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Journal of Arabic Sciences and Humanities

Corresponding Author

Mona Almaeen

Authors ORCID

Mona Almaeen: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9408-4169

Article Type

Article

Keywords English

Motherhood, Absent Mothers, Jokha Alharthi, Celestial bodies, Oman

Abstract English

This study examines Jokha Alharthi's use of the trope of absent mothers, both physical and emotional, in her widely acclaimed novel Celestial Bodies (2011, translated 2019). This research argues that maternal absence serves two purposes: It facilitates omniscient access to the private sphere of family life, which is typically restricted by traditional ideals of privacy, and it centralizes maternal presence within historical narrative. Adopting both textual and contextual approaches, the current investigation reveals that Alharthi's depiction of absent motherhood presents a nuanced understanding of various formative factors of the mother–child dyad. This depiction resists homogeneous feminist views of motherhood as a patriarchal mechanism of control that operates to marginalize women. The current investigation contributes to growing interest in Alharthi's Celestial Bodies by employing a comprehensive theoretical framework that bridges the divide between Western and Arab scholarship on motherhood revealing a conceptual overlap between Alharthi's discourse and these scholarships.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.71422/1658-9602.1156

Accept Date

16 April 2026

Publication Date

10-24-2026

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