Kuchuk Hanem (
fl. 1850–1870) was a famed beauty and
Ghawazee
Ghawazi (also ''ghawazee'') ( arz, الغوازي) are female dancers who dance in return for money; the male equivalent is khawal. While the performative and traditional ''raqs sharqi'' in urban Egypt was more classical and influenced by more ...
dancer of
Esna
Esna ( ar, إسنا , egy, jwny.t or ; cop, or ''Snē'' from ''tꜣ-snt''; grc-koi, Λατόπολις ''Latópolis'' or (''Pólis Látōn'') or (''Lattōn''); Latin: ''Lato''), is a city of Egypt. It is located on the west bank of ...
,
mentioned in two unrelated accounts of travel to
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
, the
French novelist
Gustave Flaubert
Gustave Flaubert ( , , ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. Highly influential, he has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flauber ...
and the
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
adventurer
George William Curtis
George William Curtis (February 24, 1824 – August 31, 1892) was an American writer and public speaker born in Providence, Rhode Island. An early Republican, he spoke in favor of African-American equality and civil rights both before and after ...
.
Kuchuk Hanem became a key figure and symbol in Flaubert's
Orientalist accounts of the East. Flaubert visited her during his sojourn in Egypt on his journey to the East in 1849-51 accompanied by
Maxime Du Camp
Maxime Du Camp (8 February 1822 – 9 February 1894) was a French writer and photographer.
Biography
Born in Paris, Du Camp was the son of a successful surgeon. After finishing college, he indulged in his strong desire for travel, thanks to ...
.
The orientalist themes that pervade his work depended heavily on his experiences in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
and his likely sexual liaison with Kuchuk Hanem.
Dancers in two of his novellas, ''
Herodias
Herodias ( el, Ἡρῳδιάς, ''Hērǭdiás''; ''c.'' 15 BC – after AD 39) was a princess of the Herodian dynasty of Judaea during the time of the Roman Empire. Christian writings connect her with John the Baptist's execution.
Family relat ...
'' and
Temptation of Saint Anthony, evoke a woman dancer who performs scenes from
Salome and the
Queen of Sheba
The Queen of Sheba ( he, מַלְכַּת שְׁבָא, Malkaṯ Šəḇāʾ; ar, ملكة سبأ, Malikat Sabaʾ; gez, ንግሥተ ሳባ, Nəgśətä Saba) is a figure first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. In the original story, she bring ...
. Both of these dances were standards of the repertoire of dancers of this period, especially a dance step known as
"the bee" or "the wasp," with the dancer standing musing in a pensive posture until a buzzing insect flies into her clothing and she "flees" in terror, dancing rapidly, and removing articles of clothing in the manner of a provocative
strip-tease.
Later, Kuchuk Hanem was the subject of an 1851 poem by
Louis Bouilhet
Louis Hyacinthe Bouilhet (27 May 1821 – 18 July 1869) was a French poet and dramatist.
Bouilhet was born at Cany, Seine Inférieure. He was a schoolfellow of Gustave Flaubert, to whom he dedicated his first work, ''Miloenis'' (1851), a nar ...
, ''"Kuchuk-Hanem, Souveneer"'' which was inspired by Flaubert's accounts from letters.
Louise Colet
Louise Colet (15 August 1810 – 9 March 1876), born Louise Revoil de Servannes, was a French poet and writer.
Life and works
She was born at the hôtel d'Antoine ( fr) in Aix-en-Provence in France. In her twenties she married Hippolyt ...
, a mistress of Flaubert, is said to have sought out the aging dancer on a trip to Egypt at the time of the opening of the
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...
, in order to report back to Flaubert the ravages that time had wrought on the woman he so admired.
It seems certain that she was also an influence on
George William Curtis
George William Curtis (February 24, 1824 – August 31, 1892) was an American writer and public speaker born in Providence, Rhode Island. An early Republican, he spoke in favor of African-American equality and civil rights both before and after ...
, suggesting that she was one of the most sought-after entertainers in
Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt ( ar, صعيد مصر ', shortened to , , locally: ; ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the lands on both sides of the Nile that extend upriver from Lower Egypt in the north to Nubia in the south.
In ancient ...
during the
colonial period. Comparisons of the two narratives demonstrate a house with a courtyard, a stairway in poor repair leading to an upper room furnished with two divans, a young female attendant named Zeneb, an old man playing a
rebaba
The ''rebab'' ( ar, wikt:ربابة, ربابة, ''rabāba'', variously spelled ''rebap'', ''rubob'', ''rebeb'', ''rababa'', ''rabeba'', ''robab'', ''rubab'', ''rebob'', etc) is the name of several related string instruments that independen ...
, and an old woman who kept time on the
tar
Tar is a dark brown or black viscous liquid of hydrocarbons and free carbon, obtained from a wide variety of organic materials through destructive distillation. Tar can be produced from coal, wood, petroleum, or peat. "a dark brown or black bit ...
.
"Kuchuk Hanem" is not a proper name and actually means "little lady" in
Turkish (küçük hanım). It might be a term of endearment applied to a child, a lover, or a famous dancer.
Flaubert reports that she was from
Damascus
)), is an adjective which means "spacious".
, motto =
, image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg
, image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg
, seal_type = Seal
, map_caption =
, ...
and belongend to the
Doms in Syria
The Domari-speaking (or rather, historically speaking) community in Syria, commonly identified as Dom and Nawar (and simply "gypsies" in English), is estimated to number 100–250,000 or 250–300,000 people. The vast majority is sedentary. The ...
,
but it remains unclear if this was a name chosen by the woman to represent herself to the
colonial
Colonial or The Colonial may refer to:
* Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology)
Architecture
* American colonial architecture
* French Colonial
* Spanish Colonial architecture
Automobiles
* Colonial (1920 au ...
tourists or if this is a casual shorthand name used by the two writers to describe her. The sensationalized and eroticized presence of Kuchuk Hanem within the literature of this period underscores early misrepresentations of non-western women in the imagination of the West.
[Said, Edward W., 1979, Orientalism, New York, Vintage, pp. 186-190.]
See also
*
Dance of the bee
The Dance of the bee or Dance of the wasp was a provocative Egyptian dance, part of the repertoire of the dancing girls of the Ghawazee. It was perhaps not unlike the famous Dance of the seven veils. In the dance of the bee, the dancer portray ...
*
Dance of the seven veils
References
External links
From Egypt to Chicago''The dancer of Esna'', by William H. Peck
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuchuk Hanem
Egyptian female erotic dancers
Year of birth missing
Year of death missing
Egyptian female dancers
Turkish words and phrases
19th-century dancers
19th-century Egyptian women