MØNA1000
Introduksjonsemne til studiet av Midtøsten
Forelesning 11: Kulturelle uttrykk
Litteratur og arabisk tenkning
STEPHAN GUTH (IKOS)
vår 2010
26. april
Overview
Halim Barakat, chs. 9-11
Part III: The Dynamics of Arab Culture
9.
National Character and Value Orientations
10. Creative Expression: Society and Literary Orientations
11. Arab Thought: Problems of Renewal, Modernity, and
Transformation
Many functions of literature => many possible approaches




2>
exploration into human behaviour < science, philosophy
social product/manifestation < changing social reality
subliminal & cathartic expression < common experiences, selfconsciousness, self-fulfillment
system of communication influences < literature’s impact on reality
‣‣‣
Overview
Approaches to the study of literature (cont.)
 writers’ vision of social reality: harmony, conflict,
alienation, class, ...
 justice, equality, freedom, love, ...
[cf. <=> value orientations]
 artistic styles [cf. <=> value orientations]
 writers’ attitude vis-à-vis the actual condition
a) reconciliation
b) exposure: compliance / non-confrontation / individual rebellion
c) revolutionary change
[cf. <=> value orientations]
3>
Overview
Approaches to the study of literature (cont.)
All in all:
 H. Barakat = anthropological / sociological / cultural approach
 Basic questions: How...

do Arabs (as human beings)...

do Arab societies...

does Arab culture...
react (in general) to challenges? Which patterns („categories of
behaviour“) are to be observed [and what can we learn from
this about „Arab ways“ to deal with „the world“]?
 [close to essentialist position, but:] diversity! complexity! etc.
 my approach = historical
4>
‣‣‣
Outline
for this lecture
9.
National Character and Value Orientations
‣ Part I: Prolegomena to a historical survey
Part II: Historical survey (1850 => today)
↕↕↕↕↕↕
10. Creative Expression: Society and Literary Orientations
11. Arab Thought: Problems of Renewal, Modernity, and
Transformation
5>
Part I
Prolegomena to a historical survey
National Character... Value Orientations...
=???
 smells a bit like
 ”How are they, these Arabs / Orientals / Muslims – in general,
I mean...”
 ”An Arab is...”, ”the Turks have...”, ”it is a custom in Iran that...”
 H. Barakat (+ SG):
these are (Orientalist, but also Middle
Eastern nationalist)
generalisations, essentialisations !
6>
Generalisations, essentialisations
about the Middle East / the „Orient“...
 ... have their origin in Orientalism which...
 ... is a colonial(ist) discourse, justifies „civilisatory mission“
 cf. Edward Said, Orientalism
7>
The West, Europe
The Orient
innovation
repetition
of century-old customs
progress
stagnation
modernity, modernism
traditionalism
Diversity of value orientations
according to Halim Barakat
dominant culture
fatalism
shame
conformity
past-oriented
heart / faith / spirit
form
collectivity
closed-mindedness
obedience
charity
vertical values
8>
subcultures
-------
-------
may insist on their
distinctiveness but in
the last analysis they
can hardly be neutral
and will have to
emphasize one set of
values or the other
-------
-------
counterculture(s)
free will
guilt
creativity
future-oriented
mind / reason / matter
content
individuality
open-mindedness
rebellion
justice
horizontal values
Orientations in Arabic Literature
according to Halim Barakat
Formative Period ||
nation-building
|
post-WW II
transition [..........???.........]
< ===
< ===
=== >
 Reconciliation
=== >
 Exposure
< ===
 Revolutionary Change
< ===
Formative Period ||
9>
=== >
=== >
nation-building
|
post-WW II
transition [..........???.........]
H. Barakat
History of the Arab World
Main periods (according to Barakat)
1850-1914
Formative Period
19th c. reforms (EG: Moh. Ali, OE: tanzimat)
WW I => end of great Empires => nation states
1918-1945
Struggle for National Independence
1945-1992
Independence and Postindependence
Interwar period – WW II
Researching the Roots of Disaster
cf. H. Barakat, The Arab World (1993), III, ch. 11
10 >
History of the Arab World
Main periods (according to Guth)
 Beginning doubts (late 1950s / early 1960s)
 Post-1967 (shock of June War)
• Indep. & after
 Independence (early 1950s)
Struggle
 Disillusionment (± 1930)
Halim Barakat
 Nationalism (early 20th c.)
Formative •
 Reform period (19th c.)
 Postmodern (1980s ff.)
►►► (cont.)
11 >
1850-1914 Formative Period
19th c. reforms
cf. forelesning 4 (BOU)
Det Osmanske Rik: tanẓīmāt
(„reformer“)
EG: Muh. Ali (1805-48) & dynasty
•
•
•
•
•
•
Militærvesen
Administrasjon
Utdanning
Landbruk
Industri
Handel
•
•
•
•
•
•
Hærordning
Administrasjon
Utdanning
Skatt
Rettsvesen
...
Mahmut II 1808-1839
12 >
Reforms in the late Ottoman Empire
Institutions of higher education
1773
Naval Engineers School (‘Polytechnic’, mühendisḫāne)
1793
Artillery College
1796
Army mühendisḫāne
1827
Medical Highschool (Ṭıbbīye)
1834
Military Highschool (Ḥarbīye)
1839
School of Law (Mekteb-i Maʿārif-i ʿAdlīye)
1848
1878
Dārülmuʿallimīn: teachers’ training college (higher education)
Dārülmaʿārif: ‘House of Know-how’ (technical branches)
École Ottomane (Paris)
Mülkīye: -> state employees for civil administration
Galatasaray: elite school (still in place today)
School of Finances
1879
Academy of the Arts
1892
School of Economics
1900
Dārülfünūn: ‘university’ (combines several ‘schools/colleges’)
1850
1855
1859
1868
13 >
1850-1914 Formative Period
Reformenes følger
cf. forelesning 4 (BOU)
• Sentralisering, modernisering og de facto sekularisering
(begynnende)
• Skapte en intervensjonsstat
men under påtvungne frihandelsbetingelser
 Skapte to nye samfunnsklasser som kom til å prege 1900-tallet:
 privat jordeierklasse (knyttet til råvareøkonomien) (EG)
 ny sekulær utdanningselite: the „engineers“ (vs.
ʿulamāʾ/ulema )
while new system is introduced, most of the old institutions remain in place







dualistic system of parallel paths of education, religious vs.
secular institutions, two elites (old and new)
14 >
Saʿd Zaghlūl (+1860-1927)
leader of Egyptian nationalist movement
„Wog“ (Westernized Oriental
Gentleman)
15 >
(„efendi“)
Reforms in the late Ottoman Empire
Aspects and consequences
The „engineers“
• steadily gaining self-esteem and claim to power
• competition with traditional (religious) elite over influence in
society and politics => anti-religious standpoints
cf. „value orientations“
16 >
19th c. Middle East
Emergence of a new educated elite
Institutions of traditional learning
al-Azhar „university“
medrese
Reforms in the late Ottoman Empire
Aspects and consequences
The „engineers“ (cont.)
• steadily gaining self-esteem and claim to power
• competition with traditional (religious) elite over influence in society and
politics => anti-religious standpoints
cf. „value orientations“
• pro (Western-inspired) reforms, but not too radical => negotiation
• vehicles of positioning themselves:
– ideology: ideas of the French Revolution and... – nationalism!
– new values: social & political reform! (democracy, human rights, women, ...!)
– new facilities: the press (cf. Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: role of
„print capitalism“ in the spread of nationalism)
– genres (new aesthetics): literature (esp. prose)
18 >
1800-tallet – en reformperiode
Litterære tendenser
 “modern” literature (novel, short story, drama) 
new (“modern”) elite – the “engineers”
 “engineers” try to gain territory and position
themselves
a) between ruling classes and the masses
19 >
Ottoman Empire
Social Hierarchy
(cf. ”vertical values”)
khawāṣṣ (‚elite‘)
sultan
– religion: Muslim
Ottomans



Christians

(Osmanlilar)
   
Muslims
– language: Osmanlıca

Jews


others
 ==================
     
ʿawāmm / râyâ (‚the
masses, the flock‘)
– ‚coarse‘ Turkish
millet s (religious & ethnical groups)
+ gilds (professional unions)
20 >
The „traditional“ (= pre-colonial)
system of literary genres
educated
elite
linguistic
level
poetry
written
language
(high variety)
qaṣīda („ode“)
khāṣṣa
good, high
brow
literature
the masses
ʿāmma/ reʿāyā
inferior, of
minor value
(fuṣḥā /
ʿosmānlıca)
Scriptuality
people’s
spoken
language
(low variety)
(ʿāmmiyya /
‘ḳaba’ Türkçe)
orality
21 >
ġazel / ghazal
metrics: ʿarūḍ/aruz
poetry in the
vernacular
metrics: zajal, hece, ...
rhetoricized prose
prose
maqāma
adab
‘high’ epics
witty, jocular distraction, useful (=edifying)
entertainment, polite teaching of (moral)
lessons
inshāʾ
incl. travelogues, historical
writings (also biography),
philosophy, religion
popular (‘folk’)
epics
popular stories (e.g. 1001 Nights),
romances etc.
(siyar shaʿbiyya,
destan/dastân)
told by professional story-tellers
(ḥakawātī / meddāḥ / naqqāl
(often mes̱nevī/mas̱navī)
1800-tallet – en reformperiode
Litterære tendenser
 “modern” literature (novel, short story, drama) 
new (“modern”) elite – the “engineers”
 “engineers” try to gain territory and position
themselves
a) between ruling classes and the masses
b) in contrast to the traditional elites
 count on the masses rather than on court etc. =>
popularization ( de-elitarization, simplification,
“democratization”)
 orientated towards “global standard/norms”
22 >
Weltanschauung and Literature
Modernism / Realism – Postmodernism
H. Barakat
Formative Period ||
Ottoman Empire
19th c.
nation-building
|
post-WW II
transition [..........???.........]
| Türkiye Cumhuriyeti „Republic of T.“
1923
(TC)
1980
time
progressist ideologies, future-oriented
Modernism
reforms (tanzimat)
Kemalist nation-state
Postmodernism
Postkemalism
Realism
Enlightenment
Mimetic Realism
Postrealism
cf. EG: 1981 Sadat > Mubarak
Iran: 1979 Shah > Khomeini
US: 1981 Reagan > 90s: Bush, „New World Order“
SU: 1985 Gorbachev > 1991 collapse
7 stages of – also literary – history
= 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West”

Reform period (19th c.)

Nationalism (early 20th c.)

Disillusionment (± 1930)

Independence (early 1950s)

Beginning doubts (late 1950s / early 1960s)

Post-1967 (shock of June War)

Postmodern (1980s ff.)
24 >
7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West”
(1) Reform period (19th c.)
 belief in necessity (and possibility) to „recover“ and catch up with
global standards => reforms
 early 19th c.: „West“ is not yet a concept, and no „enemy“; later:
„West/East“ (< colonialism)
 new elite: the European as chief authority, ”Bestätiger vom Dienst“
(R. Wielandt)
 old elite (e.g., court administratives, ʿulamāʾ ): strictly conservative
reactions
 others: reform from within!
 nahḍah (cultural „renaissance“) [secular]
 Islamic fundamentalist reformism (iṣlāḥ : J. al-Afghānī, M. ʿAbduh,
R. Riḍā, ʿA. al-Kawākibī)
25 >
Ideologisk forspill før 1914
Reformislam osv.
cf. forelesning 4 (BOU)
Islamsk oppvåkning
Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī
1839-1897
Muḥammad ʿAbduh
1849-1905
Arabisk (proto-)nasjonalisme
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Kawākibī
1849-1902
1900: krever et arabisk kalifat
26 >
7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West”
(1) Reform period (19th c.) (cont.)
 literature at the service of reform:
27 >

edition of classical texts, lexica, dictionaries, revival of old genres =>
make heritage accessible & bear fruits; + neoclassicism

printing of „folk“ literature => „relaxed“ entertainment

presentation and discussion of reform models (pros and cons)

teaching innovations and „real“ morals => edification

exposure of social „evils“, e.g.

criticism of tafarnuj / alafranga züppelik (ignorant/ unreflected
imitation of European lifestyles, „dandyism“)

historical novels teach Arab history => national consciousness and
pride (Jurjī Zaydān)
7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West”
(1-2) pre–WW I
 classicism, neo-maqāmah
e.g. Muḥ. & Ibr. al-Muwayliḥī
 contemplativity, ‘romantic’ idealism, sentimentalism
e.g. Muṣṭafā L. al-Manfalūṭī, Jubrān Khalīl Jubrān
 larmoyant rebellion, sentimental outcry
al-Manfalūṭī, Jubrān
 early national literature, rural life
e.g. Muḥ. Ḥ. Haykal
28 >
7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West”
(2) Nationalism (early 20th c.)
Middle Eastern nationalisms are...
 the main ideology of the secular modernizers („engineers“)
 a reaction to increased European dominance, colonialism,
occupation etc.
Første verdenskrig – ny verdensordning, nye stater cf. forelesning 4 (BOU)
Sprikende britiske løfter:
 Husayn – McMahon korrespondansen 1915-1916
 Sykes-Picot avtalen 1916
 Balfour-erklæringen 1917
Mandatstiden etter Første verdenskrig
29 >
Hvem er en araber?
Ulike typer nasjonal identitet
cf. forelesning 10 (Linda
Helgesen)
 qawm (folk, etnisk gruppe)
Den fruktbare halvmåne
 waṭan (land, territorium)
Egypt, Algerie
 ummah (fellesskap, særlig verdens muslimer)
Egypt, Algerie
30 >
7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West”
(2) Nationalism (early 20th c.)
‘National literature’: From idealistic hope to disillusioned
sobriety (ca. 1910-WW II)
0. Programs of “National Literature”
1. Early, ‘naïve’, idealistic adab qawmī
•
e.g., Maḥmūd Taymūr
2. National enthusiasm, belief in progress
•
e.g., Ṭāhā Ḥusayn
3. Doubts and desillusionment
•
(≈ ”Can we really?”)
e.g., Tawfīq al-Ḥakīm
4. Re-construction: other idealisms
something else!”)
•
31 >
(≈ ”Yes, we can!”)
e.g., Tawfīq al-Ḥakīm, Y. Ḥaqqī
(≈ ”Since we can NOT, let’s try
7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West”
(2.1) Early National Literature
 local contents!
 countryside (often ‚romantically‘ idealized, idyllic)
 „typical“ characters, local colour (incl. dialect!)
 portraits => help to „imagine the nation“ (B. Anderson)
 cf. Turkey: „Ḫalḳa doğru!” (Towards the people!) literature
 „modern“ form!
 novel, short story, plays
 less intrusion from the author‘s side
32 >
7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West”
(2.2) National enthusiasm, belief in progress
 optimism
 cf. Atatürk, Reza Shah, ...
 al-Ayyām I (1929) = The Days /
Egyptian Childhood
 autobiography as “story of success”
 Entwicklungsroman (novel of formation of the
individual Self vs. society): inner maturation (<=>
nation-building process)
 Egypt as part of the Mediterranean,
belonging more to Europe than to the East
Ṭāhā Ḥusayn (1889-1973)
33 >
7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West”
(3.1) Doubts and desillusionment

Tawfīq al-Ḥakīm:
Return of the Spirit (ʿAwdat
ar-rūḥ, 1927, publ. 1933)
superiority of collective Egyptian suffering (!)

Maḥmūd Ṭāhir Lāshīn: Eve without Adam
(Ḥawwā’ bi-lā Ādam, 1934)
failure of education / emancipation project

Tawfīq al-Ḥakīm (1898-1987)
34 >
Tawfīq al-Ḥakīm: The Maze of Justice: Diary
of a Country Prosecutor (Yawmiyyāt nā’ib fī ’laryāf, 1937)
incompatibility of “Code Napoléon” and the countryside, i.e. the “real” Egypt; heavy social criticism
7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West”
(3.2) Reconstruction after disillusionment

Ideologicalization
 Socialism, Communism, Fashism, Muslim
Brotherhood, ...

Tawfīq al-Ḥakīm: A Bird From the East (ʿUṣfūr min al-sharq, 1937)
 “materialist West, spiritual East” (māddiyyat al-gharb, rūḥiyyat
al-sharq)

Yaḥyā Ḥaqqī: The Oil Lamp of Umm Hashim
(Qindīl Umm Hāshim, 1944)
 “no science without belief ” (lā ʿilma bi-lā īmān)
...............................................................................

35 >
Arab Socialism / Nasserism
‣‣‣
Yaḥyā Ḥaqqī (1905-1992)
WW I – WW II What had happened?
Some landmarks of political history
e.g., Egypt
WW I
Flood of emotional
1919 'Revolution'
nationalism
1922 (formal) Independance
1923-53 Constitutional Monarchy
Wafd (S. Zaghlûl)
↓
↓
↓
↓
↓
↓
↓
↓
↓
↓
↓
↓
↓
↓
Forced development after European model. Aim: creation of a ‚modern‘
nation-state
No democratic rights; corruption
Ismāʿīl Ṣidqī
Industrialization
Migration into cities
WW II
Political opposition
Radical movements
Emergence of ideologies (Muslim Brotherhood, Communists, Fascists, ...)
↓
36 >
↓
↓
↓
↓
↓
↓
↓
↓
1953 Revolution > Nasser
↓
↓
↓
↓
↓
1940s – 1950s
Main feature: critical realistic assessment

‚true‘, realistic surveys of society and insight into milieus, incl.
diversity of ‚philosophies‘/Weltanschauungen

aim: assessment, exposure of social, economic, political
drawbacks

main topics:
37 >

poverty of the masses

their struggle for survival

carrierism, corruption

conflicts within society

moral ‘decay’

young generation’s desperate search for a meaningful philosophy of life

ever-growing labour migration (deracinated peasants, migrant workers in
urban slums, workers’ literature) & problems arising from industrialization
(factory workers, urban proletariate)

increased “Westernization”
7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West”
(4) Independence (early 1950s)
• clear about many difficulties => social criticism, critical realism
But also
• belief that main obstacles – foreign domination & ancien régime (incl.
feudal system) – have been removed => middle classes (the
„engineers“, the military) seize power
• commitment to „al-sha‘b!“, „people‘s rule“
• high spirits, new enthusiasm (highly rhethoricized)
belief in equality of „Third World“, own strength (Nasserism:
Europe can be dealt with, faced, overcome, cf. Suez crisis)
38 >
7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West”
(4) Independence (1950s) (cont.)
Social criticism, critical / socialist Realism
Arabic „key“ narratives
(mentioned also by H. Barakat)
 Yūsuf Idrīs (1927-1991)
al-Ḥarām (The Sin, 1959)
 ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sharqāwī (1920-1987)
al-Arḍ (The Land/Soil, 1953)
 Laylā Baʿalbakkī (*1936)
Anā aḥyā (I live, 1958)
 Nagīb Maḥfūẓ (1911-2006):
the “Cairo novels”
39 >
►►►
1940-50s: Social criticism, critical realism
Nagīb Maḥfūẓ (b. 1911): The Cairo novels

Khān al-Khalīlī (Khan al-Khalili, 1945)

al-Qāhira al-jadīda (The New Cairo, 1946?)

Zuqāq al-Midaqq (Midaq Alley, 1947)

Trilogy
1. Bayn al-Qaṣrayn (Between the Two Palaces, 1956)
2. Qaṣr al-shawq (Palace of Longing, 1957)
3. al-Sukkariyya (Sugar Lane, 1957)
40 >
-
history of urban middle class family over three
generations
-
critical assessment of achievements and set-backs
during the past half century (colonial, nationalist,
independent Egypt)
7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West”
(5) Beginning doubts (late 1950s / early 1960s)
Reasons
 doubts in authoritarian political leadership [cf. „vertical values“]
 first failures of Nasserism become apparent
 UAR ended
 economic drawbacks
 discrepancy between rhetorics and reality: heralded improvements still not
noticeable
 increasingly repression, secret service, torture, executions
 hitherto pro-government intellectuals become critical of the
regime (anti-Nasser)
 Arab world: „al-naksa“ (lost war, June 1967) => open dispair
41 >
7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West”
(5) Beginning doubts (late 1950s / early 1960s)
Omslag mot slutten av 1950- / beg. av 1960-tallet
 Nagīb Maḥfūẓ: The Children of Gebelawi (Awlād Ḥāratinā, 1959)
 Nagīb Maḥfūẓ: The Thief and the Dogs (al-Liṣṣ wa’l-kilāb, 1962)
 Ghassān Kanafānī: Menn under sola / Men in the Sun (Rijāl fī ’lshams, 1963)
 Ṣun‘allāh Ibrāhīm: The Smell of It (Tilka ’l-rā’iḥa ,1965/66)
 al-Ṭayyib Ṣāliḥ: Trekket mot Nord / Season of Migration to the
North (Mawsim al-hijra ilā ’l-shamāl, 1966)becoming conscious of
colonial burden, own responsibility
 ‘Abdalḥakīm Qāsim: The Seven Days of Man (Ayyām al-insān alsab‘a, 1969)
42 >
Arabic literature and the West
Coming to terms with independence
‫الطيّبّصالح‬
al-Ṭayyib Ṣāliḥ, 1929-2009
(Tayeb Salih)
‫موسمّالهجرةّإلىّالشمال‬
Mawsim al-hijra ilā ’l-shamāl
(1966*/1969)
*first publication in Ḥiwār
Season of Migration to the North, London:
Heinemann etc., 1969 (og senere)
Trekket mot Nord, Oslo: Gyldendal, 2003
Le migrateur, Paris 1972
"the most important Arabic novel of the 20th century"
Arab Literary Academy in Damascus, 2001
43 >
7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West”
(6) Post-1967 (shock of June War)
 heavy self-criticism, esp. also language criticism (rhetoric „lies“)
 Ṣādiq J. al-ʿAẓm: „Self-Criticism after the Defeat“ (al-Naqd al-dhātī baʿd al-hazīmah)
 Nizār Qabbānī: „Notes on the margins of the Defeat Registers“ (Hawāmish ʿalā
daftar al-naksah)
 further insecurity, instability: political shift towards the West, opening of
the markets, economic „liberalisation“, peace with Israel
 mistrust in established / dominant discourses
↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
 search for new fundaments: truth, authenticity, taʾṣīl, start from zero
 epistemological turn: new, non-mimetic discourse on reality
44 >
7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West”
(6) Post-1967 (shock of June War) (cont.)
=> explore into new, hitherto neglected, silenced, tabooicized realities!
 predominance of „sad“ themes:
loneliness
hopelessness
frustration of the individual
Lebensangst
disgust
disappointment
disillusionment
inability to establish reliability in inter-human relationships
etc.
=> experimental, avantgardist mood of rebuilding from below:
 (intentional) lack of structural coherence
 associative narrating
 absurdity, contradictions, antagonisms, incomprehensibility, irrationality of life
 mixed realities: dreams, myth, surrealistic, phantastic elements
45 >
7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West”
(6) Post-1967 (shock of June War) (cont.)
 shocking, scandal-provoking: [cf. HB: „exposure“, „revolutionary“]

Ṣun‘allāh Ibrāhīm (*1937): “The Smell of It” (Tilka ’l-rā’iḥa,1965/66)

Muḥammed Shukrī (Mohamed Choukri, *1935): For Bread Alone (alKhubz al-ḥāfī, 1972/73 resp. 1982)

Gamāl al-Ghīṭānī (*1945): Zayni Barakat (al-Zaynī Barakāt, 1974)
 search for authentically “Arabic” = non-Westernizing way of
writing

46 >
experimenting with pre-colonial genres (maqâmah, risâlah, ...)
7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis
”the West”
(7) Postmodern (1980s ff.) (cont.)
Ṣun‘allāh Ibrāhīm (*1937): The Committee (alLajna, 1981)

fierce critique of economic globalization (anti”McDonaldization”)

grotesque satire on the Egypt of Sadat’s “open
door” politics

plot: detective story, discovery of the crimes of the
regime and their global collaborators (West/USbased multinational enterprises: CocaCola etc.)
7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West”
(7) Postmodern (1980s ff.)
• dissolution of West/East in global reciprocity
• Arabs in exile/diaspora (L. Aboulela, Translator ; Ḥanān
al-Shaykh, Only in London ; Orhan Pamuk, White Castle ;
Kader Abdollah)
• East as “mirror” of the West, and vice versa – each is part
of the other’s identity
• play with stereotypes and “great narratives” (grands
récits) such as the old West/East dichotomy
48 >
7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West”
(7) Postmodern (1980s ff.) (cont.)
Edward al-Kharrāṭ (*1926): City of
Saffron (Turābuhā za‘farān, 1985)
 growing up in cosmopolitan Alexandria
in the 1930s
 nostalgia-loaden
 Coptic minority
 cosmopolitan diversity
 child’s perspective (authenticity)
 identity question: Who am I? Am I this
boy “Michael”?
49 >