The Woman as the “Other” in Yamina Bachir’s “Rachida” and Aziz Salmy “Amours Voileés”

Abstract

This article focuses on the representation of woman as the “Other” in Algerian and Moroccan Films. Such representations reveal how questions pertaining to the status of woman in a much patriarchal society became at the hub of cinematic forms of expression. Through their female protagonists, Yamina Bachir’s “Rachida” (2002) and Aziz Salmy “Amours Voileés” (2008) represent the traumatic experience of women with alienation and dependency, institutionalized violence and the “containment” of their sexuality. As counter-cinematic representations, these films try to depict the very sense of victimhood of the female protagonists as they defy accepted ideas and stereotypes about gender and offer a voice to the voiceless. To this point, the paper further focuses on how these women manage to transgress the threshold and offer a much newer interpretation of women and their role in society.