Art in Autobiographies: Hannah Shah’s the Imam’s Daughter and Waris Dirie’s Desert Dawn

Abstract

The autobiography portrays literary communicative features which show its worth as a creative work. It is on this ground that this study attempts a literary inquiry into Hannah Shah‟s The Imam’s Daughter and Waris Dirie‟s Desert Dawn to discuss artistry. This study shows how Shah‟s and Dirie‟s narratives employ various strategies to craft the stories of their challenging childhood to adulthood. The study focuses on the literary communicative practices that are thematically organised around the four elements of setting, story, plot and characterization which are critical features in the creation of a text. Shah and Dirie uses them aesthetically and creatively to convey and maintain information and coherence. The two authors maintain consistency of intention, a great will to select, control, organize and use artistic choices effectively. Their unique setting and explicit representation of varied opinions drive the understanding of social cultural backgrounds of the authors which render them worth studying. The study compares how the two autobiographical texts use literary artistic choices to effectively communicate their experiences and opinions. It is on this strength that this study attempts a literary inquiry into Dirie‟s Desert Dawn and Shah‟s The Imam’s Daughter to discuss artistry.