gendered political violence, becomes a means through which Nemat’s subjection and domination is possible. The second part of the chapter explores the importance of carceral friendship and the act of writing in defying and resisting erasure.

Le Canada et le Québec, à l’image de la communauté internationale, ont à cœur le respect, la protection et la promotion des droits des femmes. Toutefois, les normes en matière d’apparence physique et de beauté qui pèsent uniquement sur les femmes, particulièrement sur les femmes et les filles noires, menacent le projet d’égalité réelle. Ces normes sont ce qu’on appelle les codes sexuels. Les codes sexuels cherchent à universaliser, naturaliser et normaliser un modèle unique de féminité, qui respecte un équilibre précaire entre beauté et professionnalisme, entre chasteté et attractivité. Dans ce mémoire de recherche, nous nous intéresserons au rapport entre le droit et la norme, qu’elle soit juridique, sociale ou culturelle, afin de comprendre l’effet préjudiciable des codes sexuels sur les femmes, et de comprendre comment et pourquoi le droit permet, renforce ou lutte contre les codes sexuels. Notre cadre théorique intersectionnel étudiera le principe de discrimination en droit international, canadien et québécois et présentera différentes théories de la norme, à l’intérieur et en dehors d’un contexte purement juridique. Cela permettra d’analyser de façon intersectionnelle la violence normative des deux codes sexuels à l’étude, soit les codes vestimentaires à l’école et les codes sur l’apparence au travail, puis de présenter des solutions sur mesure pour remédier à l’effet de ces codes sur les femmes et les filles. / Canada and Quebec, along with the international community, consider the respect, protection and promotion of women's rights of utmost importance. However, beauty norms and physical appearance standards that only burden women, especially black women and girls, threaten the project of substantive equality. These norms are called sexual codes. Sexual codes seek to universalize, naturalize and normalize a unique model of femininity, which observes a precarious balance between beauty and professionalism, between chastity and attractiveness. In this research paper, we will focus on the relationship between the law and the norm, whether legal, social or cultural, in order to understand the harmful effect of sexual codes on women, and to understand how and why the law allows, reinforces or fights against sexual codes. Our intersectional theoretical framework will study the principle of discrimination in international, Canadian and Quebec law and will present different theories of the norm, inside and outside a strictly legal context. This will allow us to analyze, using intersectionality, the normative violence of the two sexual codes under study, namely dress codes in schools and codes on appearance at work, and then present tailor-made solutions to remedy the effect of these codes on women and girls.

The issue of a Muslim woman‟s dress code has been debated for centuries. This is of great importance as it is widely used as a criterion to measure the extent of a woman‟s piety or devotion to Allah. A study of the religious texts on the issue is essential. Therefore, Qur‟anic text, Prophetic Traditions and Qur‟anic exegesis of both classical and modern scholars would have been used in determining the correct dress code for Muslim women. While all research indicates that women dress conservatively, in order not to attract the attention of the opposite sex. The extent to which a woman must be covered has not been agreed upon. Even if what has to be covered is established by scholars, the manner in which this is to be done and the type of colours and fabric to be used needs further clarification. The issue of the female dress code needs to be presented from a female perspective. / Religious Studies and Arabic / M.A. (Islamic Studies)

The issue of a Muslim woman‟s dress code has been debated for centuries. This is of great importance as it is widely used as a criterion to measure the extent of a woman‟s piety or devotion to Allah. A study of the religious texts on the issue is essential. Therefore, Qur‟anic text, Prophetic Traditions and Qur‟anic exegesis of both classical and modern scholars would have been used in determining the correct dress code for Muslim women. While all research indicates that women dress conservatively, in order not to attract the attention of the opposite sex. The extent to which a woman must be covered has not been agreed upon. Even if what has to be covered is established by scholars, the manner in which this is to be done and the type of colours and fabric to be used needs further clarification. The issue of the female dress code needs to be presented from a female perspective. / Religious Studies and Arabic / M.A. (Islamic Studies)