A shorthand guide to the month compiled by Mahmoud El-Wardani
Magazines and Periodicals
Nizwa, quarterly cultural journal, issue 26, April 2001, Muscat, Oman
Besides the editor's opening piece, "Cairo in the Early Seventies: a Sublime, Tearful Cloud," a poetic reflection on this unique period in recent history, the current issue of Nizwa spans a typically wide range of topics from Deconstruction, nihilism and the failure of the Enlightenment to the "corrupters of democracy" and the "creative movement in Sufi experience." Translations abound, including the full text of a film by Ingmar Bergman by Maha Lutfi. In its "Interview" section, the magazine offers insights into the thought of the influential Moroccan academic and intellectual Mohamed Arkoun, who spoke expansively to Nizwa on a recent visit to Oman. The current issue also showcases short stories and poems by a number of emerging Arab writers.
Sotour, monthly magazine, issue no.55, May 2001, Cairo: Sotour Publications
The main theme of this issue of the Cairo monthly Sotour is that of beginnings and endings, a starting point from which various authors develop their own ideas on different contemporary issues. Thus, Gamil Matar writes on globalisation, Ali Mabruk on "the Age of Illusions;" Mohamed El-Sayed Said on "Doomsday and the Poverty of Politics," Montaser Hamada on ideology and utopia, Ashraf El-Sabbagh on the Russian spacecraft Mir, Raouf Abbas on "Scenarios for a new Nakba," and Hossam Reda on the New World Order. The magazine's arts section features an interview with artist George Bahgory, as well as critical articles on the work of Omar El-Nagdi and on Sudanese artist Hassan Ali. The issue also includes poems and stories by Tamim El-Barghouti, Moussa Hawamda, Hoda Tawfik and Mahmoud Soliman, among others.
Nour, occasional journal, issue no.17, Spring 2001, Cairo: Dar Al-Mar'ah Al-Arabiyya Lil-Abhath wa Al-Nashr
The latest issue of this respected Cairo publication looks in detail at prospects for the Iraqi Woman and includes an excellent introduction to the subject by Professor Ferial Ghazoul, who writes especially well on the need to go beyond the discourse of the official Iraqi media in assessing women's issues in contemporary Iraq. From there, the issue is divided into three main sections. The first contains testimony by six Iraqi women from a variety of backgrounds and occupying a variety of roles about the realities of "life under siege." The second, devoted to creative writing, includes short stories by Irada El-Jabouri, Badi'a Amin and Siham Jabbar, as well as a critical assessment of the novel Kam Badat Al-Samaa Qariba [How Close Heaven Seemed] by Iraqi novelist Batoul El-Khudieri by critic Mahmoud Amin El-Alim. The third and last section presents six well-researched papers on the adverse effects of the embargo on Iraqi women from a variety of perspectives. The issue also includes a valuable bibliography of Iraqi women's writing.
Al-Hilal (The Crescent), monthly magazine, June 2001, Cairo: Al-Hilal Publishing House
This month's edition of Al-Hilal focuses on issues in contemporary literary criticism, boasting an array of established names from Ibrahim Fathi on the function of criticism at the present time to Sabri Hafez on the current state of Western literary criticism. Apart from these articles, the bulk of the issue looks at the Palestinian Intifada and related topics, Ahmed Youssef Ahmed writing on ending violence or liquidating resistance, and Raouf Abbas on the continuing fallout of the 1967 War. Elsewhere, economist Galal Amin writes on the possibility of a twentieth-century Third-World grand narrative, and Abdel-Rahman Shaker writes on Arab-Russian relations and the political imbalances engendered by the US-dominated New World Order. Other highlights include a portrait of the city of Rashid, "city of history and heroism," and reflections by Gamil Mattar on the emergence of the e-book as an alternative to print media. Finally, Abdel-Azim Anis resumes his autobiographical reflections, this time on his formative years.
Alam Al-Fikr, volume 29, no.3, Spring 2001, Kuwait: The National Council for Culture, Arts and Literature
The principal theme discussed in the current issue of Alam Al-Fikr is the concept and practice of Enlightenment in the Arab World, including both essays and academic papers on this theme by a variety of hands. Scholar Ghanim Hana, for example, examines Enlightenment rationality, while Ahmed Abu-Zeid offers an overview of the Enlightenment in the Arab World and Tayib Tezini presents what he terms a "Statement on the Arab Renaissance." More ambitiously, Hassan Hanafi supplies the outlines for "a new Arab Enlightenment," with, elsewhere in the magazine, Kamal Abdel-Latif exploring the "rebuilding of Arab political structures" and Karim Abu-Halawa taking a hard look at the cultural effects of globalisation.
Books
Shi'riyat Al-I'lan (Poetics of Advertising), Gamil Abdel- Meguid, Cairo: Dar Qibaa, for Printing and Publication, 2001. pp151
Though the advertising industry has long fascinated academics working in economics and political science, it has until recently failed to interest literary critics or those working in the humanities more generally. However, in the present book Gamil Abdel-Meguid seeks to remedy this situation, looking at the contemporary advertisement as a semiotic object in its own right and as the characteristic literary genre of the postmodern world. The author also discusses the typical process of staging an advertising campaign, looking at its development from inception to completion.
Dhakirat Filastin: Fi Filastin Nudafi' 'An Mustaqbal Misr (Memory of Palestine: In Palestine We Defend Egypt's Future), Occasional Book Series No. 2, Cairo: Fustat Centre for Studies and Publishing, 20001. pp96
The second instalment of this salutary endeavour to keep Palestine alive as the Intifada rages on is divided into seven principal sections, each of which contains items loosely related to that section's title. The first section, for example, entitled "The Memory of Olives," includes articles on a variety of topics, with Soliman Natour writing on "Memory," an interview with Ismail Sabri Abdullah on "the future of Egypt in Palestine," Abdel-Qader Yasin remembering the role of Palestine in Nasser's politics, Zeinab Khier looking at February as a crucial month in the history of Palestine, and Mustafa El-Husseini relating the 1987 Intifada to the current Al-Aqsa Intifada.
Mufakahat Al-Khillan fi Rihlat Al-Yaban (Laughing with the Fellows on the Way to Japan), Youssef El-Qa'id, Cairo: Dar Al-Shurouq, 2001. pp317
This book is a record of a month's stay in Japan in 1993 by Egyptian novelist Youssef El-Qa'id. Invited by the Japan Foundation to spend a month in the country touring Japan's cities and countryside, El-Qa'id places the accent on the advanced state of Japanese industry and the differences between Japanese culture and the rural Egyptian culture in which he grew up. Inexplicably, the book has apparently languished unpublished since 1995, when, according to the "Introduction," El-Qa'id completed it.
Fi Sabah Jamil Kahadha (On a Beautiful Morning such as this), Farid Abu-Se'da, Cairo: General Egyptian Book Organization, 2001. pp158
The 21 poems making up this volume of poetry by Farid Abu- Se'da have been selected from five collections published between 1995 and 1997, and according to the poet they have been chosen to reflect the essential features of his style. Thus far, Abu-Se'da has published eight collections of poetry, as well as three plays, in all of which he had shown a desire to invoke, and then to subvert, past poetic traditions.
Min Al-Tadakhul ila Al-Tafa'ul Al-Hadari, (From Sociocultural Interference to Cross-cultural Interaction), Magdi Youssef, Cairo: Al-Hilal Book, Dar Al-Hilal, 2001. pp391
This valuable book, published by the prestigious monthly books series of Dar Al-Hilal Publishing House, and written by the renowned culture critic Magdi Youssef, deals with the challenges globalisation posits for Third World countries. The main concern of the book is how people of the Third World could be not merely consumers of knowledge but also producers. It is divided into three sections; the first dealing with theoretical approaches to the dialectics of the self and the other in the present time, the second attempts an application of the theory elaborated in the first section on selected works of literature and art. The final section engages in critical debates with a number of well-known figures in Arab culture.
Besides the editor's opening piece, "Cairo in the Early Seventies: a Sublime, Tearful Cloud," a poetic reflection on this unique period in recent history, the current issue of Nizwa spans a typically wide range of topics from Deconstruction, nihilism and the failure of the Enlightenment to the "corrupters of democracy" and the "creative movement in Sufi experience." Translations abound, including the full text of a film by Ingmar Bergman by Maha Lutfi. In its "Interview" section, the magazine offers insights into the thought of the influential Moroccan academic and intellectual Mohamed Arkoun, who spoke expansively to Nizwa on a recent visit to Oman. The current issue also showcases short stories and poems by a number of emerging Arab writers.
The main theme of this issue of the Cairo monthly Sotour is that of beginnings and endings, a starting point from which various authors develop their own ideas on different contemporary issues. Thus, Gamil Matar writes on globalisation, Ali Mabruk on "the Age of Illusions;" Mohamed El-Sayed Said on "Doomsday and the Poverty of Politics," Montaser Hamada on ideology and utopia, Ashraf El-Sabbagh on the Russian spacecraft Mir, Raouf Abbas on "Scenarios for a new Nakba," and Hossam Reda on the New World Order. The magazine's arts section features an interview with artist George Bahgory, as well as critical articles on the work of Omar El-Nagdi and on Sudanese artist Hassan Ali. The issue also includes poems and stories by Tamim El-Barghouti, Moussa Hawamda, Hoda Tawfik and Mahmoud Soliman, among others.
The latest issue of this respected Cairo publication looks in detail at prospects for the Iraqi Woman and includes an excellent introduction to the subject by Professor Ferial Ghazoul, who writes especially well on the need to go beyond the discourse of the official Iraqi media in assessing women's issues in contemporary Iraq. From there, the issue is divided into three main sections. The first contains testimony by six Iraqi women from a variety of backgrounds and occupying a variety of roles about the realities of "life under siege." The second, devoted to creative writing, includes short stories by Irada El-Jabouri, Badi'a Amin and Siham Jabbar, as well as a critical assessment of the novel Kam Badat Al-Samaa Qariba [How Close Heaven Seemed] by Iraqi novelist Batoul El-Khudieri by critic Mahmoud Amin El-Alim. The third and last section presents six well-researched papers on the adverse effects of the embargo on Iraqi women from a variety of perspectives. The issue also includes a valuable bibliography of Iraqi women's writing.
This month's edition of Al-Hilal focuses on issues in contemporary literary criticism, boasting an array of established names from Ibrahim Fathi on the function of criticism at the present time to Sabri Hafez on the current state of Western literary criticism. Apart from these articles, the bulk of the issue looks at the Palestinian Intifada and related topics, Ahmed Youssef Ahmed writing on ending violence or liquidating resistance, and Raouf Abbas on the continuing fallout of the 1967 War. Elsewhere, economist Galal Amin writes on the possibility of a twentieth-century Third-World grand narrative, and Abdel-Rahman Shaker writes on Arab-Russian relations and the political imbalances engendered by the US-dominated New World Order. Other highlights include a portrait of the city of Rashid, "city of history and heroism," and reflections by Gamil Mattar on the emergence of the e-book as an alternative to print media. Finally, Abdel-Azim Anis resumes his autobiographical reflections, this time on his formative years.
The principal theme discussed in the current issue of Alam Al-Fikr is the concept and practice of Enlightenment in the Arab World, including both essays and academic papers on this theme by a variety of hands. Scholar Ghanim Hana, for example, examines Enlightenment rationality, while Ahmed Abu-Zeid offers an overview of the Enlightenment in the Arab World and Tayib Tezini presents what he terms a "Statement on the Arab Renaissance." More ambitiously, Hassan Hanafi supplies the outlines for "a new Arab Enlightenment," with, elsewhere in the magazine, Kamal Abdel-Latif exploring the "rebuilding of Arab political structures" and Karim Abu-Halawa taking a hard look at the cultural effects of globalisation.
Though the advertising industry has long fascinated academics working in economics and political science, it has until recently failed to interest literary critics or those working in the humanities more generally. However, in the present book Gamil Abdel-Meguid seeks to remedy this situation, looking at the contemporary advertisement as a semiotic object in its own right and as the characteristic literary genre of the postmodern world. The author also discusses the typical process of staging an advertising campaign, looking at its development from inception to completion.
The second instalment of this salutary endeavour to keep Palestine alive as the Intifada rages on is divided into seven principal sections, each of which contains items loosely related to that section's title. The first section, for example, entitled "The Memory of Olives," includes articles on a variety of topics, with Soliman Natour writing on "Memory," an interview with Ismail Sabri Abdullah on "the future of Egypt in Palestine," Abdel-Qader Yasin remembering the role of Palestine in Nasser's politics, Zeinab Khier looking at February as a crucial month in the history of Palestine, and Mustafa El-Husseini relating the 1987 Intifada to the current Al-Aqsa Intifada.
This book is a record of a month's stay in Japan in 1993 by Egyptian novelist Youssef El-Qa'id. Invited by the Japan Foundation to spend a month in the country touring Japan's cities and countryside, El-Qa'id places the accent on the advanced state of Japanese industry and the differences between Japanese culture and the rural Egyptian culture in which he grew up. Inexplicably, the book has apparently languished unpublished since 1995, when, according to the "Introduction," El-Qa'id completed it.
The 21 poems making up this volume of poetry by Farid Abu- Se'da have been selected from five collections published between 1995 and 1997, and according to the poet they have been chosen to reflect the essential features of his style. Thus far, Abu-Se'da has published eight collections of poetry, as well as three plays, in all of which he had shown a desire to invoke, and then to subvert, past poetic traditions.
This valuable book, published by the prestigious monthly books series of Dar Al-Hilal Publishing House, and written by the renowned culture critic Magdi Youssef, deals with the challenges globalisation posits for Third World countries. The main concern of the book is how people of the Third World could be not merely consumers of knowledge but also producers. It is divided into three sections; the first dealing with theoretical approaches to the dialectics of the self and the other in the present time, the second attempts an application of the theory elaborated in the first section on selected works of literature and art. The final section engages in critical debates with a number of well-known figures in Arab culture.
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