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In November 1988 Naguib Mahfouz became the first Arab writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. In this study of his writings only now being widely translated into English, Haim Gordon, an Israeli professor committed to intercultural dialogue, examines Mahfouz's work from an existential perspective. While Mahfouz is first and foremost a storyteller, he gives the reader an extra baksheesh. By telling stories of persons from all walks of life--civil servants, peasants, pimps, lawyers, and businessmen--Mahfouz depicts the existential problems that Egyptians face today. Using a Socratic approach, Gordon questioned Mahfouz directly in a series of personal interviews conducted over the past ten years. In these interviews Gordon probed the existential themes in the characters, plots, and issues raised in Mahfouz's stories. The result is an intimate and highly personal look at life in Egypt.
As a very involved and critical onlooker, Haim Gordon addresses the problems facing contemporary Egyptians as portrayed in Mahfouz's stories: the Egyptian's flight from freedom and confrontation, the niggar situation of Egyptian women, the debilitating effects of poverty, the blatant oppression of political rights, the degradation of true faith and the lack of spirituality. Mahfouz's stories reveal that which western scholars unintentionally, and politicians intentionally conceal--daily life in Egypt.
List of contents
Introduction
Flight From Freedom
Flight From Confrontation
The "Niggar" Situation of Egyptian Women
Joy in Life and Love of This World
Degradation of True Faith
Flight from Political Realities
Coping with the Absurdity of Existence
Mahfouz's Spiritual Contribution
Appendix: Mahfouz's Life, His Works, and the Critical Reaction
Selected Bibliography
Index
About the author
HAIM GORDON is Professor of Education at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev-Israel. Professor Gordon has published extensively, his latest project is a
Dictionary of Existentialism (Greenwood Press, 1999).
