The Invisible Middle East

◎ Introduction: The Middle East has an ancient and brilliant history and civilization, but it is also a mysterious land that is often blocked by war and disputes.
Amidst the turbulent course of history, and amidst the pressures of politics, culture, and custom, how do individuals maintain their daily lives in the cracks? How are their lives shaped by the times? How do they view the momentous events that rewrite history and destiny?
In a country characterized by extreme gender inequality, what kind of life do women lead? To what extent are their lives dictated by their gender? How do they view their current living conditions?
Filled with curiosity and doubt, author Yao Lu spent four years (2016-2020) overcoming numerous obstacles and traveling alone to nearly every country in the Middle East—Iran, Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Syria, and Saudi Arabia. Leveraging her unique identity as a woman and the unique travel method of "couchsurfing," she immersed herself in the daily lives of 31 unfamiliar Middle Eastern families, particularly experiencing close interactions and exchanges with many local women.
After four years of solid travel and in-depth observation, the author uses this book "The Invisible Middle East" to reveal to us a more vivid and rich Middle Eastern world that has long been obscured by the smoke and veils under the news, as well as the fate of individuals, the daily lives of ordinary people and the living conditions of women in this turbulent and mysterious world.
The author Yao Lu is also a photographer. The book is accompanied by more than 70 high-quality documentary and landscape photographs, which complement and enhance the text.
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◎ Editor's Recommendation★ A more authentic and rich Middle East from the perspective of everyday life. Unlike the headlines focusing on Middle Eastern politics, wars, refugees, and other hot topics, the author of this book focuses on the daily lives of ordinary Middle Easterners, long obscured by the smoke of war and the veils of war. Therefore, she lives in various Middle Eastern homes and deeply participates in their daily lives—attending family gatherings and weddings, celebrating Eid in Iraq, watching football games in Syria, camping in the deserts of Saudi Arabia, and so on. This book presents a more internal, and therefore more vivid and rich, Middle Eastern world.
A female perspective on the Middle East and Middle Eastern women. Tourists visiting high-risk areas in the Middle East are almost always male. However, due to Middle Eastern religion, culture, and customs, men find it difficult to establish close relationships with local families, interact with local women, and conduct in-depth interviews. The author, a remarkably relatable woman, couchsurfs with Middle Eastern families, offering a rare and valuable look at the Middle East and its women from a female perspective. She focuses on issues such as women's right to education, work, and domestic violence, lifting a veil of mystery while revealing lives and hearts that are both different and somewhat similar to our own.
★ "Difficult Travel" and In-Depth Analysis and Reflection. In recent years, very few tourists have traveled extensively throughout the Middle East, particularly to countries like Syria and Iraq. Over the past four years, constrained by war, challenging relations with neighboring countries, and visa exclusivity, the author was forced to frequently adjust her plans. This book chronicles the unexpected challenges encountered during the author's travels, and through authentic and vivid stories, offers in-depth analysis and reflection on Middle Eastern history, war, women, and other issues.
★ High-quality landscape and documentary photography. The author is also a well-known landscape and humanistic photographer. The book is accompanied by more than 70 high-quality documentary and landscape photographs, which complement and complement the text.
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◎ Comment: After Yao Lu entered the Middle East, "Middle East" was no longer a grand and vague concept.
She sees each individual, each a vibrant and vibrant life. Because of similar experiences, reading her writing often makes me laugh, and I completely understand what she's saying, yet she sometimes approaches it more closely than I do. Our motivations for engaging in the Middle East differ; hers stems from an exploration of gender issues. Yet, our paths diverge, leading to the same end: a woman discovers herself through her journey through the world.
—Zhou Yijun [Senior international journalist, author of Out of the Middle East and The Middle East: Doors of Life and Death]
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This is a very touching book to read, and for me personally, it is something I have been waiting for for a long time - finally a Chinese person can write such a work!
A Chinese woman, couchsurfing, enters ordinary homes across several Middle Eastern countries. She doesn't just travel; she lives and experiences. With a delicate yet expansive writing style, and particularly through the perspectives of diverse Middle Eastern women she deeply understands, she vividly presents history and reality, politics and family, struggles and hopes, life and dreams. This is a level of knowledge and experience that cannot be gained through ordinary reading. I've read many similar works by Western female writers and anthropologists, and while they were also excellent reading experiences, I always felt something was missing. Yao Lu's book, The Invisible Middle East, addresses that shortcoming. She writes from a Chinese perspective, using a refined style. This kind of observation and documentation is truly friendly to Chinese readers.
— Zan Tao, Director of the Center for Turkish Studies at Peking University and Middle East Studies scholar

2024-11-01

民主与建设出版社

Casting Culture, Single Reading

456

9787513946933