From Hope in a Change to Disenchantment: The Egyptian Revolution in ʿizz al-Dīn Šukrī Fišīr’s Bāb al-Ḫurūǧ
in La rivista di Arablit, a. XIII, n. 26, dicembre 2023, pp. 79-104.
The myth of Pandora’s box as a metaphor for the situation that arose after the Arab Spring can be applied to the dystopian novel Bāb al-ḫurūǧ (The Exit Door, 2012) by the Egyptian writer ʿIzz al-Dīn Šukrī Fišīr. The author offers an accurate insight into the country’s circumstances, opposing the narrative imposed by the current political agenda and foresees Egypt’s tragic future after 2011. Fišīr achieves these outcomes by drawing the protagonist’s progressive awareness of his attitude to his private and public life. The protagonist detaches from reality after a clash with the Egyptian harsh conditions. This contribution offers an analysis of two main aspects of the novel: the author’s stylistic choices and the representation of the Egyptian revolution and its effects both on the individual and on society.
