Nasser in the Egyptian Imaginary Omar Khalifah Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2013 © 2013 Omar Khalifah All rights reserved ABSTRACT Nasser in the Egyptian Imaginary Omar Khalifah This dissertation examines the representations of late Egyptian President Gamal ‘Abdel Nasser (1918-1970) in Egyptian literature and film. It focuses on how the historical character of Nasser has emerged in the Egyptian imaginary—novel, short stories, autobiographies, and films. Rather than engaging in historical arguments about the deeds and legacy of Nasser, my dissertation makes a case for literature and art as alternative archive that questions, erases, distorts, and adds to the official history of Nasser. Employing the famous Aristotelian differentiation between the historian and the poet, and building on Hayden White’s argument about the relationship between history and fiction, I argue that the meaning(s) of Nasser for Egyptians must be sought less in recorded history than in fictional narratives. Unlike history, literature and film give voice to marginalized, voiceless witnesses of society. By creating fictional characters that interact with Nasser, these works constitute a space of knowledge, an invaluable window onto the ways people see, personalize, and negotiate their relationships with the president. As this dissertation shows, Nasser constitutes a perfect site for literary and cinematic approaches. Largely seen as the Arab world’s most influential political figure of the past century, Nasser was a larger-than-life character, a legend whose image, voice, ideals, accomplishments, deeds and misdeeds, and defeats have been shaping Egyptian and Arabic life to date. Historians, however, often recognize the complexity of Nasser’s character, his contradictory traits, and his sometime inexplicable decisions. Particularly ambiguous is how the relationship between Nasser and Egyptians was personalized and often romanticized, transforming a political leader into an attentive audience, a heartthrob lover, and an enigmatic father. Herein lies a major contribution of this dissertation. I argue that history falls short on capturing the centrality of Nasser in Egyptian life. As will be demonstrated, Nasser emerges as a site for plural interpretations, an instance where narratives compete over the meaning of the past. In other words, there is no monolithic discourse on Nasser, but rather various, at times contradictory views that fragment the man into multiple “Nassers.” The historical paths and developments which the literary and cinematic Nasser has traversed bespeaks to the shifts in ideals, hopes, and realities that swept the Egyptian society over the past fifty years. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ii Dedication v Introduction 1 Chapter 1 Writing to the Man 18 Chapter 2 Nasser as Fiction 78 Chapter 3 Nasser in Fiction 137 Chapter 4 Nasser on the Screen 189 Conclusion 248 Bibliography 255 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like first to extend my sincere and heartfelt gratitude to my advisor Professor Noha Radwan for encouraging and supporting me throughout this long journey. I am truly indebted to her for believing in my project, for leading me toward various helpful resources and materials, and for providing me with insightful and constructive commentary. I also thank Professor Roger Allen, Professor Hamid Dabashi, Professor Gil Anidjar, and Professor Hala Halim for taking on the work of being on my committee. Their enthusiasm for my dissertation was enormously uplifting, and their remarks and critiques were thoughtful and challenging. My experience at Columbia offered me the wonderful opportunity of meeting and learning from great mentors, colleagues, and friends. Professor Muhsin al-Musawi’s classes on classical and modern Arabic literature opened my eyes to new paths of inquiry about the subjects. The seminar of Professor Stathis Gourgouris on Greek poets and their interlocutors was immensely enjoyable and fruitful. Professor Partha Chatterjee’s unique style of teaching and lecturing made Antonio Gramsci and Michel Foucault more approachable and comprehensible. The Arabic program at the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies has certainly made Columbia feel like a home. The intellectual conversations I had with Taoufiq ben Amor and Yusif Nouhi were thoroughly delightful, and I learned a lot from their storied experiences in teaching the language. Throughout my life in New York I was fortunate to have the friendship and support of Kamal Soleimani, Salman Baset, Tarek Daka, Samia Montasser, Ivan Karakashian, Ghada Badawi, and Atheer Yacoub. The Arab Student Association at the School of International Affairs and the Students for Justice in Palestine were great sources for eventful encounters, discussions, ii and meetings both at Columbia and outside it. I am grateful for Alwan for the Arts and its director Ahmad Issawi for inviting me to read from my short story collection, Ka’annani Ana. This project necessitated a trip to Egypt in order to collect primary resources and conduct some interviews. The visit came a few months after the outbreak of the 2011 revolution, and proved to be one of the most memorable experiences I have ever had. I am truly thankful for the wonderful writers, filmmakers, and intellectuals who, despite the turbulent time they were passing through, were nonetheless generous enough to spare some moments for fruitful discussions: Sonallah Ibrahim, Gamal al-Ghitani, Salwa Bakr, Ibrahim ‘Abdel Meguid, Amin Haddad, Sherif Yunis, ‘Isam Zakariyya, Shirin Abu al-Naga, and Khalid Yusif. The friendships I made throughout this journey, especially with Shabab al-Thawra, were extremely inspirational. I will always remember May Sa’d, Ahmad Shokr, Shirin Ghayth, ‘Amr ‘Awad, Hisham Aslan, and Nagla Beder for helping me to navigate my way in Cairo. My roommate and friend Eyad Ibrahim was a real comrade. Our roaming in Tahrir Square and Muhammad Mahmud Street during the tumultuous November of 2011 will be unforgettable. The unqualified love, care, and support that I received from my family in Jordan was indescribably blissful. Though physically distant, my parents’ tireless words of encouragement alleviated the stress that at times accompanied me while writing this dissertation, and our conversations via skype were moments of extreme joy. My father, in particular, told me a lot of stories about Gamal ‘Abdel Nasser that constituted my early understanding of the complexity of the president’s character. Ever since I majored in Arabic literature when I was in Jordan, my parents never ceased to energize me toward pursuing a PhD. Their appreciation for my literary iii interests was instrumental in leading me to embark on this project, and my words can never capture the amount of gratitude I feel toward them. This dissertation is dedicated to them. Finally, writing this dissertation would not have been possible without the unconditional love and support of my wife, Yusra Shajrawi. Her gracious attention throughout the long hours of writing was always animating, and her patience with my busy schedule and unpredictable sleeping and waking habits was utterly phenomenal. She constantly treated me with the utmost care, respect, and fondness. Whenever I felt anxious or stressed, I would turn to Yusra, and she would always be there. I cannot thank her enough for everything she did to assist me during the process of writing the dissertation, and I hope I can return the favor someday. iv For my parents, Khalid Khalifah and Iman ‘Afani, my unassailable certainty. v 1 Introduction Historical truth…is not what took place; it is what we think took place. (Jorge Luis Borges, Ficciones)1 He did great things, and failed at many others. If he has wounded our hearts, all the wounds have healed. (Ahmad F’uad Nagm, A Visit to the Grave of Nasser)2 On September 18, 2011, almost eight months after the outbreak of the Egyptian revolution and the ousting of President Husni Mubarak, thousands of Egyptians gathered for the funeral of Khalid ‘Abdel Nasser, the eldest son of late President Gamal ‘Abdel Nasser (1918- 1970). SCAF, Egypt’s Supreme Council of Armed Forces was ruling the country. While carrying pictures of President Nasser and expressing nostalgia for him, the mourners were also chanting, Yasqut Yasqut Hukm al-‘Askar (Down with the Rule of the Military). The irony of the incident did not elude several Egyptian journalists. Many noted how the funeral became an occasion for protesting the rule of the military while celebrating the man who re-institutionalized it in Egypt in 1952. Indeed, jokes about this irony abounded in newspapers the next day, one of which sarcastically asked whether those protestors had taken Nasser to be an obstetrician!3 1 Jorge Luis Borges, Pierre Menard, Author of Don Quixote in Ficciones (New York: Grover Press, 1962), p. 53. 2 Ahmad F’uad Nagm, Ziyara li Darih ‘Abdel Nasser [A Visit to the Grave of Nasser], 1970. 3 See, for instance, Egyptian daily newspaper al-Tahrir (No. 79, September 19, 2011). 2 Besides Nasser’s continued presence in the Egyptian everyday life and discourse, the story above also reveals how many Egyptians separate Nasser as a person from the regime that he had created. For them, Nasser functions as a site of memory, a space of associations at times disconnected from the real historical figure that he once was. As French historian Pierre Nora argues, sites of memory are “moments of history torn away from the movement of history, then returned; no longer quite life, not yet death, like shells on the shore when the sea of living memory has receded.”4 As such, they are the embodiment of memory, the residue of that long process of remembering and forgetting that takes place in living societies before it enters the realm of history. History, on the other hand, is “the reconstruction, always problematic and incomplete, of what is no longer.”5 Constituting a counter-discourse, of which history “is perpetually suspicious,”6 these sites of memory take the form of movies, songs, novels, paintings, among others.