Gender, nation, and the Arabic novel : Egypt, 1892-2008 / Hoda Elsadda.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

El Sadda, Hoda.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Arabic fiction--Egypt--History and criticism.

Arabic fiction.

Egypt.

Arabic fiction--20th century--History and criticism.

Arabic fiction--21st century--History and criticism.

Masculinity in literature.

Women in literature.

Nationalism in literature.

Politics in literature.

Physical Description:

xlii, 261 pages ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Syracuse, N.Y. : Syracuse University Press : Edinburgh University Press, 2012.

Summary:

In accord with 'the personal is political' slogan, Elsadda (English and comparative literature, Cairo U.) reads the national canon of modern Arabic fiction to analyze how fiction reflects and constructs the ideas of nation, national identity, and their gendered nature. Representations of the New Woman and New Man reflecting conflicting political allegiances to the traditional vs. modern paradigm are read in selected works by authors including Najuib Mahfouz, Latifa al-Zayyat, Hind Nawfal, Qasim Amin, Labiba Hashim, and Malak Hifni Nasif. She defends excluding Nawal al-Sa'dawi, arguably the most famous Arab woman author in the Western world. Co-published with Edinburgh U. Press. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Contents:

Introduction: gender, nation, and the canon of the Arabic novel

Beginnings: discourses on ideal manhood and ideal womanhood

The new man: conflicting masculinities in the fiction of Haikal, al-Mazini, and al-Rafi'i

Tawfiq al-Hakim and the civilizational novel

Naguib Mahfouz's trilogy: a national allegory

Latifa al-Zayyat: gender and nationalist politics

Defeated masculinities in Sonallah Ibrahim

The personal is political: debating the new writing in the 1990s

The postcolonial nomadic novel

Liminal spaces/liminal identities: Hamdi Abu Golayyel, Ahmed Alaidy, and Muhammad 'Ala' al-Din

Postscript: after Tahrir: imagining otherwise.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780815632962

0815632967

OCLC:

759173911