A shorthand guide to recent publications compiled by Mahmoud El-Wardani
Magazines
Al-Hilal, monthly magazine, issue no.12, December 2002, Cairo: Dar Al-Hilal
The principal section of the most recent issue of this prestigious Cairo magazine is given over to female creativity, with contributions ranging from that of Mo'men Hassan on singer Mounira El-Mahdiya and that of Hamdi El-Batran on slave girls in history, to Azza Mazen on the work of contemporary Egyptian novelist Radwa Ashour. Much space is given to American politics, with Mohamed Youssef Adsi and Manar El-Shourbagi discussing aspects of American politics and religion and Salah El-Marakbi providing a summary of recent US publications. The "Formative Years" department this month has been written by critic Ibrahim Fathi, while Salah Bisar's elegiac piece on the life and work of the late artist Hussein Bikar occupies centre-stage among several other interesting arts-related articles.
Sutour, monthly magazine, issue no.73, December 2002, Cairo: Sutour Publications
Of the two main themes of this month's issue of Sutour, that concerning Arab failure to catch up with much of the rest of the world, in terms not only of human development but also in terms of individual and women's freedoms, regional influence and the deployment of natural resources, raises by far the more significant issues. With contributions from Yehya El-Rakhawi, Ali Mabrouk, Ahmed Mohamed Saleh, Azzazi Ali Azzazi and Inas Taha on topics ranging from stasis and dynamism to the state of contemporary Arab journalism, the magazine paints a distressing picture of the current Arab world.
Fikrun wa Fan, occasional magazine, issue no.75, January 2003, Cairo: Goethe Institut
Two major topics provide the content of the present issue of this provocative magazine: the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the late German philosopher Hans-Georg Gadamer, who has died aged 100. Ahmad Hissou writes on reactions to the Arab-Israeli conflict in Germany, Kai Wiedenhofer on Palestinians in the context of Intifada and Gustav Seibt on a recent book by historian Bernard Wasserstein on the conflict over Jerusalem. In sum, Fikrun wa Fan displays great openness and objectivity in its newfound embrace of regional politics. Gadamer's contribution to the magazine takes the form of translated versions of two of his most important texts, with other writers discussing the late philosopher's contribution to Western philosophy, his connection with German philosopher Martin Heidegger, and his relationship with contemporaries such as Derrida and Habermas. Tayyib Tayzini, an Arab participant to the debate, explores Gadamer's work in philosophy of language, while Nasr Hamed Abu Zeid supplies an interview he carried out with Gadamer on Islamic heritage.
Al-Rafid, monthly magazine, issue no.63, November 2002,
Al-Shariqa: Culture and Media Council
Children's literature is the principal subject of the latest issue of the Emirates monthly, with Haytham Al-Khawaja writing on children's literature in the Emirates, Khaled Othman on science fiction for children, Ahmed Aziz Al- Hussein on children's adaptation to the contemporary world and Laila Mohamed on children's libraries. The issue also includes an interview with musician Hassan Sayed Darwish, the son of Egyptian composer Sayed Darwish, and a study of globalisation by Barakat Mohamed Murad. Other highlights include Khalil Hassan Al-Zarkani on domestic architecture in Arab history, and Ibrahim Saafan on the great Egyptian poet Ahmed Shawqi's contribution to the art of narrative.
Amman, monthly magazine, issue no.88, October 2002, Amman: Greater City Council
A late arrival in Cairo, this issue of the Jordanian monthly demonstrates the magazine's tendency to opt for a variety of articles and fragments rather than a predetermined thematic framework. Apparently randomly selected pieces therefore include Walid Mushawah on the "architecture of poetry", Ibrahim Khalil on modernism and postmodernism in the Jordanian short story, Mohamed Saber Eid on the female narrator, Samiha Khrais on the writer's urge to appear in the text, Hassan Attia on Andalusia, Mohamed Saif on contemporary mythologies, Sahar Malas on the life of university students, Fakhri Saleh on the crisis of the Arab writer and Mohamed Al-Amiri on recent exhibitions in Amman.
Adab wa Naqd, monthly magazine, issue no.208, December 2002, Cairo: Tagammu' Party
Egyptian novelist Edwar El-Kharrat's perspective on Germany after 11 September 2001, Noam Chomsky's take on the hegemony of the business corporation, and a piece on the dawn of Azerbaijani literature: these are among the articles published in this issue of the Cairo monthly Adab wa Naqd. The magazine also provides its usual supply of short stories, poems and reviews.
Books
Tarikh Baburshah (History of Babur Shah), Dhahieruddin Baburshah, trans. Magda Makhlouf, Cairo: Arab Horizons Publications, 2002. pp349
Written in Turkish during the 10th century of the Hijra, this book is an indispensable source for anyone interested in the Muslim dynasty of Taymour, otherwise known as the Mogul Empire in India. Originally intended as an autobiography of Baburshah, founder of the dynasty, the text has never been translated into Arabic despite its appearance in several European languages. Baburshah dives straight into his story, starting with his reign over Ferghana in Central Asia at the age of 12. Even though he follows the narrative conventions of the time, relating events in chronicle form, the writer, as the translator notes in her invaluable introduction, emerges more as a poet-philosopher than as a politician.
Diwan of Tamim Ibnul-Mu'iz, intro. Ibrahim El-Desouqi Gaderrab, Cairo: General Organisation for Cultural Palaces (Zakha'ir Series), 2002. pp476
This compendium of verse by Prince Tamim, son of the Fatimid Caliph Al-Mu'iz li-Dinillah, has both historical and artistic value, combining the perspective of an influential political authority, free from the politically driven self-censorship of the time, with a poet's sensibility and first-hand knowledge of the Fatimid dynasty. The present edition is a reproduction of the 1957 Cairo Dar Al-Kotob edition edited by Mohamed Kamel Hussein, Mohamed Ali El-Naggar and Youssef Nagati. Divided into two sections, the collection shows Tamim in the first section expressing the Fatimids' vision of their rule, criticising the neighbouring Abbasid dynasty in Baghdad and the Amawite dynasty in Andalusia, and including elegies for Al-Hassan Ibn Ali, the Prophet Mohamed's grandson, and for the Prophet's family. In the second section of the collection, Tamim tries his hand at all the established poetic forms, or aghrad.
This book includes 14 short stories, written in Paris and Brussels as well as in Casablanca, and it is introduced by two Egyptians, short-story writer Said El-Kafrawi and poet Abdel-Moneim Ramadan. Zirawi displays remarkable boldness at both the literary and thematic levels, but her lyricism and lack of experience make the stories short of accomplished. "I walked along the beach, a bitter history bubbling in my blood, dragging my feet, both solitary and unbalanced. Suddenly, I saw you passing, water and foam frothing from you. I mingled with you, and so was forged our other-worldly integration. You whispered to me, 'Make love to the impossible, so you will be worthy of me. We have replaced sex with ecstasy'".
Al-Arab fi Muwajahat Al-Udwan(Arabs in the Face of Aggression), Tareq El-Bishri,
Cairo: Dar Al-Shurouq, 2002. pp121
In this, his latest book, well-known historian Tareq El-Bishri argues that the purpose of the state is to provide security in the face of external or internal danger, in this context offering a new reading of the Afghan war, having written his own notes on it as events unfolded. The book also includes an analysis of the violence that has afflicted both New York and Kabul, as well as four new articles on the Palestinian issue with an emphasis on the Egyptian role.
Al-Thawrat Al-Sha'biya fi Misr Al-Islamiya (Popular Revolts in Islamic Egypt), Hussein Nassar, Cairo: General Organisation for Cultural Palaces (Folk Studies Library Series), 2002. pp112
This slim volume tackles the first three centuries of the Hijra in a remarkably succinct and effective way. Recounting the conquest of Egypt, the book describes how the Muslims, in establishing themselves in Egypt, took over one of the Roman Empire's most strategic provinces. It also deals with the Bedouin tribes' role in Egyptian affairs. Covering revolts of the Khawarij and Copts, as well as of both Muslims and Copts in the face of oppression and excessive taxation, it looks at how popular revolts were dealt with at various times under various dynasties. The author summarises various forms of popular resistance, from pacifism to "verbal resistance" in the form of jokes and poems.
The book's importance derives largely from its political-historical perspective on the power mechanisms of social life in Egypt. Certainly the pattern of oppression and revolt, and the countless variations on that pattern, ranging from acts of sedition and assasinations to oppositional songs and politically oriented farcical plays, is central to any understanding of political life in the country.
Al-Maraa wa Qadaya Al-Mujtama' (Woman and the Issues of Society), Ahmed Zayed et al., Cairo: Faculty of Arts Centre for Social Studies and Research, Cairo University, 2002. pp492
Written by six sociology professors -- Ahmed Zayed, Soad Osman, Faten Ahmed Ali, Fatma El-Qellini, Hanaa El-Gohari and Hanaa El-Marsafi -- and incorporating an enormous amount of information, this book delineates the place of women in Egyptian society, the forms of disadvantage to which they may be subject and the kind of powers they have acquired, as well as the direct and indirect factors contributing to the quality of women's lives. In the book's first section, the contemporary situation is tested against the late 20th century Egyptian reformer Qasem Amin's vision for the new Egyptian woman, and sociological and anthropological perspectives on women's place in society are elaborated. The second section deals with women's roles in social issues, with emphasis placed on women's roles in institutions and their participation in political and social life. The book includes an appendix giving recommendations drawn up by Egyptian NGOs in the light of reports made public at the Beijing Conference on Women in 1995.
Hikayat Al-Qasa'id (Stories of the Poems), Ahmed Fouad Negm, Cairo: Zainab Publications, 2002. pp195
This is the definitive authorised edition of the selected works of the celebrated Egyptian vernacular poet Ahmed Fouad Negm. Though Negm's work has been published several times before in various editions, Negm points out in his introduction that in many of these neither the text nor the order of the poems was correct. Referring to such "widespread aberrations", Negm indicates that this is the first definitive edition of his 40 years' work, incorporating selections from collections from 1962 to the present. Another advantage of this edition is that it incorporates anecdotes and stories relating to each poem, placing them in their historical and often delightfully autobiographical context.
The reader finds out that the poem, "Ibn El-Balad" (Native Son), for example, one of composer Shiekh Imam's better known songs, emerged out of Negm's encounter withe the artist Kamal Khalifa: "Kamal Khalifa," Negm writes, "Egypt's great artist, who was compared by critics to the celebrated French artist Modigiliani, chose the last year of his life for us to meet, get to know each other, become friends and develop an affection for each other before he died at the height of his youth, leaving a wound in my heart that has yet to heal, even though that was in 1968. He took me by surprise during an evening in his house during which Shiekh Imam and a group of mutual friends were present: 'Are you a communist, Ahmed?' I said without thinking, 'I rather like China.' And he responded, a charming, tender smile gracing his narrow face, 'You don't like Egypt?' Accursed day! Somebody exists who does not like Egypt? May God ridicule you, Fagoumi [Negm's nickname], son of Hanem. Someone asks if you're a communist and you say yes or no. What is this business about liking China. You got what you deserved: a question like a knife in your heart... My answer was this poem."
The principal section of the most recent issue of this prestigious Cairo magazine is given over to female creativity, with contributions ranging from that of Mo'men Hassan on singer Mounira El-Mahdiya and that of Hamdi El-Batran on slave girls in history, to Azza Mazen on the work of contemporary Egyptian novelist Radwa Ashour. Much space is given to American politics, with Mohamed Youssef Adsi and Manar El-Shourbagi discussing aspects of American politics and religion and Salah El-Marakbi providing a summary of recent US publications. The "Formative Years" department this month has been written by critic Ibrahim Fathi, while Salah Bisar's elegiac piece on the life and work of the late artist Hussein Bikar occupies centre-stage among several other interesting arts-related articles.
Of the two main themes of this month's issue of Sutour, that concerning Arab failure to catch up with much of the rest of the world, in terms not only of human development but also in terms of individual and women's freedoms, regional influence and the deployment of natural resources, raises by far the more significant issues. With contributions from Yehya El-Rakhawi, Ali Mabrouk, Ahmed Mohamed Saleh, Azzazi Ali Azzazi and Inas Taha on topics ranging from stasis and dynamism to the state of contemporary Arab journalism, the magazine paints a distressing picture of the current Arab world.
Two major topics provide the content of the present issue of this provocative magazine: the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the late German philosopher Hans-Georg Gadamer, who has died aged 100. Ahmad Hissou writes on reactions to the Arab-Israeli conflict in Germany, Kai Wiedenhofer on Palestinians in the context of Intifada and Gustav Seibt on a recent book by historian Bernard Wasserstein on the conflict over Jerusalem. In sum, Fikrun wa Fan displays great openness and objectivity in its newfound embrace of regional politics. Gadamer's contribution to the magazine takes the form of translated versions of two of his most important texts, with other writers discussing the late philosopher's contribution to Western philosophy, his connection with German philosopher Martin Heidegger, and his relationship with contemporaries such as Derrida and Habermas. Tayyib Tayzini, an Arab participant to the debate, explores Gadamer's work in philosophy of language, while Nasr Hamed Abu Zeid supplies an interview he carried out with Gadamer on Islamic heritage.
Children's literature is the principal subject of the latest issue of the Emirates monthly, with Haytham Al-Khawaja writing on children's literature in the Emirates, Khaled Othman on science fiction for children, Ahmed Aziz Al- Hussein on children's adaptation to the contemporary world and Laila Mohamed on children's libraries. The issue also includes an interview with musician Hassan Sayed Darwish, the son of Egyptian composer Sayed Darwish, and a study of globalisation by Barakat Mohamed Murad. Other highlights include Khalil Hassan Al-Zarkani on domestic architecture in Arab history, and Ibrahim Saafan on the great Egyptian poet Ahmed Shawqi's contribution to the art of narrative.
A late arrival in Cairo, this issue of the Jordanian monthly demonstrates the magazine's tendency to opt for a variety of articles and fragments rather than a predetermined thematic framework. Apparently randomly selected pieces therefore include Walid Mushawah on the "architecture of poetry", Ibrahim Khalil on modernism and postmodernism in the Jordanian short story, Mohamed Saber Eid on the female narrator, Samiha Khrais on the writer's urge to appear in the text, Hassan Attia on Andalusia, Mohamed Saif on contemporary mythologies, Sahar Malas on the life of university students, Fakhri Saleh on the crisis of the Arab writer and Mohamed Al-Amiri on recent exhibitions in Amman.
Egyptian novelist Edwar El-Kharrat's perspective on Germany after 11 September 2001, Noam Chomsky's take on the hegemony of the business corporation, and a piece on the dawn of Azerbaijani literature: these are among the articles published in this issue of the Cairo monthly Adab wa Naqd. The magazine also provides its usual supply of short stories, poems and reviews.
Written in Turkish during the 10th century of the Hijra, this book is an indispensable source for anyone interested in the Muslim dynasty of Taymour, otherwise known as the Mogul Empire in India. Originally intended as an autobiography of Baburshah, founder of the dynasty, the text has never been translated into Arabic despite its appearance in several European languages. Baburshah dives straight into his story, starting with his reign over Ferghana in Central Asia at the age of 12. Even though he follows the narrative conventions of the time, relating events in chronicle form, the writer, as the translator notes in her invaluable introduction, emerges more as a poet-philosopher than as a politician.
This compendium of verse by Prince Tamim, son of the Fatimid Caliph Al-Mu'iz li-Dinillah, has both historical and artistic value, combining the perspective of an influential political authority, free from the politically driven self-censorship of the time, with a poet's sensibility and first-hand knowledge of the Fatimid dynasty. The present edition is a reproduction of the 1957 Cairo Dar Al-Kotob edition edited by Mohamed Kamel Hussein, Mohamed Ali El-Naggar and Youssef Nagati. Divided into two sections, the collection shows Tamim in the first section expressing the Fatimids' vision of their rule, criticising the neighbouring Abbasid dynasty in Baghdad and the Amawite dynasty in Andalusia, and including elegies for Al-Hassan Ibn Ali, the Prophet Mohamed's grandson, and for the Prophet's family. In the second section of the collection, Tamim tries his hand at all the established poetic forms, or aghrad.
This book includes 14 short stories, written in Paris and Brussels as well as in Casablanca, and it is introduced by two Egyptians, short-story writer Said El-Kafrawi and poet Abdel-Moneim Ramadan. Zirawi displays remarkable boldness at both the literary and thematic levels, but her lyricism and lack of experience make the stories short of accomplished. "I walked along the beach, a bitter history bubbling in my blood, dragging my feet, both solitary and unbalanced. Suddenly, I saw you passing, water and foam frothing from you. I mingled with you, and so was forged our other-worldly integration. You whispered to me, 'Make love to the impossible, so you will be worthy of me. We have replaced sex with ecstasy'".
In this, his latest book, well-known historian Tareq El-Bishri argues that the purpose of the state is to provide security in the face of external or internal danger, in this context offering a new reading of the Afghan war, having written his own notes on it as events unfolded. The book also includes an analysis of the violence that has afflicted both New York and Kabul, as well as four new articles on the Palestinian issue with an emphasis on the Egyptian role.
This slim volume tackles the first three centuries of the Hijra in a remarkably succinct and effective way. Recounting the conquest of Egypt, the book describes how the Muslims, in establishing themselves in Egypt, took over one of the Roman Empire's most strategic provinces. It also deals with the Bedouin tribes' role in Egyptian affairs. Covering revolts of the Khawarij and Copts, as well as of both Muslims and Copts in the face of oppression and excessive taxation, it looks at how popular revolts were dealt with at various times under various dynasties. The author summarises various forms of popular resistance, from pacifism to "verbal resistance" in the form of jokes and poems.
Written by six sociology professors -- Ahmed Zayed, Soad Osman, Faten Ahmed Ali, Fatma El-Qellini, Hanaa El-Gohari and Hanaa El-Marsafi -- and incorporating an enormous amount of information, this book delineates the place of women in Egyptian society, the forms of disadvantage to which they may be subject and the kind of powers they have acquired, as well as the direct and indirect factors contributing to the quality of women's lives. In the book's first section, the contemporary situation is tested against the late 20th century Egyptian reformer Qasem Amin's vision for the new Egyptian woman, and sociological and anthropological perspectives on women's place in society are elaborated. The second section deals with women's roles in social issues, with emphasis placed on women's roles in institutions and their participation in political and social life. The book includes an appendix giving recommendations drawn up by Egyptian NGOs in the light of reports made public at the Beijing Conference on Women in 1995.
This is the definitive authorised edition of the selected works of the celebrated Egyptian vernacular poet Ahmed Fouad Negm. Though Negm's work has been published several times before in various editions, Negm points out in his introduction that in many of these neither the text nor the order of the poems was correct. Referring to such "widespread aberrations", Negm indicates that this is the first definitive edition of his 40 years' work, incorporating selections from collections from 1962 to the present. Another advantage of this edition is that it incorporates anecdotes and stories relating to each poem, placing them in their historical and often delightfully autobiographical context.
