At a glance
A shorthand guide to the month compiled by Mahmoud El-Wardani
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Magazines and Periodicals
Al-Kutub: Wughat Nazar (Books: Viewpoints), monthly review of books, Cairo: the Egyptian Company for Arab and International Publishing, July 2001
 As is the custom with this monthly review of books, the lead article is by veteran political analyst Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, and in his piece entitled "Days and Nights in London," Heikal discusses current Arab affairs. Further in the issue, Galal Amin writes on the late economist Ibrahim Shehata, and Sherif Lutfi writes on the Egyptian economic crisis, "between painkillers and remedies." On the artistic front, Laila Hafez reviews a book on the history of the colour blue, Youssef El-Qu'aid reviews five contemporary Iranian novels and Samir Gharib reviews Historic Cities and Sacred Sites, a book co-edited by Ismail Serageldin. The issue also includes a previously unpublished article by Taha Hussein on the July 1952 Revolution.
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Al-Hilal (The Crescent), monthly magazine, Cairo: Dar Al-Hilal, July 2001
This month's issue of Al-Hilal does not include the magazine's usual dossier on a specific topic. Instead, Abdel-Moneim Telema has contributed a long opening article on literary criticism in the contemporary Arab World, with further pieces by Mustafa Soueif on the 1970s considered as a specific decade and by Tareq El-Bishri on The Nationalism of the Coptic Church and Its History by Antonious El-Antoni making up the bulk of the issue. There are also articles by Salah Qunsuh on religious and life sciences, Mohamed Emara on globalisation, Galal Amin on Whatever happened to the Egyptians? and Rushdi Said on science and the media.
Abdel-Azim Anis continues his memoirs in this issue of Al-Hilal, the current instalment dealing with the 1950s and the author's work at the newspaper Al-Masaa. Finally, Alaa El-Dib has contributed an open letter to the late Egyptian artist Bahgat Osman.
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Adab Wa Naqd (Literature and Criticism), monthly magazine, Cairo: National Progressive Unionist Party Publications, July 2001
 In the latest issue of this prestigious journal, the main section is given over to a collection of poetry by the Abbasid Sufi poet Al-Hallag, edited by the Lebanese critic Abdu Wazin. Surprisingly, there is no acknowledgement that both the introduction and the selected texts that the journal contains are taken from a book that is readily available at bookstores. Main articles in this issue include Ayman Abdel-Rasoul's piece "Death in Defence of Secularism," a review of the life and work of the late Egyptian intellectual Farag Foda who was assassinated nine years ago, an article by Wadi' Amin on Ibn Khaldun and a review by Amina Rashid of a recent book by Mohamed Abul-Ghar on the independence of the universities. Literary criticism is given its due share of space, with Hala Kamal reviewing Sumaya Ramadan's recent novel Awraq Al-Nargis, Gamal El-Qassas reviewing Mai El-Telmessani's Heliopolis and Mahmoud Abdel-Wahab on Bahaa Taher's Nuqtat Al-Nour. As always, the journal also includes several short stories and poems.
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Al-Karmel, cultural quarterly, Ramallah, Palestine: Khalil Al-Sakakini Cultural Centre, Spring 2001
 The latest issue of Al-Karmal, a prestigious Palestinian cultural quarterly published in Ramallah whose editor-in-chief is Mahmoud Doroub, includes studies, articles and texts on Arab -- and particularly on Palestinian -- cultural and political affairs. There are selections of poetry by Zakaria Mohamed and by Gihad Hadib, as well as memoirs by Hussein Al-Barghouti. The issue includes studies by Faisal Daraj on the Palestinian intellectual and the interpretation of Zionism, Ahmed Saadi on the "limits of multiplicity," Foad Maghrabi on "Palestinians and Borders" and a translation of an article by US intellectual Noam Chomsky entitled "The Intifada, America, Israel and the Arabs." A section of Al-Karmel is usually devoted to the critique of Zionism, and this issue is no exception, including a chapter from a new work by Israeli "new historian" Benny Morris, first published in Hebrew in 2000. It also includes an article on the Jewish legend of Masada. Further in this issue, Soliman Natur writes about refugees, Adenia Shalabi about "The Best Butterflies and Helicopters for the Year 2000," and Faihaa Abdel-Hadi about Palestinian woman novelists and writing. There is also a translation into Arabic of Rainer Maria Rilke's Sonnets to Orpheus by Kazem Jihad.
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Misr Al-Mahrousa: Itlala 'Ala Dhakirat Al-Watan (Blessed Egypt: Impressions of the Nation's Memory), monthly magazine, Cairo: Max Group, May 2001
This glossy monthly magazine is devoted to Egypt's colonial and pre-revolutionary modern history, and it includes articles taken from historical publications as well as original texts, such as a study by Salaheddin Mahmoud Helmi of General Gordon Pasha. There are selections from Edward William Lane's famous nineteenth-century work Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians, an account of the inauguration of the Mosque of King Farouk, reproduced from Al-Musawwar magazine of February 1942, and a warning against the smallpox epidemic issued in 1800. All the pieces are given in both English and Arabic. While the material presented in Misr Al-Mahrousa is rarely original, the magazine makes a real contribution by publishing rare historical photographs.
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Sotour (Lines), monthly magazine, Cairo: Sotour Publishing House, July 2001
 The main topic of this month's issue of the Cairo magazine is "The Search for the Arabs," and it includes articles on this theme by critic Mahmoud Amin El-Alim on the Arab renaissance, Heba Rabi' on "Silent Resistance" and Mohamed Amir on "Starting with the Human Being." Mohamed Asaad Abu Amud writes on "Scenarios of Resistance," Azzazi Ali Azzazi on "Popular Wars," and I'tidal Osman on "Searching for the Arabs." In the magazine's Arts section, Saad El-Qirsh writes on an animated cartoon version of the life of the Prophet Mohamed and on a recent exhibition, organized by Dar Ayam Misriyya, on how the Nakba was presented in Egyptian newspapers in 1948. Ahmed Raafat Bahgat writes on films shown at this year's Cannes festival, Shadia El-Ashri reviews a recent exhibition by Aida Abdel-Karim, and Maher Hussein reviews Hikmat Al-Hudhud (Wisdom of the Hoopoe), which was put on recently at Cairo's Al-Hanager Theatre and directed by the Iraqi director Qasim Mohamed.
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Al-Thaqafa Al-Alamiyya (International Culture), bimonthly magazine, Kuwait: National Council for Culture, Arts and Literature, May-June 2001
This bimonthly magazine translates articles from recent European and American journals, making them available to Arab readers. The first three such articles in the current issue all concern globalisation, and they have been translated from journals such as International Sociology and Politique étrangère. From Art news magazine, the Kuwaiti publication includes an article on disputed paintings by Van Gogh, and from the New Left Review it reproduces a piece by the Italian-American critic Franco Morretti on "international literature."
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Magallat Kulliyat Al-Fonoun Al-Gamila, (Fine Arts Magazine), bi-annual magazine of fine arts, Alexandria: Faculty of Fine Arts, Alexandria University, issue no.1 :
This new magazine is published by the Faculty of Fine Arts of Alexandria University. Intended to be a bi-annual publication in both English and Arabic it devotes sections to architecture, interior design, painting, graphic design and sculpture. The editors also intend to add to the magazine a special supplement devoted to research and art criticism. This first issue is dedicated to the graduating class of 1999-2000 and thus reproduces some of the students' most outstanding graduation projects.
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Books
Fi Barah Al-Fikr (Spaces of Thought), Hussein Fawzi, Cairo: Supreme Council for Cultural Affairs, 2001. pp220
Hussein Fawzi, author of numerous works on music, history, philosophy and science, died in 1988, this new book being published some 13 years after its author's death. Tawfiq El-Hakim's daughter Zeinab had entrusted Ibrahim Abdel-Aziz with her father's papers, and among these the latter discovered the manuscript of Hussein Fawzi's final book, dated Paris, September 1982. The book contains articles that were previously published in Al-Ahram in the 1960s, but its importance lies in those articles that their author felt most worth reprinting. The original parts of the book are the letters between Tawfiq El-Hakim and Hussein Fawzi that it reproduces, as well as the text of a long interview Ibrahim Abdel-Aziz held with the author shortly before his final illness.
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Ash'ar Raghm Al-Hisar (Poetry despite the Siege), Cairo: Dar Ushtar, 2001. pp157
This book is made up of selections from the poetry of 13 Iraqi poets from different generations and from both the north and the south of Iraq. What binds them together is that they are all writing in a state of siege. From the older generation represented in this volume are the well-known poet writers Youssef Al-Sayigh and Mahfouz Dawoud Soliman; from the younger generations are Wedad Al-Gourani, Hassan Al-Nuwwab and Ali Al-Amara, among others. This is a valuable book, testifying to the continuation of intellectual and creative life in Iraq even under today's almost impossible conditions.
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Al-Utubia wal-Gahim(Utopia and Hell), Nabil Abdel-Hamid, Cairo: Coptic Centre for Social Studies, 2001. pp238
Most of this book is made up of papers originally presented by the author, Nabil Abdel-Hamid, at academic conferences, though there are also sections published here for the first time. The author concentrates on the phenomenon of globalisation, the debates it arouses and the sources of its various misrepresentations. He also deals with modernity in Egypt in further chapters entitled "A Look at the Contemporary Egyptian Social Scene" and "The Political Language Employed in Popular Discourse in Egypt." Within this general framework, the author has made a valuable contribution to thinking on Egyptian contemporary culture, politics, values, law and technology, supplying references that deal with the country's intellectuals, civil society and its relation to the Arab World more generally. He looks carefully at issues in contemporary Egyptian jurisprudence and legal reform, discussing the role of the country's Supreme Constitutional Court and the necessity of constitutional and legal change. A special section is devoted to the issue of human rights, the nation-state and civil society.
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Gadal Al-Ma'arik wal-Taswiyat (The Debate over Battles and Settlements), Hamad Abdel-Aziz Al-Kawari, Cairo: Dar Al-Mustaqbal Al-Arabi, 2001. pp399
Hamad Abdel-Aziz Al-Kawari's book comes more than a decade after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent invasion of Iraq itself. Formerly a minister of media and culture in Qatar, the author has occupied various important international positions, including that of his country's permanent representative to the United Nations from 1984 to 1990. Al-Kawari's book focuses on the need for the UN Security Council to fulfil its duties with regard to the Arab World. However, the book stops short before Iraq's 1990 invasion, an adventure from whose ramifications the Arab World is still suffering. Nevertheless, the author does deal in detail with the part played by the UN Security Council during the 1980s Iraq-Iran war, as well as with procedural issues within the Council itself and the role played by the UN secretary-general within the organisation.
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