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Spatial Representations in the Literature of the Sixties Generation in Egypt

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Spatial Representations in the Literature of the Sixties Generation in Egypt Shifting Ground: Spatial Representations in the Literature of the Sixties Generation in Egypt Yasmine Ramadan Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2012 © 2012 Yasmine Ramadan All rights reserved ABSTRACT Shifting Ground: Spatial Representations in the Literature of the Sixties Generation in Egypt Yasmine Ramadan This dissertation examines the representation of space in the fiction of seven members of the sixties generation in Egypt. Focusing upon the novels of Jamāl al- Ghīṭānī, Muḥammad al-Bisāṭī, ʿAbd al-Ḥakīm Qāsim, Bahāʾ Ṭāhir, Yaḥyā Ṭāhir ʿAbdallah, Ibrāhīm Aṣlān, and Ṣunʿallah Ibrāhīm, I contend that the representation of urban, rural, and exilic space is a means to trace the social, political, and economic changes of the post-colonial period in Egypt. This exploration is framed by the theoretical work of Michel Foucault and Henri Lefebvre and seeks to show that the “spatial shift” that has occurred in the humanities and social sciences can enrich the understanding of the contribution of this literary generation. Emerging at a time of instability and uncertainty, the writers of jīl al-sittīnāt (the sixties generation) moved away from the realist techniques of their predecessors, displaying new innovations in their work, in an ongoing struggle to convey their changing experience of reality. This shift away from realism can be registered in the representation of urban, rural, and exilic space and speaks to the writers’ growing disillusionment with the post-colonial project in Egypt, in the years following the 1952 Revolution. Chapter One traces the emergence of the writers of the sixties generation onto the literary scene in Egypt, presenting both the aesthetic innovations with which they were associated, and the socio-economic and political context of which they were seen to be both a part and an expression. This chapter also pays attention to the “anxiety over categorization” that the appearance of this generation seems to have caused, an issue that has been overlooked by critics in the field, and which reveals a great deal about how power and authority is negotiated within the literary field in Egypt. Chapter Two moves to the focus upon literary texts, exploring the representation of the urban space of Cairo in the novels of Ibrāhīm, al-Ghīṭānī, and Aṣlān. The three novels reveal a move away from the realist depictions of the popular quarters of Cairo, or of the alley as a cross-section of society; the novelists represent “new” spaces within the capital, or “old” spaces in new ways, showing the way in which the relationship between the individual and the state is based upon surveillance and control, providing virulent critiques of the regimes of Jamāl ʿAbd al-Nāṣir and Anwar al-Sādāt. Chapter Three turns to an examination of the Egyptian countryside as it appears in the novels of Qāsim and ʿAbdallah, arguing that the move away from socialist realism resulted in the re-imagination of the village as mystical or mythic space. This chapter places these novels within the context of the agricultural reforms intended to improve the lives of the rural population, and that dominated political disussions in the decade of the fifties and sixties. Both novelists present villages that are separate from the rest of the country, calling into question the possibility of revolutionary change. The fourth and final chapter ends with the move beyond the borders of the Egyptian nation; the novels of Ṭāhir and al-Bisāṭī signal a shift to Europe and the Arab Gulf which appear as the spaces of political and economic dislocation. These novels are read in light of the transformations that resulted in migration, and that call into question both national and regional forms of belonging. This dissertation expands the understanding of the literary contribution of the sixties generation by bringing together the discussion of stylistic innovation and thematic preoccupation, while also insisting upon an approach that reads the production of the generation against the socio-economic and political changes that took place in the decades after their emergence on the literary scene. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….1 Chapter One……………………………………………………………………………...18 The Emergence of the Sixties Generation in Egypt and the Anxiety over Categorization Chapter Two…………………………………………………………………………......71 Urban Space, Surveillance, and the State: Reading the City in Ṣunʿallah Ibrāhīm’s Tilka-l-rāʾiḥa, Jamāl al-Ghīṭānī’s Waqāʾiʿ ḥārat al-Zaʿfarānī and Ibrāhīm Aṣlān’s Mālik al-ḥazīn Chapter Three…………………………………………………………………………..135 Re-imagining the Rural: The Mystical and the Mythical in ʿAbd al-Ḥakīm Qāsim’s Ayyām al-insān al-sabʿah and Yaḥyā Ṭāhir ʿAbdallah’s Al-Ṭawq wa-al-iswirah Chapter Four…………………………………………………………………………...185 The Politics and Economics of Exile: Bahāʾ Ṭāhir’s Al-Ḥubb fī al-manfā and Muḥammad al-Bisāṭī’s Daqq al-ṭubūl Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...245 Selected Bibliography…………………………………………………………………..250 Appendix A……………………………………………………………………………...261 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I begin by thanking my advisor Professor Muhsin al-Musawi for his help and support in the completion of this dissertation. I am grateful for his guidance, his constant feedback, and his resolve in seeing me through to the end. My gratitude also to my committee members: Professor Gil Anidjar, Professor Tim Mitchell, Professor Roger Allen, and Professor Brent Edwards. I am very thankful for their advice, insightful comments on my work, and assistance in making this a much better project than it otherwise would have been. Their enthusiasm and interest continues to help me think about my work in new and exciting ways. I am grateful also to Professor Noha Radwan who helped me tremendously during my time at Columbia, particularly when this dissertation was still just an idea. Our ongoing conversations helped shape and define the parameters of this project in fundamental ways. Her love and knowledge of Egyptian literature continues to be a great source of inspiration. Special appreciation is due to my professors at The American University in Cairo, who first introduced me to modern Arabic literature. It is through the teaching and writing of Professor Samia Mehrez that I came to pursue this path and discover my love of Arabic literature. Her support throughout the years has been unwavering. Professor Ferial Ghazoul provided much needed guidance and assistance on the road to graduate school, and helped me discover my intellectual interests many years ago. My thanks also to the writers and intellectuals in Cairo who took the time to speak to me and help me with this project. Their political and intellectual commitment and ii struggles served as a source of continuous inspiration for this project. My gratitude to Sonallah Ibrahim, Gamal al-Ghitani, Idwar al-Kharrat, Muhammad al-Bisati, and Ibrahim Aslan, all of whom I was incredibly fortunate to meet, and to Yahya Tahir Abdallah and Abd al-Hakim Qasim who I wish I could have met. I cannot fully express my gratitude to the friends whose love and understanding sustained me throughout this journey. Jenn Derr provided me with unwavering support and just enough “tough love.” Were she not always at the end of the phone line I doubt this project would have been completed. Kristin Soraya Batmanghelichi has been a generous friend and colleague. Her passion, curiosity, and intellectual dedication continue to inspire me. I am so lucky that our paths crossed as we struggled with our orals many semesters ago. Nader K. Uthman, May Ahmar, Tsolin Nalbantian, Elizabeth Johnston, Beth Holt, and Hala al-Hoshan made New York feel like home and graduate school a much more enjoyable and rewarding experience. I cannot thank them enough for their friendship over the years. And for continuing to remind me of what being generous teachers and scholars is all about. Ethan Kinory and Xandy Frisch were the source of much needed laughter this last year. Leila Mouri and Audrey Truschke were wonderful office mates without whom my last year of writing would have been a much lonelier experience. For their advice, editorial help, and kindness I am very grateful. Engy al-Barkouki, Walid el-Hamamsy, and Sarah Rifky made summers researching and writing in Cairo much more enjoyable. I thank them for their friendship and love. iii I owe my family endless gratitude. My parents Ali Ramadan and Mona Aboulnasr have been the source of unfaltering love and support. I thank them for always believing in me and in my ability to succeed. I am indebted to them for opening up the world of Arabic language and culture to me, and for continuing to make Cairo very much my home. Without my mother’s determination, patience, and tireless effort in teaching me Arabic I would certainly not have reached this point. To Dina Ramadan, my sister and friend, I am grateful for years of emotional and intellectual support. Her strength and passion continue to serve as an example to me. I thank her for continuing to have faith in me (and my work) even when I do not. Finally, Ari Ariel’s friendship, love, and encouragement helped me over the final hurdles. I am grateful to him for the time and effort he spent reading and editing my chapters, and for the many conversations we had about my ideas. I thank him for always challenging my assumptions and helping me to see my work from different perspectives. He helped me get through what he reminded me is among many things a test of endurance. And of course he always made sure I was very well fed. iv For my parents, Ali Ramadan and Mona Aboulnasr v 1 Introduction I repeat: the new generation is truly new. (Najīb Maḥfūẓ, Al-Hilāl, August 1970)1 I blame the old generation and invite the new generation to refuse to reconcile and to begin the dialogue with the word “No!” (Aḥmad Hāshim al-Sharīf, Al-Hilāl, August 1970)2 The 1960s in Egypt witnessed the emergence of a new literary generation that caused quite a commotion on the cultural scene.
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