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Al-Ahram Weekly 21 - 28 January 1999 Issue No. 413 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 21 - 28 January 1999 Issue No. 413
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Focus Economy Opinion Culture Features Living Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Obituary
The gentle critic dies
By Amira Howeidy
Ali El-Ra'i was active on the literary scene right up until his death last Monday, at the age of 78. His rich contribution to the arts in Egypt and the Arab world made him one of the most distinguished theatre and literary critics of his generation.
Recipient of several awards and author of a number of seminal works, El-Ra'i marked the period, and most critics in the Arab world today agree they owe him a great debt.
After graduating from Cairo University's Department of English Language and Literature in 1943, El-Ra'i worked for eight years as a broadcaster in Egypt's fledgling broadcasting corporation. After a successful stint with Radio Cairo, El-Ra'i decided to pursue his interest in literature and went to England to study for a PhD at Birmingham University. He chose the plays of George Bernard Shaw as the subject of his doctoral thesis because, as he admitted later, he was at that time enthusiastic about socialist thinking.
On his return to Egypt in 1955, he was given a lectureship at Ain Shams University. In 1956, he began editing the cultural page of Al-Mesaa, a left-wing newspaper, where he was the first literary critic to recognise the talents of Naguib Mahfouz.
During his long career in the arts, El-Ra'i was elected to various committees in the Ministry of Culture and taught at the Cinema Organisation. Between 1962 and 1969 he was head of the Egyptian Organisation of Music and Theatre, where he helped set up a number of theatrical and dance troupes, notably the Folkloric Dance Company and the Puppet Theatre. Despite these achievements, however, El-Ra'i came under attack from established writers, who he believed acted on the orders of the Ministry of Culture, seeking to destroy people his putative masters believed to be leftists.
At that time, Egypt was still reeling from the defeat of the 1967 War. Nasserism had suffered a severe blow and many intellectuals were accused of being subversive, including El-Ra'i himself, who resigned his position.
In 1971, he was appointed editor-in-chief of the prestigious Al-Hilal monthly magazine. However, he was ousted from the post after producing only two issues. In an interview with Al-Ahram Weekly years later, El-Ra'i recalled that when he was alone, he used to cry bitterly. "I wasn't at all happy, despite my achievements, I felt that what I had inside me still hadn't come out."
He decided at this point to turn back to writing, producing a trilogy which became a classic of Egyptian criticism: Improved Comedy; The Art of Comedy from Khayal El-Zill (Shadow Theatre) to Naguib El-Rehani; and The Theatre of Blood and Tears. The trilogy was published under the collective title Popular Theatre. El-Ra'i considered these the most important writings of his life.
Another of his notable contributions was The Impoverished Comedy, published in the 1960s. Critics had previously concentrated on the text of a play, paying little attention to the performance. El-Ra'i, however, regarded the written text as only one aspect of a broader 'text', which included the performance.
His readers looked up to him. President Anwar El-Sadat, however, was less than impressed with El-Ra'i, and cut his salary. With only LE23 in the bank and a family to support, he took up a position at the University of Kuwait as head of the English Literature Department. While he was in Kuwait, he founded the Acting Institute, which later became the Higher Institute for Theatrical Arts.
Four years ago, El-Ra'i joined Al-Ahram as a writer of a weekly column, where many of his articles focused on young, unknown writers and actors. His articles reflected his constant drive to discover talented innovators in the world of the arts.
In 1993, after the publication of The Novel in the Arab World, El-Ra'i was awarded the coveted State Order of Merit for Art. Although he always said awards were meaningless, this recognition came at a time when El-Ra'i, who was at once both modest and proud, had achieved many of his literary goals. "I am very lucky to have achieved everything I ever wanted to. I have never hankered after money, or a villa on the North Coast," he told the Weekly a few years ago.
El-Ra'i is survived by his wife and three children.
