Al-Ahram Weekly 11 - 17 November 1999 Issue No. 455
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875

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Monthly supplement A spirit of enchantment Last month Cairo celebrated 100 years since the publication of Qassem Amin's "The Liberation of Women". Fayza Hassan reviews the book and reflects on the model and its inspiration A new course of action The full text of Qassem AminOs concluding chapter of The Liberation of Women. Women's Voices Classical Poems by Arab Women -- A Bilingual Anthology, Abdullah al-Udhari, London: Saqi Books, London, 1999. pp240 Confronting loss Diary of a Wave Outside the Sea, Dunya Mikhail, Cairo and Leeds: Ishtar Publishing House, 1999. pp123 Novel knowledge Tashazi Al-Zaman fil Riwaya Al-Haditha (The Fragmentation of Time in the Modern Novel), Amina Rashid, Cairo: GEBO, 1998. pp194 Moveable feast Mulid! Carnivals of Faith, Photographs by Sherif Sonbol, Text by Tarek Atia, Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 1999. pp96 A regard from afar Les Couleurs de l'infamie, Albert Cossery, Paris: Editions Joelle Losfeld, 1999. pp132 Two literary journals *Journal of Arabic Literature, Volume XXX, No. 2, Leiden: Brill, 1999 *Arabic and Middle Eastern Literatures, Volume 2, Number 2, Basingtoke: Carfax Publishing Taylor & Francis Ltd, 1999 To the editor At a glance By Mahmoud El-Wardani Magazines and Periodicals: *Al-Hadatha Al-Tabi'a fil Thaqafa Al-Misriya (Dependence in Modern Egyptian Culture), Sayed El-Bahrawi, Cairo: Mirette Publications, 1999. pp233 *Fi Wada' Al-Qarn Al-'Ishrin (Farewell to the 20th Century), Ramzi Zaki, Cairo: Al-Mostaqbal Al-Arabi, 1999. pp442 *Al-Yahoud fi Misr Al-Mamloukiya (The Jews in Mameluke Egypt), Mahasen Mohamed El-Waqqar, Cairo: GEBO, 1999. pp471 *Misr wa Riyah Al-'Awlama (Egypt and the Winds of Globalisation), Mahmoud Abdel-Fadil, Cairo: Al-Hilal, 1999. pp264 *Taw'am Al-Solta wal Jins (The Twin Issue of Power and Sex), Nawal El-Sa'dawi, Cairo: Dar Al-Mostaqbal Al-'Arabi, 1999. pp257 Books: *Al-Kotob: Wughat Nazar (Books: Viewpoints), monthly magazine, November 1999, Cairo: The Egyptian Company for Arab and International Publication *Al-Arabi, a monthly magazine, November 1999, Kuwait: Ministry of Information *Mediterraneans: Voices from Morocco: a quarterly publication, winter 1999 *Ahwal Misriya (Egyptian Chronicles), a quarterly magazine, autumn 1999, Cairo: Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies *Al-'Osour Al-Jadida (New Eras), monthly magazine, issue no. 1, 1999, Cairo: Dar Sinai *Al-Hilal, monthly magazine, Oct 1999, Cairo: Al-Hilal Publishing House *Amkena (Places), an occasional publication, 1999, Cairo: Samizdat *Adab wa Naqd (Literature and Criticism), Monthly literary magazine, Oct. 1999, Cairo: Progressive National Unionist Party publications *Nour, Occasional Review of Books, Fall 1999, Cairo: Arab Women's Publishing House To see other book supplements go to the ARCHIVES index.    Illustrations courtesy of International Commitee of the Red Cross "Folk drawings and tales", Cairo, 1996

Mulid! Carnivals of Faith, Photographs by Sherif Sonbol, Text by Tarek Atia, Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 1999. pp96

Moveable feast

Deciding to issue a book about mulids could prove a bold and dangerous undertaking. Many a text and many a photograph have attempted to describe and/or capture this most overwhelming of socio-religious phenomena, most of them failing miserably if only for tackling the subject from an orientalist viewpoint, exoticising what certainly requires no such treatment. It is therefore with a suspicious eye that many readers approach such publications, and rightly so.

Mulid!, however, comes close to an intelligent reader's expectations. Sherif Sonbol's lens grasps many more facets of the mulid than the traditional photographs one has grown accustomed to, if not tired of. As well as providing a detached, overall view of those huge human gatherings, Sonbol also sympathetically exposes the faces of those who attend either for the religious or the social dimensions of the mulid. Women, children, shabab, vendors and what they sell, entertainers and what they create, are as present as the men caught in the dizzying spell of the zikr.

The photographs are accompanied by well-chosen excerpts from established writers, both Arab and foreign, providing many glimpses of an event which has probably changed very little over time. More illuminating, however, is Tarek Atia's objective and balanced description of an event he personally (and accurately) describes as indescribable. Furthermore, Atia brings to light some of the more distinguished mulid performers who, each in his particular way, contributes in making the event an occasion for the people, regardless of rank, creed or faith.

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