- ʿAlī Aḥmad Bakāthīr’s (1910 – 1969, Egypt) play Mʾasāt al-ʾUdīb (1949, English trans. The Tragedy of Oedipus, 2006) reflects on the historical and politically influenced conflict between Islamists and the growing Marxist movement in the Arab world in the 1940s. Oedipus, a Marxists, fails to achieve social justice while his enemy, Tiresias, does succeed by suggesting that social justice can only be reached by the will of God (reference) (also in I: Ideologies and Political Movements: Communism and Marxism). The play deploys the tradition of ‘al-Jawqah’ (that of a choir in the play) to represent the people of Thebes (reference). The English translation of the play appeared in The Arab Oedipus: Four Plays (2006, ed. Marvin Carlson).
- Fawzī Fihmī Aḥmad’s (1938-, Egypt) play ʿAwdat al-Ghāʾib (‘The return of the absentee’, 1977). This adaption of Oedipus’ play inverts a series of events as they appear in the original play by Sophocles and emphasizes the corruption of those “who machinate for power by manipulating the tragedy of others, and thus society at large” (reference).
- Tawfīq al-Ḥakīm’s (1898 – 1987, Egypt) play al-Malik Ūdīb (1949, English trans. King Oedipus, 2006) reworks the Oedipus legend to conform to Islamic beliefs (reference). In the adaption of al-Ḥakīm, Oedipus, after discovering that he is a foundling, is driven by the quest for the killer of Laius (reference). However, his quest leads him to face a difficult reality. This is the tragedy of the play: his search for truth unchains a series of events that eventually lead to his downfall (reference). The play downplays mythical elements and gives more space to human feelings (reference). The English translation of the play appeared in The Arab Oedipus: Four Plays (2006, ed. Marvin Carlson).
- ʿAlī Sālim’s (1936 – 2015, Egypt) play Kūmīdīyā Udīb aw Anta illī Qatalta al-Waḥsh (1970, English trans. The Comedy of Oedipus, 2006) is a satirical, loose adaption of Oedipus’ story in which the characters are placed in the environment of the ancient Egyptian city of Thebes, which through technological development has transformed into a modern 20th century state city. The plot explores the ways in which political authority can be manipulated and the media can be exploited to persuade and mislead the populace (reference). It is a reflection and critique on the tyranny of Nasser’s regime and discusses the situation that led to the 1967 defeat (reference) (also in 1967 al-Naksah). The English translation of the play appeared in The Arab Oedipus: Four Plays (2006, ed. Marvin Carlson).
- Muḥammad al-Shirkī (1958-, Morocco) – al-ʿAshāʾ al-Suflā (‘Underground dinner’, 1987). This novel is a coming-of-age story of its main character, Mughrān, who is deeply in love with Mayzān. During the novel however, it turns out that Mayzān may very well be his mother, and her fate does not end well (reference). The novel refers to the Sufi tradition but also to the Moroccan Amazigh and Arabic, and Greek legends and myths such as Oedipus (also in L: Love, Lust, and Relationship: Lust and Sex: Incest).
- Walīd Ikhlāṣī (1935 – 2022, Syria) – Ūdībūs (1978, English trans. Oedipus, 2006), places the play in a contemporary Levantine or Greater Syrian setting, in which a computer predicts the fate of its main character, a scientist and a father, who does not believe the prediction. In this adaption, instead of a son marrying his mother and killing his father, the scientist-father has an affair with his unknown daughter and impregnates her (reference). The English translation of the play appeared in The Arab Oedipus: Four Plays (2006, ed. Marvin Carlson).
- Wajdi Mouawad (1968-, Lebanon / Canada) Incendies (2003, English trans. Scorched, 2009). This play is a loose adaption of the ancient Greek play Oedipus and set in an unknown country in the Middle East that is torn by sectarian violence. The story focusses on Nawāl Marwan, and her eventual death which leads her twin children, Simon and Jeanne, to find both a father and a brother, taking them on a journey through their mother’s past (reference). Incendies is the second play in a tetralogy by the author that explores the question of origin, together with Littoral (1999, English trans. Tideline, 2002) and Forêts (2006, English trans. Forests, 2010).
Refrences:
In order of appearance
- Mohammad Almohanna. 2016. “Greek Drama in the Arab World.” A Handbook to the Reception of Greek Drama, eds. Betine van Zyl Smit. John Wiley & Sons: Chichester, West Sussex, p. 370
- Muṣṭafā ʿAbdallah. 1983. Usṭūrah Ūdīd fī al-Masraḥ al-Muʿāṣir. al-Hayʾah al-Maṣriyyah al-ʿĀmah lil-Kutub: Cairo, p. 128
- Philip F. Kennedy. 2017. “The Arab Oedipus: ancient categories, modern fiction.” MEL 20 (1): 64-77, p. 68
- EAL, p. 264
- Philip F. Kennedy. 2017. “The Arab Oedipus: ancient categories, modern fiction.” MEL 20 (1): 64-77, p. 67
- Ali al-Raʿi. 1992. “Arabic Drama since the thirties.” In Modern Arabic Literature. eds. Muhammad Mustafa Badawi. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 358-404, p. 375
- Mohammad Almohanna. 2016. “Greek Drama in the Arab World.” A Handbook to the Reception of Greek Drama, eds. Betine van Zyl Smit. John Wiley & Sons: Chichester, West Sussex, p. 336
- Roger Allen. 2000. An Introduction to Arabic Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 205
- ʿAbd al-Majīd al-Ḥasīb. “Safr fī Mutāhāt al-Aghwār al-Suflā: Qirāʾah fī Riwāyah ‘al-ʿAdhā al-Suflā’ li-Muḥammad al-Shirkī”, p. 1 Retrieved through http://ead-fl.uit.ac.ma/pluginfile.php/120580/mod_resource/content/1/%D8%B3%D9%81%D8%B1%20%D9%81%D9%8A%20%D9%85%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%87%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%BA%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B1%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%81%D9%84%D9%89%20%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%83%D9%8A.pdf (last accessed 11 November 2023)
- Philip F. Kennedy. 2017. “The Arab Oedipus: ancient categories, modern fiction.” MEL 20 (1): 64-77
- Yana Meerzon. 2013. “Staging Memory in Wajdi Mouawad’s Incendies: Archaeological Site or Poetic Venue?” Theatre Research in Canada / Recherches théâtrales Au Canada 34(1). Retrieved from https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/tric/article/view/21195/244744 (last accessed 2 November 2023)