This volume consists of essays published in newspapers between 1982 and 1988, coinciding with the early years of Hosni Mubarak's presidency. Mahfouz describes Mubarak's early administration as an 'unhurried democracy'. In these essays,
Mubarak is not subjected to direct criticism, which is mainly reserved for Gamal Abdel Nasser and Anwar Sadat. Meanwhile, political figures such as Saad Zaghloul and Mustafa al-Nahhas are praised as great leaders, signifying Mahfouz's continuous
sympathy with the Wafd party. Mahfouz's exceptional humanity is most prominent in the careful attention he pays to the
daily challenges faced by Egyptians. The writing presented here reveals his remarkable insight into the country's political and social issues, as well as a pragmatic capacity to see the larger picture, particularly when it comes to the role of Egypt in
the Arab world. A recurring theme in the majority of the essays is Mahfouz's perseverance in insisting, despite hardships, on tolerance and justice, on peaceful coexistence, on the maintenance of work ethics, on the importance of cultural education,
and the merits of democracy.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
'Mahfouz was of massively important influence on Arabic literature...'Ahdaf Soueif; 'As a citizen Naguib Mahfouz sees civility and the continuity of a transnational, abiding, Egyptian personality in his work as perhaps surviving the debilitating processes of conflict and historical degeneration which he, more than anyone else I have read, has so powerfully depicted.'Edward Said; 'It is only with the publication of... Mahfouz's non-fiction writing that there is a body of journalism and essays through which to trace Mahfouz's intellectual journey.'Financial Times.
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ISBN-13
978-1-909942-11-0 (9781909942110)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Naguib Mahfouz (1911-2006) was the most important Arabic writer of his generation. He is the author of over thirty novels, including The Cairo Trilogy, Thief and the Dog, Miramar, and Children of the Alley. He is the winner of the 1988 Nobel Prize for Literature; Russell Harris is an established translator of literary works from French and Arabic; Rasheed El-Enany is Professor Emeritus of Modern Arabic Literature, University of Exeter.
Contents
Introduction by Rasheed El-Enany xv
Substandard Food in an Age of Discipline 1
Defamation of the Country 3
Indifference and Education 5
The Forbidden Opposition 6
Behaviour Appropriate for Our Lives 8
The Democracy of Labour 9
The Debt Fund 10
Lessons from Deceased Leaders 11
How Should We Deal with Deviation? 13
The People of the Cave Wake Up 14
A Small Nation in a World of Giants 16
The Task of the Centre 17
Withdrawal Celebrations 18
After the Withdrawal 20
The Army of War and Peace 21
On the Issue of Change 22
On the Egypt of Tomorrow Conference 23
When Will Change Begin? 24
Political Activity as the Harbinger of Good 25
The Return of Administrative Control 27
Opposition Newspapers 28
The Bitter Truth 29
Towards a New Five-Year Plan 30
An Ongoing Period of Trial... and a New Dawn 31
The July Revolution 33
Ramadan - Should It Be Serious or Fun? 35
Who Are We? 36
Ten People Who Have Not Received any Good News 37
The Youth Also Have a Literary Problem 38
The Role of Culture in Our Rebirth 40
The Egyptian Path and the Age of Productivity 42
The Egyptian Way... and National Mobilisation? 43
The Arab Way 45
How Can We Confront Life? 47
The Value of an Individual and Civilisation 49
Democracy and the Ethics of Leadership 50
Indifference... and Performance 51
Indifference... and the Army 52
Social Justice 53
The Real Criminal 54
Your Voting Slip 55
The Giza Drain Told Me... 56
The Other Side of the Moon 58
Signs of a New Age 60
Good Tidings 61
Studies of the National Councils 62
Welcoming the New Masses 63
Making Donations to Pay Off Our Debts 65
What a Neutral Ministry Cannot Do 67
When Will We Learn the Value of Time? 68
A Relative, Not an Absolute, Majority 70
What Does Israel Mean? 71
The Message of the Conference 73
A Return to the Discussion of Debts 75
A Stand on Corruption 77
The Lesson of Oil 79
In What State Has the Festival Returned? 80
On the Opposition 82
Wielding Some Legal Clout 84
About a Higher Aim 85
The Desired Wisdom 86
The Minister and the Opposition 88
The Privilege Disease 89
Signs of the Value of the Individual 90
5 June 92
A New Year of Development 94
Our Scientific Expertise and Development 95
The July Revolution 97
We Are Not Unaware of Our Faults... But! 99
More Cars 100
The Unreasonable War 101
Conflict and Civilisation 102
The Benchmark of Civilisation 103
The Ministry of Wealth 104
Looking for the Missing Money 105
Censorship 106
A New Censorship Law 107
Thought and Freedom 109
6 October 110
The Police in the Service of Democracy 111
Television and the Cinema 112
The Etiquette and Conventions of Catastrophes 113
On the Emergency Law 114
What Does Experience Tell Us? 116
Arab Considerations 117
The Minister of Culture said... 118
The Hope That Remains 120
A Golden Age of Culture 122
The Crisis of Literature 123
The State Media and Culture 124
Martyrs of the Pen 125
The Crisis of Thought 126
Between the Cause and the Aim 127
A Campaign Guide for the Citizen 129
In Defence of the Five-Year Plan and the General Public 131
For an Honest Battle 132
Catastrophes and Us! 133
Towering Intellects 136
A Multi-Party System 138
The Trust of the People 139
On the Generation Argument 140
A Serious Campaign in a Serious Period 141
The Cause of Art 142
A Renewal of Interest 145
The Election Campaign and the Revolution 146
The Parliament We Are Waiting For 147
A New Age 148
A Word to Our Youth 150
A Word to the Wafd Party 152
A Small Nation Among Giants 154
The Party Platforms and Our Youth 156
Look in Anger at Reality 157
Between Culture and Development 158
In Defence of Higher Values 161
The July Revolution 163
The Return of the Giants 165
Those without a Sense of Belonging 166
Democratic Demands 167
The State Radio, Television and Culture 168
23 August 171
The First Aim 173
The Minister of the Interior Begins the Battle 174
We Have the Power 175
The Media and the New Class 177
6 October 179
6 October 181
Our Lives 182
A Good Start 184
Support for a Society of Freedom and Justice 185
What a Political Party Means 186
Decisive Years 187
'13 November' 188
The National Democratic Party and Culture 190
The Ministry and the Festival 192
The Majority Party 193
Party and Development 194
Back to the Electoral Law 196
Culture between Criticism and Anger 197
Mass Suicide 199
The High Dam and the Necessary Conference 200
The Nile and the Law 201
The Day of the Police 202
A Book Display in Every Home 204
Execution and Life Imprisonment 205
The Case of Dr Ahmed 207
The Master of the Cause 208
Civilisation and the Holes in the Road 209
An Era of Rationalism 211
Art and Censorship 213
Crime between Punishment and Cure 219
The Third Way 221
A Frenzied Crime 223
A Return to Language 225
Blossoms on the Path of Patience 229
Our Real Wealth 230
The Long-Lasting Case 231
A Day of Wisdom 234
The Peace Track 236
A Wonderful Movement 238
Independence in Jungle Life 239
The Spectator's Confusion 241
The Missing Constitution 242
A Revolution and a Lesson 245
Rationalising Rationalisation 246
An Abstruse Problem 247
The Battle of Freedom and Civilisation 249
Literature and Politics 250
The Opposition between Tradition and Renewal 253
Between Awakening and Deviation 255
23 August 256
The Necessity of Culture 257
The Unretouched Picture 258
A Cure for All Eras 259
The Role of the State 260
A Five-Year Plan Which Never Stops 261
Can the Reward for Murder Be Anything Other Than Death? 262
Towards a New Citizen 264
Parliament and the Media 265
Between Two Eras 267
The Coming Years of Hard Work 268
Confrontation without Hesitation 269
A Discussion about the Future 270
No Love from One Party 272
Between Reality and Dream 274
Arab Nationalism between Reality and Dream 276
Towards a New Arab Unity 278
The Truth about Suleiman Khater 279
Democracy between the Opposition and the Government 281
The Opposition's Message 283
The Direction of Democracy 284
Crisis... Strengthen and Be Gone! 285
A Violent Battle 287
The Five Commandments 289
Stability, Development and Humankind 291
A Soap Opera of Suffering, Sabotage and Arson 293
Who Engineered the Events of 25 February? 295
Ever in the Service of the People 297
Directness between the Government and the Opposition 298
Facing the Facts 300
Development and Social Peace 302
May Day 304
Religious Education 306
The Most Beautiful of Times 308
On the Question of Ethics 309
5 June 311
Values Fit for All Times and Places 312
On the Question of Change 314
Why Subsidies... and Why Education? 316
Towards an Ethical Plan 317
The Present between Anger and Perfection 319
The Occasion of the 23 July 1952 Revolution 321
We Are Not a Nation without an Aim 323
The Role of the People 325
Towards the Other Shore 327
Democracy Is Wonderful Despite Its Errors 328
In Commemoration of the 1919 Revolution 330
Good Government 332
Our True Wealth 333
The National Democratic Party and Our Youth 335
Opinion, Experience and Consultation 337
One Crisis Should Suffice! 339
6 October 341
A Day of the People 343
The Responsibility of the Majority 344
The State and Culture 346
Medicine for More than One Disease 348
Africa and Internationalism 349
A New Government 351
Welcome to Parliament 353
The Opposition 355
Exam Month 357
What We Should Remember 358
A Conversation in English 360
Science in Language Schools 361
On the Electoral Law 362
Towards a New Ethics and New Traditions 364
A New World 365
The Islamic Conference 367
Another Path to Glory 369
It Is People Who Make Civilisation 371
A New Era 373
Electoral Fraud 375
The Festival 377
The Constitutionality of the New Parliament 379
A Word to the Confused 381
What Will Tomorrow Tell Us? 383
The Hidden Disease 385
The New Parliament 386
Public Holiday and Remembrance 388
The Human Resources Conference 390
The People and the Battle 391
The Flood and the Ark 393
The Dark Side of the Moon 395
Hidden Evil 396
Democracy and the Battle 398
The Greatest Problem 399
Disease Spreads to the Core 400
Towards a New Future 401
Terrorism and Stability 402
A Wise and Just Decision 403
A New Five-Year Plan 404
The Revolution of 23 July 406
Between Suicide and Famine 408
The Meaning of Stability 409
The Sun Will Rise Again 410
In Commemoration of the 1919 Revolution - Again 411
Unifying the Two Sectors 413
Cultural Hopes 415
Terrorism 416
Yes 418
6 October and the Best of Memories 420
And Nothing Is Being Said about Culture 421
Axioms of the Revolution 422
MPs' Opinions and Their Wishes 423
The Desired Awareness 424
Anticipated Hopes 426
Author, Thinker, Fighter 428
Democracy Is a National Programme 430
The Fight 431
The Modern Age 432
Unity Is Our Cornerstone 433
The Rule of Law 435
A War on Two Fronts 436
The Era of Truth and Reality 437
Society and the Youth 438
A New Year 439
Thoughts on the Smuggled Billions 441
The Blood of the Revolutionaries 442
On Productivity 444
The Age of Science and Scientists 446
The Map of Our Youth 447
The Concerns of Today and Tomorrow 449
Political Reform 451
War 452
Identity and Aim 453
Culture and the State 454
Towards National Solidarity 456
The Long-Awaited Mahdi 457
The Confessional 459
Political AI DS 460
The Road to Peace 462
On Religious Education 463
The Key to Reform 464
Praying for Rain 466
Between the Ebb and Flow 467
A Naive Question 468
Religion in the Modern Age 469
Between the Sacred and the Profane 470
Between Extinction and Survival 472
Egypt's Role 473
The Man of the Hour 474
The Revolution of 23 July - Again 475
A Call to Life 476
Remembering the Dead 477
The Trust Borne by People 478
Behaviour in Hard Times 480
Forgotten Honours 481
How Do We Face the Enemy? 482
Between Confrontation and Flight 483
The Explosion 484
Dream and Reality 485
The Day of Victory and Peace 486
A Word Amid All the Hubbub 488
Respectable but Criminal 490
Climbing Out of the Animal's Jaws 491
Culture and Life 492
