Anā ḥurrah (I Am Free) From Novel to Film: Witness to the 1952 Egyptian Revolution
in La rivista di Arablit, a. XII, n. 23, giugno 2022, pp. 7-24.
This article analyzes the differences between the novel Anā ḥurrah (I Am Free), published in 1954 and written by the Egyptian author and journalist Iḥsān ‘Abd al-Quddūs, and its adaptation to the cinema, released in 1959 and directed by the Egyptian filmmaker Ṣalāḥ Abū Sayf. The article studies how the profound social and political changes that took place in the intervening five years in Egyptian society affected the perception and representation of the plot. While the film retained the primary story line, major variations in background elements and secondary characters reflected the new post-revolutionary political and social Egyptian milieu, especially after Ǧamāl ‘Abd al-Nāṣir became president. The article shows how the story became politicized in its cinematic adaptation to fulfill the requirements of a post-monarchical Egypt in search of a new national identity.
