July 19


The Middle East in the Age of Nasser 

Gelvin, 259-287

Novel: The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Awany, 2006

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For background on the Yacoubian building, Alaa Al Aswany, and the legacy of the novel within Egyptian society :


Wendell Steavenson, "Writing the Revolution," The New Yorker (January 16, 2012)

"'Yacoubian Building' Houses Uncomfortable Truths," NPR's All Things Considered (February 22, 2005)

Mayya Jaggi, "Cairo Calling: Interview with Alaa Al Aswany," The Guardian (August 22, 2008)



Recommended Reading:


R. Stephen Humphreys, Between Memory and Desire: The Middle East in a Troubled Age (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005), Chapter 5: “Military Dictatorship and Political Tradition in the Middle East.”

Erin Cox, “Neoliberalism and Revolution in Egypt”, E-International Relations, April 24, 2015.

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Prompt for Reading Response:


Locate the novel in time. What does the novel tell you about changes in Egyptian politics and society from the 1952 Revolution until the 1990 Gulf War that we do not grasp from reading the Gelvin chapter alone? How does the novel engage with themes such as corruption, homophobia, sexism, Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism, and for what purposes?

4 comments:

  1. Abdulla Al Blooshi

    Reading Response #1:

    To start off with what is most important, Lets look at Egypt at the beginning of the twentieth century, it had been in its 95th consecutive year of "modernity", which was established under the rule of Mehmet Ali. Furthermore it has been 27 years since Egypt's economic disaster, and its 18th year under British occupation/control. Now by looking at Egypt's past a better understanding of its modern political, societal, and economical state can be achieved, although these three aspects are all interdependent they each still possess their own tropes. Throughout the period between 1952 and 1990 Egypt went through several radical economic, societal, and political changes, and this was all due to countries and peoples effort towards the modernization of the country. This was mainly due to a cultural exchange that has been occurring between the British and the Egyptians. Now, these are all the things a reader of Gelvin's The Modern Middle East could grasp, however, reading The Yacoubian Building offers the reader with insight that cannot be achieved elsewhere. To begin, reading the Gelvin chapter in tandem with The Yacoubian Building reveals to the reader the effect of all these events happening. It is almost as though The Yacoubian Building can serve as a supplementary text alongside Gelvin's. It provides the reader with a rhetorical precis regarding all the events taking place with the huge culture clash and occupation. The novel has many other interesting characteristics such as its focus on the more personal and human side of history as the novel chooses to focus on mainly on the residents of the Yacoubian Building which serves as an extended metaphor throughout the novel about Egypt's current corrupt state. The corruption is very evident throughout the novel as there really is not a single pure/clean character that has remained innocent throughout the plot. Eventually all characters male and female commit manipulative and thieving acts. Additionally, it is know that this novel takes place during the first Gulf War, and homosexuality, especially in Egypt was not considered okay.

    A parallel that can be drawn between themes of sexism in the Novel and material discussed in class, is between the women we discussed depicted in the Harems, and the obvious over-sexualization that is occurring in oriental paintings of the Harem.

    Moreover, the overall purpose for the themes and motifs present in The Yacoubian Building is for people interested in Egypt's history and how it has become a modern country, one must also understand the day to day struggles the society has went through in order to be able to draw parallels between life in the past and how that has resonated/still resonates within the daily life of a common Egyptian citizen.

    Finally, as discussed in class, getting the perspective of the citizens of the country always provides the reader with something unique and special, whether the source be a diary or a novel such as this one; the reader is still able to gain valuable information and understand how events such as wars and occupations can affect a people, in this case introducing capitalism to Egypt and creating a huge gap between the rich and poor which ultimately spread corruption throughout the society. Although the modernization of Egypt had many negatives to it, there were also several benefits to modernity which many will argue outweigh the cons, especially when looking at things such as women's rights.




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  2. Sarah Fung: Part 1

    The Yacoubian Building takes place in the time after the 1952 Revolution in Egypt and reveals the atmosphere and aftermath of the Revolution on the Egyptian people. Through stories and the lives of his characters, Al Aswany is able to portray the sentiments of the time from different subsets of the community as well as a glimpse of the impact of these on their daily lives that the Gelvin reading alone does not.

    The Gelvin reading gives a general contextual background of the developments in Egypt just before, during and after the 1952 Revolution. Before the revolution Egypt, like some of its neighbours, was introducing Western influenced ideals of economic development and secularism in the aftermath of the two World Wars leading to an expectation of state-led initiatives meant to stabilise the economy including regulation of imports and investment in private industry (Gelvin, 2015). It was a time some historians look on in nostalgia of multiculturalism and the advent of the Egyptian feminist movement (Gelvin, 2015).

    However, this liberalism was not all encompassing, kept particularly for foreigners and publications that escaped censorship (Gelvin, ). With a weak and unstable government as well as national political parties and unresponsive politicians, Egypt’s government became susceptible to the Free Officers coup of 1952. With the goal of targeting the corruption and ineptitude of the old regime, the movement aimed to work with private sector and smaller political parties toward Egypt’s eventual democracy (Gelvin, 2015). This precipitated a reorganisation of the economic and societal structure of Egypt with the goals of eradicating domestic reaction and foreign imperialism, disrupting the old elites’ and particularly foreigners’ economic power and wealth and nationalising services (Gelvin, 2015). Focus was made away from a reliance on foreign economic and thus political power and toward services aimed at predominantly the lower - middle class (Gelvin, 2015). This led to an era of reform and state intervention in many aspects of Egypt’s economy and social justice.

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  3. Sarah Fung: Part 2

    These changes, or lack of, are portrayed in The Yacoubian Building in a number of aspects. Most directly relayed is the emigration of foreigners from Egypt. This is felt in the change of demographic at the Yacoubian Building: where it once housed foreign diplomats and elites it is now home to Egyptians with a lower - middle class community that resides on the rooftop. Conflict between those from the past elite era and the post-revolution newcomers is clear through the tension between Malak and the brothers.

    The persistent corruption within the political system is also displayed with the exchanges between Hagg Azzam and El Fehouri. Although the Revolution occurred with the promise to clear the system of such corruption and ineptitude that clouded the pre-Revolution regime, it appears that such ways still characterise post-Revolution Egypt.

    Also prominent is the continuing feminist and class struggle seen through the responses of female characters to their objectification and relationships with ofttimes domineering men. Namely Busayna and Saoud are subject to transactional relationships with males in which they offer their bodies and play the female supporting role in exchange for wealth and livelihood, as well as obstruction of freedom such as Saoud’s forced abortion. Their frustration and how this affects their personalities and world views vividly portrays the struggle females continued to face in the aftermath of the Revolution, one of the many aspects Al Aswany covers in The Yacoubian Building through his characters.

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  4. (Neha Ramani Reading Response #1)

    Alaa Al Aswany’s Yacoubian Building is set in downtown Cairo right around the time of the 1990 Gulf War. The novel uses the stories of several characters, all of whom have some sort of connection to the Yacoubian Building, to showcase how Egyptian politics and society have changed from the 1952 Revolution. The novel uses aspects of daily life – for example, the Automobile Club as the hotspot for the more Westernized elite before the Revolution contrasted with the Gezira Sheraton as the go-to for the more traditional, modern-day elite – to paint a more nuanced picture of the changes in Egypt that the more objective, academic Gelvin reading does not provide.

    The character of Zaki shows how downtown Cairo changed between the Revolution and the Gulf War. Zaki reminiscences about the glory days of Cairo, telling Busayna, “Cairo was like Europe. It was clean and smart and the people were well mannered and respectable and everyone know his place exactly. Most of the people living in downtown were foreigners, until Abd el Nasser threw them out in 1956” (Al Aswany 162). Zaki remembers the foreign imports, international visitors, and Western style of life. Many times in the novel, Zaki regrets not leaving Egypt for a European country like many of his fellow elites did after the Revolution. Instead, he stays in Cairo where he must deal with the new social order where the elite class is much more traditional and nationalistic.

    The breakdown of the relationship between Taha and Busayna shows how parts of a once secular Egyptian society starts to turn back to Islam. After Taha does not get into the Police Academy, he pursues higher education where he is exposed to Islamic teachings that he did not receive during his upbringing in the more secular downton Cairo. Taha’s identity shift is made apparent when Busayna says, “You’ve even grown your beard and become observant, and I wear short skirts and go about uncovered. We don’t look right together” (Al Aswany 118).

    The character of Taha shows how some people succumbed to Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism. Sheik Shakir tries to explain to Taha why the boy fell in love with the non-devout Busayna when he says “If you had made her adherence to Islam a condition for your having a relationship with her, you would not find yourself where you are now” (Al Aswany 120). Since Sheik Shakir has influence over Taha in his vulnerable state of heartbreak, he is able to convince Taha that “It is the duty of all young Muslims in Egypt to rise up against this unbelieving government” (Al Aswany 120). Taha’s suffering at the hands of corruption also motivates him to seek revenge through terrorism. Because the novel starts with Taha as an ambitious, scholarly young boy born to a poor but hard-working family, the reader cannot but help but sympathize with him as he starts to become indoctrinated.

    In conclusion, a piece of fiction can handle complex themes like corruption, homophobia, sexism, Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism in a way an objective history textbook can never capture. This response only covers some of the changes to Egyptian politics and society that the novel covers reveals through the lives of various characters. Perhaps the cleverest part of The Yacoubian Building is the Yacoubian Building itself, which has borne all the changes of Cairo from the days of the Revolution to the first Gulf War. The building serves as a lens into how international politics during the era impacted the everyday lives – from restaurants one frequents to his or her sex life – of ordinary citizens.

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