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Patriarchal Structures in Nawal El Saadawi’s God Dies by the Nile
Subject area: Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities · Area of research: Gender
Abstract
This study investigates the representation of patriarchal structures in Nawal El Saadawi’s God Dies by the Nile, focusing on how political authority, religious manipulation, gendered violence, and socio-economic inequality collectively sustain the oppression of women. Set in the rural Egyptian community of Kafr El-Teen, the novel depicts patriarchy as an institutionalised system reinforced by political power, cultural expectations, economic deprivation, and the manipulation of religious beliefs, rather than as mere individual male domination. Employing womanism as its primary theoretical framework, the study analyses the experiences of Zakeya and other female characters to reveal the interconnectedness of gender and class oppression. The analysis demonstrates that El Saadawi illustrates how powerful male figures exploit social institutions to legitimise their authority, silence women, and suppress challenges to established structures of domination. Simultaneously, the novel portrays women as individuals capable of awareness, resistance, solidarity, and confrontation, rather than as passive victims. The findings indicate that God Dies by the Nile presents women’s liberation as inseparable from broader social transformation. The study concludes that El Saadawi’s critique of patriarchy extends beyond gender relations to interrogate political corruption, economic exploitation, institutional injustice, and the ideological structures that perpetuate inequality. Through this representation, the novel advocates for a society based on justice, equality, human dignity, and the recognition of women as autonomous participants in social life.
Keywords
Patriarchy, Womanism, Gender Oppression, Religious Manipulation, Political Power, Gendered Violence, Social Inequality, Nawal El Saadawi.
References
[1] Amadiume, Ifi. Male Daughters, Female Husbands. London: Zed Books, 1987. Zed Books
[2] Balaa, Luma. “Misuse of Islam in El-Saadawi’s God Dies by the Nile from a Socialist Feminist Perspective.” Hawwa 11.2–3 (2014): 187–211. Web. 9 Sept. 2026. Brill
[3] El Saadawi, Nawal. God Dies by the Nile. Translated by Sherif Hetata, Zed Books, 1985. Google Books
[4] Eze, Chielozona. Postcolonial Imagination and Moral Representations in African Literature and Culture. Lanham, MD, 2011.
[5] Issaka, Charity Azumi, Confidence Gbolo Sanka, and Elvis Resque. “Interrogating the Discourse of Power and Its Resistance in Nawal El Saadawi’s God Dies by the Nile.” International Journal of Humanity Studies 6.2 (2023): 194–212. Web. 9 Sept. 2026. International Journal of Humanity Studies
[6] Lerner, Gerda. The Creation of Patriarchy. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986.
[7] Millett, Kate. Sexual Politics. 1970. Columbia University Press, 2016.
[8] Oyewumi, Oyeronke. The Invention of Women: Making an African Sense of Western Gender Discourses. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1997. University of Minnesota Press
[9] Royer, Diana. A Critical Study of the Works of Nawal El Saadawi, Egyptian Writer and Activist. New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 2001. Google Books
[10] Shihada, Isam M. “The Patriarchal Class System in Nawal El Saadawi’s God Dies by the Nile.” Nebula 4.2 (2007): 162–82. Web. 9 Sept. 2026. SSRN
[11] Wosu, Okachukwu Onuah. “A Feminist Perspective of Nawal El Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero and God Dies by the Nile.” Chapter summary and publication listing, ResearchGate, listed as Apr. 2024. ResearchGate
[12] Wosu, Okachukwu Onuah. “Hegemony and Female Objectification: An Ideological Positioning of the Woman in Achebe’s Anthills of the Savannah.” Iconic Research and Engineering Journals, vol. 8, no. 8, Feb. 2025, pp. 929–37. IRE Journals
How to cite this paper
@article{1723588,
author = {Uka, Nkemdirim Carol, Prof. Gloria Eme Worugji},
title = {Patriarchal Structures in Nawal El Saadawi’s God Dies by the Nile},
journal = {Iconic Research And Engineering Journals},
year = {2026},
volume = {10},
number = {4},
pages = {138-146},
issn = {2456-8880},
url = {https://www.irejournals.com/formatedpaper/1723588.pdf},
abstract = {This study investigates the representation of patriarchal structures in Nawal El Saadawi’s God Dies by the Nile, focusing on how political authority, religious manipulation, gendered violence, and socio-economic inequality collectively sustain the oppression of women. Set in the rural Egyptian community of Kafr El-Teen, the novel depicts patriarchy as an institutionalised system reinforced by political power, cultural expectations, economic deprivation, and the manipulation of religious beliefs, rather than as mere individual male domination. Employing womanism as its primary theoretical framework, the study analyses the experiences of Zakeya and other female characters to reveal the interconnectedness of gender and class oppression. The analysis demonstrates that El Saadawi illustrates how powerful male figures exploit social institutions to legitimise their authority, silence women, and suppress challenges to established structures of domination. Simultaneously, the novel portrays women as individuals capable of awareness, resistance, solidarity, and confrontation, rather than as passive victims. The findings indicate that God Dies by the Nile presents women’s liberation as inseparable from broader social transformation. The study concludes that El Saadawi’s critique of patriarchy extends beyond gender relations to interrogate political corruption, economic exploitation, institutional injustice, and the ideological structures that perpetuate inequality. Through this representation, the novel advocates for a society based on justice, equality, human dignity, and the recognition of women as autonomous participants in social life.},
keywords = {Patriarchy, Womanism, Gender Oppression, Religious Manipulation, Political Power, Gendered Violence, Social Inequality, Nawal El Saadawi.},
month = {October},
}