Description
Book SynopsisUnlike The Literary Atlas of Cairo, which focuses on the literary geopolitics of the cityscape, this companion volume immerses the reader in the complex network of socioeconomic and cultural lives in the city. The seven chapters first introduce the reader to representations of some of Cairo's prominent profiles, both political and cultural, and their impact on the city's literary geography, before presenting a spectrum of readings of the city by its multiethnic, multinational, and multilingual writers across class, gender, and generation. Daunting images of colonial school experiences and startling contrasts of postcolonial educational realities are revealed, while Cairo's moments of political participation and oppression are illustrated, as well as the space accorded to women within the city across history and class. Together, The Literary Atlas of Cairo and The Literary Life of Cairo produce a literary geography of Cairo that goes beyond the representation of space in literature to reconstruct the complex network of human relationships in that space.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction: Cairo, Mother of Cities, Again and Again
1. Icons of the City
Robert Solé, Birds of Passage
Ahmad Hussein, And Cairo Burned
Nawal El Saadawi, Walking through Fire
Ahdaf Soueif, In the Eye of the Sun
Mohamed Mansi Qandil, Broken Soul
Edward Said, Homage to a Belly Dancer
Mahmoud Al-Wardani, Heads Ripe for Plucking
Mohamed Mansi Qandil, Broken Soul
Naguib Mahfouz, The Day the Leader was Killed
Ahdaf Soueif, The Map of Love
Ibrahim Issa, The Assassination of the Big Man
2. Cairo Cosmopolitan
Ihsan Abdel Quddus, I am Free
Fathy Ghanem, A Girl from Shubra
Midhat Gazalé, Pyramids Road
Chafika Hamamsy, Zamalek
Colette Rossant, Apricots on the Nile
Robert Solé, Birds of Passage
Alaa Al Aswany, Mme Zitta Mendès, A Last Image
Samia Serageldin, The Cairo House
Mohamed Berrada, Like a Summer Never to Be Repeated
Ghazi Abdel Rahman al-Qusaybi, The Apartment of Freedom
Mahmoud Al-Wardani, Heads Ripe for Plucking
Bahaa Abdelmegid, Saint Theresa
Yasser Abdel Latif, The Law of Inheritance
Alaa Al Aswany, The Yacoubian Building
Hamdi Abu Golayyel, Thieves in Retirement
3. Going to School in Cairo
Naguib Mahfouz, Palace Walk
Hassan Hassan, In the House of Muhammad Ali
Taha Hussein, The Days
Ihab Hassan, Out of Egypt
Leila Ahmed, A Border Passage
Midhat Gazalé, Pyramids Road
Laila Osayran, Colored Ribbons from My Life
Edward Said, Out of Place
Ihsan Abdel Quddus, I am Free
Mohamed Berrada, Like a Summer Never to Be Repeated
Miral al-Tahawy, The Blue Aubergine
Khaled Al Khamissi, Taxi
4. The Street Is Ours?
Naguib Mahfouz, Palace Walk
Huda Shaarawi, Harem Years
Latifa al-Zayyat, The Open Door
Ahmad Hussein, And Cairo Burned
Idris Ali, Poor
Robert Solé, Birds of Passage
Ghaleb Halasa, The Novelists
Latifa al-Zayyat, The Search: Personal Papers
Hala El Badry, A Certain Woman
Mahmoud Al-Wardani, Heads Ripe for Plucking
Radwa Ashour, Warm Rock
Ibrahim Aslan, The Heron
Salwa Bakr, Zeenat Marches in the President’s Funeral
Mona Prince, Three Suitcases for Departure
Alaa Al Aswany, The Yacoubian Building
Alaa Al Aswany, The Yacoubian Building
Mourid Barghouti, Checkpoints
Khaled Al Khamissi, Taxi
Sharif Hatatah, The Eye with an Iron Lid
Raouf Musad, The Ostrich Egg
Sonallah Ibrahim, The Smell of It
Nawal El Saadawi, Memoirs from the Women’s Prison
Hamdi el-Gazzar, Secret Pleasures
5. Women in the City
Tawfiq al-Hakim, The Return of the Spirit
Naguib Mahfouz, Midaq Alley
Naguib Mahfouz, Palace Walk
Fathy Ghanem, The Man Who Lost His Shadow
Yusuf Idris, The Siren
Mohamed Berrada, Like a Summer Never to Be Repeated
Sonallah Ibrahim, Zaat
Mohamed Salah al-Azab, Frequent Stops
Ahdaf Soueif, In the Eye of the Sun
Salwa Bakr, The Golden Chariot
Khaled Al Khamissi, Taxi
Amira Abou-Taleb, Barbed Silk
Ghada Abdel Al, I Want to Get Married
6. Cairo’s Underworld
Naguib Mahfouz, Midaq Alley
Maguid Tobia, Five Unread Papers
Yahya Taher Abdullah, The Story of the Upper Egyptian
Hamdi Abu Golayyel, A Dog with No Tail
Salwa Bakr, Zeenat Marches in the President’s Funeral
Mekkawi Said, Cairo Swan Song
Hamid Abdel Samad, Farewell, Heaven
Idris Ali, Poor
Mohamed al-Fakharani, An Interval for Bewilderment
Hani Abdel Mourid, Kyrie Eleison
Cairo’s Drug Culture
Naguib Mahfouz, Adrift on the Nile
Yusuf Idris, Did You Have to Turn on the Light, Lili?
Ismail Wali al-Din, Saqqara Grief
Albert Cossery, Proud Beggars
Gamil Atia Ibrahim, Down to the Sea
Khairy Shalaby, The Hashish Waiter
Yasser Abdel Hafez, In Celebration of Life
Hamdi Abu Golayyel, A Dog with No Tail
Raouf Musad, Ithaka
Yahya Taher Abdullah, A Tale with a Moral
Bahaa Abdelmegid, Sleeping with Strangers
Mohamed al-Fakharani, An Interval for Bewilderment
Essam Youssef, A ¼ Gram
Epilogue
Sherine Aboul Naga, Cairo Treason
Sonallah Ibrahim, Cairo From Edge to Edge
About the Authors
Bibliography
Glossary
Index of Authors
