Da Piazza al-Taḥrīr all’Università del Cairo, pagine di narrativa araba contemporanea.
(From al-Taḥrīr Square to the Cairo University, pages of contemporary Arabic fiction)
in La rivista di Arablit, a. I, n. 1, giugno 2011, pp. 9-22.
This essay clearly inspired by recent revolutionary events in Egypt is focused on various narratives dealing with important moments of change witnessed by the country during the twentieth century. These works are either autobiographies or novels containing different extents of autobiographism. The memoirs of Hudà al-Ša’rāwī, Inğī Aflaṭūn and Laṭīfah al-Zayyāt are examined along with autobiographical or partly autobiographical novels by Muḥammad al-Busāṭi, Raḍwà ‘Ašūr, Muḥammad al-Barrādah, Ṣun‘allāh Ibrāhīm and again Laṭīfah al-Zayyāt. Presenting this broad spectrum of texts is aimed at highlighting the evolution of Egyptian society as well as of Egypt’s capital city during the above mentioned century. Consistently, special attention is paid to Aṭyāf by Raḍwà ‘Ašūr. Beside historical observations this article also includes textual analysis illustrating prominent features of contemporary Arabic fiction.
