- ʿAmr Kamāl Ḥammūdah (?, Egypt) – Fiyūlīt wa al-Bikbāshī (‘Violet and the lieutenant colonel’, 2010). This novel depicts corruption and cronyism during the Nasser regime. Its main character is Yūsuf ʿAbd al-Munʿim, who obtained a badge of honor for his role in the 1948 war with Israel and became one of the officers in Nasser’s 1952 revolution (reference). The novel reflects on the initial land and educational reforms and on the fact that important government positions were given to people who partook in the revolution, but who did not necessarily have the qualifications for it. This led to economic and moral corruption, something Yūsuf was also guilty of. He has an affair with the Palestinian Fiyūlīt, and eventually leaves his wife who turns to gambling and sexual affairs.
- Yaḥyā Ḥaqqī (1905 – 1992, Egypt) – Ṣaḥḥ al-Nawm (‘You’ve slept well’, 1956). Written just after the revolution, this work represents one of the earliest and most pessimistic prognostications of what the 1952 revolution would achieve: the complete alienation of the government (as represented by a Cairo-educated villager) from its people (the villagers) (reference). Conceived as an allegory, the work consists of a series of sketches portraying the characters in a Lower Egyptian village before and after 1952 (reference).
- Maḥmūd Diyāb’s (1932 – 1983, Egypt) play Rijāl la-hum Ruʾūs (‘Men Have Heads’). Written in the 1960s, the play tackles a couple’s disillusionment with the reality of the 1952 revolution, as the collective will crushes the individualistic demands of the people and justice is not realized. The play was preformed again by university students after the 2011 revolution (reference) (also in 2011 Arab Uprisings: Egypt).
- Najīb Maḥfūẓ’s novella (1911 – 2006, Egypt) al-Shahhadh (1965, English trans. The Beggar, 1990) is set in Cairo and centres the lawyer ʿUmar, a former socialist and poet who lost all meaning in life and seeks psychological renewal (reference). When his state of being starts to affect his marriage, he seeks solace in relations with a succession of women. When this also does not help, he retreats into the countryside where he eventually enters delirium. Though the character of ʿUmar, the novel reflects on the state of Egypt post 1952 revolution, and the irrelevance and alienation that affected many of Egypt’s youth (also in D: Disabilities, Illness, and Disorders: Psychological Disorders: Hallucination and Deliriums).
- Muḥammad Yūsuf al-Quʿayyid (1944-, Egypt) – Akhbār ʿIzbat al-Manīsī (‘What happened on the Manīsī estate’, 1971). Deals with the killing of a girl who has violated the code of honour after becoming impregnated by the landowner’s son, Ṣafwat. It becomes clear that it is her brother, al-Zanātī, who has poisoned her, but only after the landowner paid the girl’s father to have the baby aborted (reference). The novel is a reflection on the failures of the 1952 revolution, and shows the remnants of feudalism in the country, especially in the countryside (also in P: Police novels, Thrillers and Crimes: Honour Crimes and Blood Feuds).
- ʿAbd al- Raḥmān al-Sharqāwī’s (1920 – 1987, Egypt) Fallāḥ, which deals with the plight of peasants before and after the Egyptian revolution and with the unholy alliance between opportunists, bureaucrats, and landowners. The writer manipulates the characters’ actions and motivations to expose the evils in a way that might eventually bring about social reform (reference).
Refrences:
In order of appearance
- Huwayā Ṣāliḥ. 2010. “Fiyūlīt wa al-Bikbāshī Riwyah Turāhin ʿalā Kashf al-Maskūt ʿAnhu fī Thawrat Jūliyū 1952.” www.ahewar.org, 20 December 2010, https://www.ahewar.org/debat/show.art.asp?aid=238958 (last accessed 22 August 2018)
- EAL, p. 271
- Hilary Kilpatrick. 1992. “The Egyptian novel from Zaynab to 1980.” In Modern Arabic Literature. eds. Muhammad Mustafa Badawi. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 223-270, p. 248Mona Hashish. 2012. “Echoes of the January 25th Revolution. A recent performance of Men have Heads by Muhmud Diyāb.” MEL 15(2): 223-225, 261
- Ali Dakhil Naem and Lajiman Bin Janoory. 2020. “Existential protagonist in Naguib Mahfouz’s novel ‘The Beggar’.” International Journal of English, Literature and Social Sciences 4(4): 1211-1216, p. 1212
- Muhsin Jassim Ali. 1983. “The Socio- Aesthetics of Contemporary Arabic Fiction: An Introduction.” JAL 14(1): 67-84, p. 67