13091. VIEWING MIDDLE EASTERN CULTURE THROUGH WOMEN'S STORIES. This report presents an analysis and critique of two ethnographies of contemporary Middle Eastern culture, Erika Friedl's (1989) Women of Deh Koh: Lives in an Iranian Village and Lila Abu-Lughod's Writing Women's Worlds: Bedouin Stories. Comparing and contrasting the approach taken by each author, the analysis identifies the authors' research problem, theoretical frameworks and methodology; summarizes the ethnographic content of the book and the authors' conclusions; and briefly critiques each book in terms of its contribution to an understanding of Middle Eastern culture and society and its status as an anthropological, versus political science approach to understanding the people of the Middle East. 11 pages, 18 footnotes, 2 bibliographic sources.