Naguib Mahfouz
Naguib Mahfouz Nobel Prize for Literature | |
---|---|
Spouse |
Atiyatullah Ibrahim (m. 1954) |
Children | 2 |
Naguib Mahfouz Abdelaziz Ibrahim Ahmed Al-Basha (
Early life and education
Mahfouz was born in a lower middle-class Muslim Egyptian family in
The Mahfouz family were devout Muslims and Mahfouz had a strict Islamic upbringing. In an interview, he elaborated on the stern religious climate at home during his childhood. He stated, "You would never have thought that an artist would emerge from that family."[4]
The
In his early years, Mahfouz read extensively and was influenced by Hafiz Najib, Taha Hussein and Salama Moussa, the Fabian intellectual.[6]
After completing his secondary education, Mahfouz was admitted in 1930 to the Egyptian University (now Cairo University), where he studied philosophy, graduating in 1934. By 1936, having spent a year working on an M.A. in philosophy, he decided to discontinue his studies and become a professional writer. He published his first work in Al Majalla Al Jadida, a magazine started by Salama Musa in 1929.[7] Mahfouz then worked as a journalist for Arrissalah, and contributed short stories to Al-Hilal and Al-Ahram.[8]
Civil service
After receiving his bachelor's degree in philosophy from
Writing career
Mahfouz published 34 novels, over 350 short stories, dozens of screenplays, and five plays over a 70-year career. Possibly his most famous work,
Writing style and themes
Most of Mahfouz's early works were set in
Mahfouz's prose is characterised by the blunt expression of his ideas. His written works cover a broad range of topics, including the controversial and taboo such as socialism, homosexuality, and God. Writing about some of these subjects was prohibited in Egypt.[12]
Mahfouz's works often deal with Egypt's development during the 20th century, and combined intellectual and cultural influences from both East and West. His own exposure to foreign literature began in his youth with the enthusiastic consumption of Western detective stories, Russian classics, and modernist writers as Marcel Proust, Franz Kafka and James Joyce. Mahfouz's stories are almost always set in the heavily populated urban quarters of Cairo, where his characters, usually ordinary people, try to cope with the modernization of society and the temptations of Western values.[12]
Mahfouz's central work in the 1950s was the
Disappointed in the Nasser régime, which had overthrown the monarchy in 1952, he started publishing again in 1959, now prolifically pouring out novels, short stories, journalism, memoirs, essays, and screenplays.[12] He stated in a 1998 interview that he "long felt that Nasser was one of the greatest political leaders in modern history. I only began to fully appreciate him after he nationalized the Suez Canal."[13] His non-fiction, including his journalism and essays and his writing on literature and philosophy, were published in four volumes from 2016.[14]
His 1966 novel Tharthara Fawq Al-Nīl (
The
In the 1960s, Mahfouz further developed the theme that humanity is moving further away from God in his existentialist novels. In The Thief and the Dogs (1961) he depicted the fate of a Marxist thief who has been released from prison and plans revenge.[12]
In the 1960s and 1970s Mahfouz began to construct his novels more freely and often used
Many of his novels were first published in serialized form, including Children of Gebelawi and Midaq Alley which was also adapted into a Mexican film starring Salma Hayek called El callejón de los milagros.
Political influence
Most of Mahfouz's writings deal mainly with politics, a fact he acknowledged: "In all my writings, you will find politics. You may find a story which ignores love or any other subject, but not politics; it is the very axis of our thinking".[15]
He espoused Egyptian nationalism in many of his works, and expressed sympathies for the post-World-War-era Wafd Party.[6] He was also attracted to socialist and democratic ideals early in his youth. The influence of socialist ideals is strongly reflected in his first two novels, Al-Khalili and New Cairo, as well as many of his later works. Parallel to his sympathy for socialism and democracy was his antipathy towards Islamic extremism.[12]
In his youth, Mahfouz had personally known
Mahfouz's writing influenced a new generation of Egyptian lawyers, including Nabil Mounir and Reda Aslan.[15]
Reception
Mahfouz's translated works received praise from American critics:
"The alleys, the houses, the palaces and mosques and the people who live among them are evoked as vividly in Mahfouz's work as the streets of London were conjured by Dickens." —Newsweek[12]
"Throughout Naguib Mahfouz's fiction there is a pervasive sense of metaphor, of a literary artist who is using his fiction to speak directly and unequivocally to the condition of his country. His work is imbued with love for Egypt and its people, but it is also utterly honest and unsentimental."
—
"Mahfouz's work is freshly nuanced and hauntingly lyrical. The Nobel Prize acknowledges the universal significance of [his] fiction." —Los Angeles Times[12]
"Mr. Mahfouz embodied the essence of what makes the bruising, raucous, chaotic human anthill of Cairo possible." —The Economist[12]
Nobel Prize for Literature
Mahfouz was awarded the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature, the only Arab writer to have won the award. Shortly after winning the prize Mahfouz was quoted as saying:
The Nobel Prize has given me, for the first time in my life, the feeling that my literature could be appreciated on an international level. The Arab world also won the Nobel with me. I believe that international doors have opened, and that from now on, literate people will consider Arab literature also. We deserve that recognition.[16]
The Swedish letter to Mahfouz praised his "rich and complex work":
[It] invites us to reconsider the fundamental things in life. Themes like the nature of time and love, society and norms, knowledge and faith recur in a variety of situations and are presented in thought-provoking, evocative, and clearly daring ways. And the poetic quality of your prose can be felt across the language barrier. In the prize citation you are credited with the forming of an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind.[17]
Because Mahfouz found traveling to Sweden difficult at his age, he did not attend the award ceremony.
Political involvement
Mahfouz did not shrink from controversy outside of his work. As a consequence of his support for Sadat's Camp David peace treaty with Israel in 1978, his books were banned in many Arab countries until after he won the Nobel Prize. Like many Egyptian writers and intellectuals, Mahfouz was on an Islamic fundamentalist "death list".
He defended British-Indian writer
In 1989, after Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwa calling for Rushdie and his publishers to be killed, Mahfouz called Khomeini a terrorist.[18] Shortly after, Mahfouz joined 80 other intellectuals in declaring that "no blasphemy harms Islam and Muslims so much as the call for murdering a writer."[19]
Assassination attempt and aftermath
The publication of
He survived, permanently affected by damage to nerves of his right upper limb. After the incident, Mahfouz was unable to write for more than a few minutes a day and consequently produced fewer and fewer works. Subsequently, he lived under constant bodyguard protection. Finally, in the beginning of 2006, the novel was published in Egypt with a preface written by Ahmad Kamal Aboul-Magd. After the threats, Mahfouz stayed in Cairo with his lawyer, Nabil Mounir Habib. Mahfouz and Mounir would spend most of their time in Mounir's office; Mahfouz used Mounir's library as a reference for most of his books. Mahfouz stayed with Mounir until his death.[21]
Personal life
Mahfouz remained a bachelor until age 43 because he believed that, with its numerous restrictions and limitations, marriage would hamper his literary future.[6] "I was afraid of marriage . . . especially when I saw how busy my brothers and sisters were with social events because of it. This one went to visit people, that one invited people. I had the impression that married life would take up all my time. I saw myself drowning in visits and parties. No freedom."[22]
However, in 1954, he quietly married a Coptic Orthodox woman from Alexandria, Atiyyatallah Ibrahim,[23] with whom he had two daughters, Fatima and Umm Kalthum. The couple initially lived on a houseboat in the Agouza section of Cairo on the west bank of the Nile, then moved to an apartment along the river in the same area. Mahfouz avoided public exposure, especially inquiries into his private life, which might have become, as he put it, "a silly topic in journals and radio programs."[12]
Mahfouz distinctly did not like to travel. Belgrade was one of the few cities to which he gladly went and he expressed great respect for Serbia.[24]
Works
- A translation into Arabic of James Baikie's Ancient Egypt (1932) مصر القديمة
- Whisper of Madness (1938) همس الجنون
- Mockery of the Fates (1939) عبث الأقدار. His first full-length novel, translated title in English Khufu's Wisdom.
- Rhadopis of Nubia (1943) رادوبيس
- The Struggle of Thebes(1944) كفاح طيبة
- Cairo Modern (1945) القاهرة الجديدة
- Khan al-Khalili (1945) خان الخليلي
- Midaq Alley (1947) زقاق المدق
- The Mirage (1948) السراب
- The Beginning and the End (1949) بداية ونهاية
- Palace Walk (1956) بين القصرين (Cairo Trilogy, Part 1)
- Palace of Desire (1957) قصر الشوق (Cairo Trilogy, Part 2)
- Sugar Street (1957) السكرية (Cairo Trilogy, Part 3)
- Children of Gebelawi (1959) أولاد حارتنا
- The Thief and the Dogs (1961) اللص والكلاب
- Autumn Quail (1962) السمان والخريف
- God's World(1962) دنيا الله
- Zaabalawi (1961) زعبلاوي
- The Search (1964) الطريق
- The Beggar (1965) الشحاذ
- Adrift on the Nile (1966) ثرثرة فوق النيل
- Miramar (1967) ميرامار
- The Pub of the Black Cat (1969) خمارة القط الأسود
- A Story Without a Beginning or an Ending (1971) حكاية بلا بداية ولا نهاية
- The Honeymoon (1971) شهر العسل
- Mirrors (1972) المرايا
- Love in the Rain (1973) الحب تحت المطر
- The Crime (1973) الجريمة
- Karnak Café (1974) الكرنك
- Stories from Our Neighbourhood (حكايات حارتنا (1975
- Respected Sir (1975) حضرة المحترم
- The Harafish (1977) ملحمة الحرافيش
- Love above the Pyramid Plateau (1979) الحب فوق هضبة الهرم
- The Devil Preaches (1979) الشيطان يعظ
- Arabian Nights and Days (1979) ليالي ألف ليلة
- Love and the Veil (1980) عصر الحب
- Wedding Song (novel) (1981) (also known as Joys of the Dome) أفراح القبة
- I Saw, in a Dream (1982), including the short story "Qismati and Nasibi" (My Fate and My Destiny)
- One Hour Remains (1982; also published in translation as The Final Hour) الباقي من الزمن ساعة
- The Journey of Ibn Fattouma (1983) رحلة ابن فطومة
- Akhenaten, Dweller in Truth (1985) العائش فى الحقيقة
- The Day the Leader was Killed(1985) يوم مقتل الزعيم
- Al-Go'a) (1986) الجوع
- Please and Your Kindness (1986) من فضلك وإحسانك
- Morning and Evening Talk (1987) حديث الصباح والمساء
- The False Dawn (1988) الفجر الكاذب
- The Coffeehouse (1988)
- Echoes of an Autobiography (1994) أصداء السيرة الذاتية
- Echoes of Forgetness صدى النسيان (1999)
- Dreams of the Rehabilitation Period (2004) أحلام فترة النقاهة
- —— (2005), "The Situation of the Novel", World Literature Today, 79 (2), translated by Sultan, Sabbar S.: 46–47, JSTOR 40158674
- The Seventh Heaven (2005)
- Dreams of Departure (2007; posthumous translation)
- Before the Throne (2009; posthumous translation) أمام العرش
- In the Time of Love (2010; posthumous translation)
- Heart of the Night (2011; posthumous translation)
- The Quarter (short stories, 2019; posthumous translation)
Honours
Ribbon bar | Country | Honour |
---|---|---|
Egypt | Grand Cordon of the Order of the Nile | |
Egypt | Grand Cordon of the Order of the Arab Republic of Egypt | |
Egypt | Grand Cross of the Order of Merit (Egypt) | |
Chile | First Class of the Order of Educational and Cultural Merit Gabriela Mistral | |
France | Commandeur of Ordre des Arts et des Lettres | |
Italy | Grand officier of Order of Merit of the Italian Republic | |
Tunisia | Grand Cordon of the National Order of Merit of Tunisia |
Bibliography
- Somekh, Sasson (1973). The Changing Rhythm: A Study of Najib Mahfuz's Novels. Leiden: Brill.
See also
- List of Egyptian authors
- List of African writers
- The Beginning and the End
References
- ISBN 0313268762.
- ISBN 0313268762.
- ^ حياة نجيب محفوظArchived 22 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ ISBN 978-0-415-07395-0.
- ^ Stock, A Mummy Awakens: The Pharaonic Fiction of Naguib Mahfouz, pg. 13-14
- ^ a b c Charlotte El Shabrawy (Summer 1992). "Naguib Mahfouz, The Art of Fiction No. 129". The Paris Review. Summer 1992 (123).
- JSTOR 26191813.
- JSTOR 26191813– via JSTOR.
- ^ El-Enany, Rasheed. "Naguib Mahfouz: His Life and Times". Cairo:AUC Press, 2007. pp 170–174
- ISBN 978-981-02-1177-6. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
- ^ "The Novel~Tea Book Club discussion". GoodReads. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Naguib Mahfouz (1911–2006)". The American University in Cairo Press. AUC Press. Archived from the original on 2 June 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
- ^ Hamad, Mahmoud. (2008) When the Gavel Speaks: Judicial Politics in Modern Egypt Archived 22 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine. p. 96 (Hamad cites an interview of Mahfouz by Al-Ahram Weekly in September 1998.)
- ISBN 9781909942523.
- ^ a b Rasheed El-Enany, Naguib Mahfouz: The Pursuit of Meaning, Routledge, 1992, p. 23.
- ^ Luxner, Larry (March–April 1988). "A Nobel for the Arab Nation". Aramco World. Houston: Aramco Services Company. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
- ^ "Award Ceremony Speech". Nobel Prize.org. Nobel Media. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
- ^ Deseret Morning News editorial (7 September 2006). "The legacy of a laureate". Deseret News. Archived from the original on 28 June 2009. Retrieved 20 September 2007.
- ^ Le Monde, 8 March 1989
- ^ "President pays tribute to Mahfouz". BBC News. 30 August 2006.
- ^ "Naguib Mahfouz – Biographical". nobelprize.org.
- ^ El Shabrawy, Charlotte. "Naguib Mahfouz, The Art of Fiction No. 129". The Paris Review. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
- ^ El-Enany, Rasheed. "Naguib Mahfouz: His Life and Times". Cairo:AUC Press, 2007. p 172
- ^ Serbia, RTS, Radio televizija Srbije, Radio Television of. "Нагиб Махфуз, нобеловац који није волео да путује, осим у Београд". www.rts.rs. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
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External links
- Naguib Mahfouz on his English publisher's website
- Naguib Mahfouz – The Son of Two Civilizations at Nobel Prize website
- Naguib Mahfouz on Nobelprize.org
- Petri Liukkonen. "Naguib Mahfouz". Books and Writers.
- BBC Obituary
- The 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Naguib Mahfouz at Qantara.de
- Mahfouz Centennial Celebrations 2011 at The American University in Cairo Press