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Naguib Mahfouz's Egypt Existential Themes in His Writings

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Haim Gordon

Book Code: GLP/

ISBN: 0-313-26876-2

ISBN-13: 978-0-313-26876-2

DOI:

152 pages, photographs

Greenwood Press

Publication: 9/27/1990

List Price: $95.00 (UK Sterling Price: £54.95)

Availability: Print on demand

Media Type: Hardcover

Trim Size: 5 1/2 x 8 1/4

Subjects:

Literature » World Literature

Series Title: Contributions to the Study of World Literature

Series Number: 38

Description: In November 1988 Naguib Mahfouz became the first Arab writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. In this study of his writings only now being widely translated into English, Haim Gordon, an Israeli professor committed to intercultural dialogue, examines Mahfouz's work from an existential perspective. While Mahfouz is first and foremost a storyteller, he gives the reader an extra "baksheesh." By telling stories of persons from all walks of life--civil servants, peasants, pimps, lawyers, and businessmen--Mahfouz depicts the existential problems that Egyptians face today. Using a Socratic approach, Gordon questioned Mahfouz directly in a series of personal interviews conducted over the past ten years. In these interviews Gordon probed the existential themes in the characters, plots, and issues raised in Mahfouz's stories. The result is an intimate and highly personal look at life in Egypt. As a very involved and critical onlooker, Haim Gordon addresses the problems facing contemporary Egyptians as portrayed in Mahfouz's stories: the Egyptian's flight from freedom and confrontation, the "niggar" situation of Egyptian women, the debilitating effects of poverty, the blatant oppression of political rights, the degradation of true faith and the lack of spirituality. Mahfouz's stories reveal that which western scholars unintentionally, and politicians intentionally conceal--daily life in Egypt.

Table of Contents:

Introduction
Flight From Freedom
Flight From Confrontation
The "Niggar" Situation of Egyptian Women
Joy in Life and Love of This World
Degradation of True Faith
Flight from Political Realities
Coping with the Absurdity of Existence
Mahfouz's Spiritual Contribution
Appendix: Mahfouz's Life, His Works, and the Critical Reaction
Selected Bibliography
Index

LC Card Number: 90-36629

LCC Class: PJ7846

Dewey Class: 892


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