Hadeel Azhar

Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia, English Dep., Faculty Member

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Dr. Hadeel Azhar is an Associate Professor of English Literature and the Vice Dean of the College of Social Sciences at Umm Al-Qura University, Saudi Arabia. She specializes in women’s poetry. Dr. Azhar was an academic visitor to the Faculty of English at the University of Oxford (Spring and Summer 2024). She has participated in more than 50 seminars and international conferences in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe and has received several awards for her presented papers. Her research and teaching interests include Victorian and Edwardian literature and culture encompassing women’s writing, the interdisciplinary aspects of law and literature, and cross-cultural and comparative studies.

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Papers by Hadeel Azhar

Challenging Social Boundaries in the Poetry of Thuraya Al Arrayed

This study highlights Thuraya Al Arrayed’s unconventional portrayal of women in selected revoluti... more This study highlights Thuraya Al Arrayed’s unconventional portrayal of women in selected revolutionary poems that address the concept of women’s rights. It explores how Al Arrayed’s representation of women challenged the restrictions imposed on Saudi women before the reign of King Salman Al Saud and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Thus, this research adds to the existing body of knowledge by offering a new approach to Al Arrayed’s poetry concerning the aspects of women’s rights in contemporary Saudi Arabia. By considering Al Arrayed’s radical choice of metaphors and images, I aim to establish Al Arrayed as a significant female poet whose poetry embraces a literary tradition that questions negative gendered attitudes biased against passionate women. In my approach to Al Arrayed’s poetry, I consult selected poems from her published and unpublished volumes, along with biographical notes based on personal interviews. Additionally, I examine sociological research on the changing role of women, which coincides with the transitional phase in contemporary Saudi Arabia. To my knowledge, the thematic focus offered in this article is absent from contemporary literature. Therefore, the significance of this research lies in its contribution to advancing the discourse on Al Arrayed by addressing aspects not previously considered.

The Subversiveness of Dis/Associating Women with the Sea, Woods, and Moors: Ecofeminism in Dollie Radford’s Poetry

Beyond the Gendered Stereotypes: The Conflict of Motherhood in Dollie Radford’s Poetry

Journal of Umm Al-Qura University for Language Sciences and Literature, Feb 1, 2021

This article sheds light on motherhood as a theme which -to my knowledge -has not been thoroughly... more This article sheds light on motherhood as a theme which -to my knowledge -has not been thoroughly explored to date in Dollie Radford's volumes of poetry published in the last decades of the nineteenth century. It positions Radford's depiction of the theme within Victorian conventions, and simultaneously in line with the radical meanings embraced by her contemporary women poets, including Christina Rossetti, Alice Meynell and Augusta Webster. In doing so, the article approaches the representation of motherhood at different levels, thereby eschewing a fixed reading of the selected poems. It offers an insight into Radford's conflict as a mother who wishes to enlighten both her children and the future generation away from the prevailing doctrines. Thus, the argument presented herein adds to the existing body of knowledge on Radford and challenges the gendered readings imposed upon her poems by Victorian reviewers.

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Scientific Journal of King Faisal University: Humanities and Management Sciences

Effectiveness of Incorporating Film Adaptations in EFL Literature Courses: A Case Study in Saudi Arabia

In line with the recent and ongoing technological changes in Saudi Arabia, which place greater em... more In line with the recent and ongoing technological changes in Saudi Arabia, which place greater emphasis on cinema and film adaptations, this study aimed to investigate the effect of incorporating films and visual media into literature courses on students’ understanding of and motivation towards literary texts. The participants were 41 fourth-level female students in the Department of English at Umm Al-Qura University, Saudi Arabia. The treatment group (n=21) read Henrik Ibsen’s play A Doll’s House (1879) and watched the adapted film, whereas the control group (n=20) was asked to only read the play and discuss it in class. The findings revealed that the treatment group performed better in terms of answering questions about play after watching the film adaptation. It is suggested that incorporating film adaptations into literature courses has a positive impact on English as a foreign language students’ understanding of assigned literary texts. This research adds a new case study to the expanding literature. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.

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EFL Female Students’ Perception of Feminist Poetry: A Case Study in the Department of English at Umm Al-Qura University

Arab World English Journal For Translation and Literary Studies

This study examines the perception of English as a Foreign Language female students in the Depart... more This study examines the perception of English as a Foreign Language female students in the Department of English at Umm Al-Qura University regarding feminist poetry. It offers an insight into their understanding of the genre and its themes and how these are relevant to women's changing roles in Saudi Arabian society. Research was conducted among forty students who studied the Poetry course (731478-2) during the first and second semesters of the academic year of 2019-2020 at the university. The study adopts a qualitative methodology with a survey as the primary tool to collect data. Students were asked to complete a questionnaire which directly addressed the research questions and were then given a chance to add their comments and personal inputs. Given that women's empowerment is a vital part of the Saudi vision of 2030, the majority of the responses show positive attitudes towards studying feminist poetry. In doing so, this study sheds light on the value of integrating feminist poetry as it raises students' awareness of women's rights in different cultures, allowing them to reflect on their own experience.

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“I Shall Stand Henceforward in thy Shadow”: Pairing Women with Shadows in Victorian Poetry

Humanities and Management Sciences - Scientific Journal of King Faisal University

This study traces the symbol of shadow and its association with women's inferior position in sele... more This study traces the symbol of shadow and its association with women's inferior position in selected Victorian poems. It shows how, in their use of the symbol, both male and female poets represent women as abandoned in the shadow of their male contemporaries. Before addressing the poems selected, the study commences with reviewing recent scholarship which refers to the term shadow in connotation with negative attributes during the Victorian period. It also provides an overview of Victorian novels which similarly represent female characters as being held captive in the shadows. Although the poems included in this study belong to the same historical period, they have not been linked before, to the best of knowledge, by contemporary scholars. Furthermore, the symbol of shadow, with its association with gloominess, darkness, grief, and isolation, has not been thoroughly explored to date. Thus, the argument presented herein is a comprehensive addition to the existing literature. It offers new insights into a symbol which a number of major Victorian poets drew upon to demonstrate women's seclusion, including

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‘And in Love's Country You May Fare / The Loneliest of All’: Depictions of Love and Marriage in Dollie Radford's Diary and Poetry

Proceedings of the Eighth Saudi Students Conference in the UK, 2015

"Beyond the Gendered Stereotypes: The Conflict of Motherhood in Dollie Radford's Poetry"

This article sheds light on motherhood as a theme which – to my knowledge – has not be... more This article sheds light on motherhood as a theme which – to my knowledge – has not been thoroughly explored to date in Dollie Radford’s volumes of poetry published in the last decades of the nineteenth century. It positions Radford’s depiction of the theme within Victorian conventions, and simultaneously in line with the radical meanings embraced by her contemporary women poets, including Christina Rossetti, Alice Meynell and Augusta Webster. In doing so, the article approaches the representation of motherhood at different levels, thereby eschewing a fixed reading of the selected poems. It offers an insight into Radford’s conflict as a mother who wishes to enlighten both her children and the future generation away from the prevailing doctrines. Thus, the argument presented herein adds to the existing body of knowledge on Radford and challenges the gendered readings imposed upon her poems by Victorian reviewers.