The Politics of Melodrama : The Cultural and Political Lives of Ihsan Abdel Kouddous and Gamal Abdel Nasser / Jonathan Smolin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Smolin, Jonathan, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

ʻAbd al-Qaddūs, Iḥsān--Influence.

ʻAbd al-Qaddūs, Iḥsān.

ʻAbd al-Qaddūs, Iḥsān--Political and social views.

Nasser, Gamal Abdel, 1918-1970--Friends and associates.

Nasser, Gamal Abdel.

Arabic fiction--Political aspects--Egypt--History--20th century.

Arabic fiction.

Authors, Egyptian--20th century--Political and social views.

Authors, Egyptian.

Egypt--History--Revolution, 1952--Influence.

Egypt.

Egypt--Politics and government--1952-1970.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (378 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, [2025]

Summary:

"Ihsan Abdel Kouddous (1919-1990) is the most popular and prolific writer of Arabic fiction in the twentieth century. The Politics of Melodrama is the first book to take on this giant of Arabic fiction and consider both his outsized cultural influence and consequential position in Egyptian politics. Jonathan Smolin frames the work of Abdel Kouddous not as mere lowbrow romantic melodrama, but as an entirely new model of Arabic fiction as dissent - contesting the fate of the 1952 revolution, condemning Nasser's betrayal of democracy, and grappling with depths of guilt at what Egypt had become. Smolin reveals the surprisingly close relationship between the famed writer and Nasser. He offers a new reading of fiction during the Nasser era that inserts the importance of non-elite culture in the history of the period and reevaluates the production of Nasserism. Unearthing Nasser's repeated interventions both to shape the work of Abdel Kouddous and to discipline him personally, this book demonstrates how the media and popular fiction became spaces of negotiation between the intellectual and the state, contesting Nasser and his politics during a period that has been widely assumed to be devoid of dissent"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction : analyzing Ihsan Abdel Kouddous

Casting calls

The erased revolutionary

The psychology of the revolution

The time of resistance

The greatest splendor of victories

The time of defeats

Conclusion : the time of denial.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781503641280

1503641287