The image of the Andalusian woman in biographical dictionaries: An Analytical Study Through Selected Models

Abstract

This study examines the portrayal of Andalusian women in biographical dictionaries by analysing selected models from various biographical works. It aims to reveal the picture drawn by the compilers of these dictionaries of the Andalusian woman and determine her presence in scientific, cultural and social life. It also analyses the brief expressions and concise descriptions employed to present female figures. 

The study reveals that, although women are underrepresented in biographical dictionaries compared to men, they nevertheless present female role models with a clear and discernible scientific and cultural presence. Thus, the jurist-scholar , the hadith transmitter (narrator), the female writer and poet, the author and calligrapher, the charitable woman , and the ascetic  appear. Some biographical dictionaries further demonstrate women’s ability to participate in scholarly circles, travel in pursuit of knowledge and engage in teaching and narration. 

However, despite the fact that women in al-Andalus enjoyed ample freedom and were prominent across various spheres of life, the biographical dictionaries relied upon in this study did not provide detailed accounts of the lives of the women mentioned — owing to reasons that remain largely unknown to us.