EGYPT & ALIFA RIFAAT By Bruce Gordon GEOGRAPHY • Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Libya and the Gaza Strip, and the Red Sea north of Sudan, and includes the Asian Sinai Peninsula. • Desert; hot, dry summers with moderate winters. • Periodic droughts; frequent earthquakes; flash floods; landslides; hot, driving windstorms called khamsin occur in spring; dust storms; sandstorms. POPULATION • 88,487,396 (July 2015 est.) • Egyptian 99.6% • Other 0.4% • (2006 census) • -0.19 migrant(s) / 1,000 population (2015 est.) • Extremely low migration rate. RELIGION • 90% Muslim (predominantly Sunni) • 10% Christian (majority Coptic Orthodox, other Christians include Armenian Apostolic, Catholic, Maronite, Orthodox, and Anglican) • (2012 est.) Al-Azhar Mosque CULTURE FOOD • Koshari – Some consider this - a mixture of rice, lentils, and macaroni - to be the national dish. • Egyptian cuisine makes heavy use of legumes, vegetables and fruits since Egypt's rich Nile valley and delta produce large quantities of these crops in high quality. ART • Ancient Egyptian Art reached a high level in painting and sculpture, and was both highly stylized and symbolic. HISTORY Early Modern • Ottoman Egypt 1517–1867 • French occupation 1798–1801 • Egypt under Muhammad Ali 1805–1882 • Khedivate of Egypt 1867–1914 Modern Egypt • British occupation 1882–1922 • Sultanate of Egypt 1914–1922 • Kingdom of Egypt 1922–1953 • Republic 1953–present LITERATURE • In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the Arab world experienced al-Nahda, a Renaissance-esque movement which touched nearly all areas of life, including literature. • In 1914 Muhammad Husayn Haykal wrote Zaynab, considered the first modern Egyptian as well as Islamic novel. • In 1984 Alifa Rifaat (Fatimah Rifaat) received the Excellency Award from the Modern Literature Assembly. • One of the most important figures from this time was Naguib Mahfouz, the first Egyptian to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1988. RAP SHEET • Artist Name: Alifa Rifaat (Fatimah Rifaat) • DOB: 5 June, 1930 (Died: January, 1996) • Country/Place of Birth: Cairo, Egypt • Religion: Muslim • Education: Misr al-Jadidah Primary school, The Cultural Center for Women for her intermediate education, British Institute in Cairo from 1946 to 1949 to study English. • Relevant Literary or Philosophical movement: Feminism centered around her Islamic belief system. Post-colonialism. • Genre: Short stories • Main Themes: Centers upon the silent plight of women in a patriarchal Muslim society as well as: sex, death, marriage, masturbation, female genital mutilation, love, teenage pregnancy, widowhood, and loss along with other controversial topics. • Style: Filled with imagery and female protagonists, her writing focused more on romance in the beginning of her career, though she later shifted to social critique. • Examples: Excerpt from Another Evening at the Club “”And the beautiful little girl’s still at secondary school?” She lowered her head modestly and her father had answered: “As from today she’ll be staying at home in readiness for your happy life together, Allah permitting,” and at a glance from her father she had hurried off to join her mother in the kitchen.” • Other: Although Alifa Rifaat strove to express through writing the sexual repression of women, her stories and her life were conducted in an orthodox Muslim manner and she did not advocate the rise of women against patriarchy. SOURCES • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_of_ancient_Egypt • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_cuisine • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_modern_Egypt • https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/eg.html • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alifa_Rifaat .