The Intersection of Gender, Disability and Social Status in Nadia Hashimi's The Pearl that Broke its Shell

Abstract:Relying on the concept of "intersectionality," this research explores the intersection of gender, disability, and social status in Hashimi's novel set in Afghanistan of both the turn of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, two periods known for intermittent foreign interference in Afghanistan. Hashimi gives voice to ordinarily voiceless Afghan women, some of whom are disabled, others from a poor background or both. Intersectionality operates on multiple intertwining levels: gender, class, disability, and race.