- Najīb Maḥfūẓ (1911 – 2006, Egypt) – Bidāyah wa-Nihāyah (1949, English trans. The Beginning and the End, 1985). This novel tells the story of a middle-class family, with three sons and a daughter, living in the suburbs of Cairo in the 1930s. When the father Kāmil, breadwinner of the family, suddenly dies, the family is left to fend for its own and struggles to make ends meet (reference). Its children find a living in increasingly illegal activities, from drug-trafficking to prostitution, and three of the four children come to a bad end. The novel, in addition to reflecting on the role of the family patriarch, is a socio-political commentary of Egypt in the 1930s, a time of global economic crisis (reference).
- Hishām al-Khashin (1963-, Egypt) – Jrāfīt (‘Graphite’, 2014). Set in Egypt in the turbulent 1920s, this novel focuses on Nawāl, a female artist who is struggling in early 20th century Egypt, a time in which both the Muslim Brothers and Egypt’s women’s movement are gaining importance. Nawāl joins this latter movement after meeting its leader, Duria, when the Egyptian Ministry of Education sends twelve female students to Europe to finish their education, and finds herself becoming a fighter for women’s rights. The novel reflects on the heroine’s journey, as well as the reactions of her social environment (also in I: Ideologies and Political Movements: Feminism: Women in education).
Refrences:
In order of appearance
- M.J. L. Young. 1989. “The Beginning and the End by Naguib Mahfouz; Ramses Hanna Awad; Mason Rossiter Smith; The Search by Naguib Mahfouz; Mohamed Islam; Magdi Wahba; The Beggar by Naguib Mahfouz; Kristin Walker Henry; Nariman Khales Naili al-Warraki Review.” Middle Eastern Studies 25(1): 99-102, p. 99
- Khadījah Qalī Zadih. 2011. “Riwāyah Najīb Maḥfūẓ ‘Bidāyah wa Nihāyah’ fī Ḍawʾ al-Naqd al-Nisāwī.” www.diwanalarab.com, 1 May 2011, https://www.diwanalarab.com/%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%86%D8%AC%D9%8A%D8%A8-%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%81%D9%88%D8%B8