14 - 20 December 2000
Issue No.512
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 14 - 20 December 2000 Issue No.512 |
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Work in progress
Sir- Just a note to say "thank you" for the thorough review by Amina El-bendary of my book Virtually Islamic in Al-Ahram Weekly ("www.virtualyislamic.com", Books 18, 12-18 October 2000) which was most appreciated. I hope to approach some of the unresolved questions the reviewer referred to in my next volume, currently a work in progress.
Gary Bunt
University of Wales UK
Fair and thorough
Sir- Reference to Omayma Abdel-Latif's review of Hermeneutics and Honor: Negotiating Female Public Space in Islamic/ate Societies published in the books supplement of Al-Ahram Weekly (14-20 September), I would like to thank the reviewer for a fair and quite thorough review.
Asma Afsaruddin
Editor of the book USA
Art, unencumbered
Sir- Re Fayza Hassan's review of my book ("Everybody's Orient," Books, Al-Ahram Weekly, 12-18 October): in the first chapter, I stress that all Orientalist painters were not objective and that my anthology was selective. This book is neither a course nor a thesis. And deliberately, I did not want to "encumber" my study with political aspects. However, I have clearly underlined the diverging opinions: "Art critics also interpret the paintings in a radically different manner. When one is moved by the peaceful, serene, universal vision of a painter, another may view it as the denunciation of fanaticism and barbarity" (page 8 and passim).In my notes and bibliography, I list my main reference: the five volumes by Soad Maher -- who illustrated her own books with the paintings that I mentioned -- and Histoire urbaine du Caire by Ayman Fouad El-Sayed, who quotes numerous publications by Edmond Pauty, André Raymond, Doris Behrens-Abouseif, Nelly Hanna... Therefore, the comment of this journalist -- "her position seems to differ completely from mainstream Egyptian critics" -- is erroneous.
As for El-Gabarti, I referred to the chronicles of the French occupation, only to deplore all the damage caused by the French during that expedition (page 171). How is Fayza Hassan able to describe me as "an Egyptian living abroad and imbued with French culture and values"? Why doesn't she mention the nine volumes of the Biographical and Historical Marvels by Sheikh El-Gabarti that I quoted at length in my book? It is not a fault, as far as I am aware, to have a double Arabic and French culture!
In the chapter titled "Palais et demeures," I show how the paintings of Frank Dillon correspond exactly to the very technical description of the architects Bernard Maury, Mona Zakaria, etc. The 19th-century painters deserve credit for recording monuments that have since disappeared or undergone heavy damage.
Long before I decided to write this book, I gave two lectures: one at the Alexandria Rotary and one at the Centre Culturel in Paris that my compatriots received with great enthusiasm (page 23). They encouraged me to write this book. Painters Gérôme and Willem de Famars Testas, to whom the journalist points in particular, aroused great admiration among my fellow citizens. These artists are especially recognised for their photographic work relating to daily life in Egypt, as evidenced by numerous postcards (page 237 and passim). I am proud to have revealed them to the Egyptians but also to well informed Frenchmen who knew nothing of their work.
This critic accuses me of spreading travellers' accounts that she qualifies as "well-known pseudo-historical tales." What then of the testimony of Pascal Coste, Les Carnets de voyage en Egypte by Fromentin, the writings of Paul-Marie Lenoir, of Charles Lallemand...?
Azza Heikal
Paris
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