The caged bird sings for freedom How do the cultural performances of formerly detained Syrian women in the diaspora shift the victimhood paradigm from ‘pathetic’ to ‘heroic’ after their release from al-Assad’s prisons during the Syrian revolution from 2011 to 2017?

Abstract

This thesis is written in response to the stereotypical images of female detainees as weak and powerless. I will explore the burdened agency - the agency despite the constraints and restrictions they experienced in detention and from society, to subsequently analyse the shift in perceived victimhood from pathetic to heroic. I will do this through using symbolic inversion, meaning I will analyse how former Syrian female detainees acted in a way that defies social norms and expectations.