Writing in Cairo: Literary Networks and the Making of Egypt’s Nineties Generation by Nancy Spleth Linthicum A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Near Eastern Studies) in the University of Michigan 2019 Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Carol Bardenstein, Chair Associate Professor Samer Ali Professor Anton Shammas Associate Professor Megan Sweeney Nancy Spleth Linthicum [email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0001-9782-0133 © Nancy Spleth Linthicum 2019 Dedication Writing in Cairo is dedicated to my parents, Dorothy and Tom Linthicum, with much love and gratitude for their unwavering encouragement and support. ii Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to thank my committee for their invaluable advice and insights and for sticking with me throughout the circuitous journey that resulted in this dissertation. It would not have been possible without my chair, Carol Bardenstein, who helped shape the project from its inception. I am particularly grateful for her guidance and encouragement to pursue ideas that others may have found too far afield for a “literature” dissertation, while making sure I did not lose sight of the texts themselves. Anton Shammas, throughout my graduate career, pushed me to new ways of thinking that I could not have reached on my own. Coming from outside the field of Arabic literature, Megan Sweeney provided incisive feedback that ensured I spoke to a broader audience and helped me better frame and articulate my arguments. Samer Ali’s ongoing support and feedback, even before coming to the University of Michigan (UM), likewise was instrumental in bringing this dissertation to fruition. I also would like to thank the numerous writers, publishers, critics, scholars, editors, and others who spoke with me in Cairo about their work and the Egyptian literary scene, particularly Samia Mehrez, the late Gamal al-Ghitani, Yasser Abdel Hafez, Mansoura Ez Eldin, Mohamed Hashem, Hosni Soliman, Montasser al-Qaffash, Ahmed Alaidy, Youssef Rakha, Tarek al-Taher, al-Taher Sharkawi, the late Mark Linz, Khaled Abbas, Ahmed Ibrahim, Mohamed Shoair, Fadi Awad, Sawsan Bashir, Khaled Lotfy, Wael Tawfeek, and the staff at Akhbār al-Adab and al- Akhbār’s private archives. I extend my gratitude and thanks especially to authors Hamdy el- Gazzar and Nagat Ali and to translator and scholar Humphrey Davies for their insights, constant iii support, and friendship. Michele Henjum, who has become a dear friend, was my partner in a related project in which we explored and mapped the major literary publishing houses and bookstores of Cairo. I draw on some of this research and the interviews we conducted together at various points in this dissertation, and I am indebted to her for her professional expertise, creativity, and ability to spend countless hours passionately discussing the world of publishing. I also would like to thank Ahmad Ismail, Amr Kamal, and Ahmed Shawkat for their support and linguistic and editorial assistance, in particular. This dissertation would not have been possible without the generous funding of the Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fund, which provided me necessary space and time to write, and the Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA) housed at the American University in Cairo. It was during my time at CASA I and II that I conceived of the project and conducted much of my field research. I remain grateful for the interest that CASA instructors and affiliates Nadia Harb, Siham Badawi, Amany Ezzat, and Syonara Tomoum took in my work and the time they spent working with me to make multiple stages of my research possible. Additionally, I thank the Institute for the Humanities at UM for a year-long fellowship that provided me with the opportunity to write and exchange ideas with doctoral candidates and faculty in the humanities, as well as summer research funding. I also thank Rackham Graduate School at UM, through which I was awarded several grants (the Susan Lipschutz Award, the Rackham International Research Award, and the Rackham Graduate Study Research Grant) that enabled additional research in Egypt and time to write. I am grateful to Samah Selim, Kader Konuk, and Anne-Marie McManus for taking the time to help me think through specific ideas and for their comments on chapter drafts, presentations, and earlier iterations of this project. In addition, I thank the faculty and staff iv (current and former) of the Department of Near Eastern Studies at UM, particularly Kevork Bardakjian, Wendy Burr, and Sofia Carlsson, as well as our wonderful Librarian of Middle East Studies and Religious Studies Evyn Kropf. For their collegial support and friendship through it all, I thank Jason Zurawski, Helen Dixon, Shannon Winston, Harry Kashdan, Elisabeth Jaquette, Deborah Forger, Gina Konstantopoulos, Frank Castiglione, Mickenzie Fasteland, Laura Culbertson, Rob Haug, Alison Vacca, Kevin Jones, and Maxim Romanov. Finally, I could not have completed this dissertation without the support of Cristina, Shannon, Kristen, and Jackie, my parents and my brother, and more than anyone my husband Noah and our daughter Ena, who brought laughter to even the hardest writing days. I thank once again all of those who helped make this dissertation possible, and I claim as my own any mistakes that appear on the following pages. v Table of Contents Dedication ....................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iii List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ ix List of Appendices .......................................................................................................................... x Transliteration Note ....................................................................................................................... xi Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... xii Chapter 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2 The Changing Terms of Authorship: Examining the Figure of the Author in Three Novels by Nora Amin, Mustafa Zikri, and Hamdi Abu Golayyel ........................................ 22 The Terms of Authorship .......................................................................................................... 23 The Literature of the Nineties Generation................................................................................. 30 Nora Amin’s Qamīṣ wardī fārigh ............................................................................................. 36 Mustafa Zikri’s Mir’āt 202 ....................................................................................................... 45 Hamdi Abu Golayyel’s al-Fā‘il ................................................................................................ 57 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 68 Chapter 3 Akhbār al-Adab: Crafting a Narrative of the “Nineties Generation” ........................... 70 vi Akhbār al-Adab and Egypt’s “Nineties Generation” ................................................................ 72 “Malāmiḥ Jīl”: Authoring the Interviews .................................................................................. 82 Performing Authorship in the “Malāmiḥ Jīl” Interviews .......................................................... 90 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 102 Chapter 4 Small Press, Big Impact: How Sharqiyyat and Merit Changed Egypt’s Literary Landscape ............................................................................................................................ 104 The Place of the Publishing House in (Egyptian) Book History............................................. 108 The Stakes of Publishing ......................................................................................................... 119 Sharqiyyat: A Literary Press for the New Generation ............................................................ 124 Merit: Pushing the Boundaries ................................................................................................ 129 Sharqiyyat and Merit: The Books Themselves ....................................................................... 136 Facilitating Author Networks .................................................................................................. 141 Author and House: A Co-Productive Relationship ................................................................. 145 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 151 Chapter 5 The American University in Cairo Press and the Reception of Nineties Generation Women Writers ................................................................................................................... 153 AUC Press: Between the “Local” and the “Global” Market ................................................... 155 Transnational Reception