The Wilderness

A deeply felt chronicle into the wilderness of the first forty days of new motherhood.In the final weeks of her pregnancy, Ayşeg?l Savaş becomes fascinated by the mythology around the first forty days after giving birth, and the invisible beings that are said to surround the mother. "In Turkish, we speak of extracting the forty days, like a sort of exorcism. My grandmothers assure me that it will all get better after forty days are out." A friend lends a book that suggests forty days of rest and fortifying broths and avoiding wind and cold. In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, forty days are seen as a period of trial and transformation. They are often journeys into the wilderness and "its vast and unruly territories." When the baby arrives, Savaş charts her own path into the wilderness of new motherhood--a space of contradiction, of chaos and care, mothering and being mothered. "What is the trial of the postpartum crossing?" writes Savaş. "Where will mother and child emerge once they have left the wild?"

Author: Ayşeg?l Savaş
Publisher: Transit Books
Published: 10/15/2024
Pages: 104
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.30lbs
Size: 6.90h x 4.90w x 0.40d
ISBN13: 9798893389098
BISAC Categories:
- Biography & Autobiography | Memoirs
- Literary Criticism | Women Authors
- Literary Criticism | Subjects & Themes | Women