1. ASSIGNMENT OF: post colonial literature
ASSIGNMENT SUBMITTED TO: DR.SAIYMA
TOPIC: three African writers
ASSIGNMENT SUBMITTED BY:
FATIMA GUL
SITARA AYAZ
ABIDA PARVEEN
MARYAM TARIQ
DATE: 2nd april.2013
2. Naguib Mahfouz
He was an Egyptian writer who won the 1988 Nobel Prize for Literature. He is regarded as one
of the first contemporary writers of Arabic literature, along with Tawfiq el-Hakim, to explore
themes of existentialism.[1] He published 34 novels, over 350 short stories, dozens of movie
scripts, and five plays over a 70-year career.
Mahfouz's 1945 book "New Cairo" combined social criticism and psychological insight to
portray living characters in the deeply Islamic slums of Cairo. The realistic style of New Cairo is
credited with starting new school of Arab writing. Another four realistic works followed.
Mahfouz's writing on taboo topics often rankled Islamic conservatives in Egypt and led to an
assassination attempt 12 years ago when he portrayed God in one of his novels. The knife attack
damaged a nerve and seriously impaired his ability to use his writing hand. Two of his attackers
were subsequently hanged.
"They are trying to extinguish the light of reason and thought. Beware, " Mahfouz said after the
attack.
His novels, known across the Arab world and translated into several foreign languages, detailed
the minutiae of Egyptian life while making subtle - but often controversial - political and
philosophical statements. The combination of the political and the personal, said friend and
cultural writer Gamal al-Ghitani, made Mahfouz “the conscience of Egypt”.
The oeuvre spans the history of the modern Egyptian state. With his first novel published in
1939, Mahfouz's prolific output stretched to more than 30 novels, over 350 short stories, and five
short plays. Many of his works reached a mass audience by being converted for cinema. Among
his best-known works are The Cairo Trilogy, and Children of the Alley, the latter of which
aroused the opprobrium of Egypt's conservative religious establishment, and was banned.
The Cairo Trilogy, which was published in serial form beginning in 1956 - four years after the
Egyptian revolution - won critical acclaim across the Arab world for its unpretentious depictions
of urban life, and wound meditations on family and authority for its audience into the fabric of an
ancient and familiar city. Children of the Alley originally published as a serial in 1959 in the
Egyptian newspaper-of-record Al Ahram, was met with severe criticism for its supposed
allegorical representations of God, Jesus, and Mohammed - in transgression of strict Islamic
rules.
Mahfouz's friend, translator and official biographer Raymond Stock said that, “in general, there
is a great deal of sadness. His death is symbolic of the end of an era... the end of a great
generation of litterateurs." Commenting on his legacy, Mr Stock went on to say that “He has left
3. an incredibly rich and varied legacy. He gave the everyday flavours of life, but his great genius
was that he could transcend the local an
He came to this world only to write," Egyptian writer Youssef al-Quaid told Egyptian television.
"He was the most famous writer in Egypt... He had an incredible ability to create and create all
his life."
Mahfouz's support of Egypt's 1979 peace treaty with Israel brought him the wrath of many Arab
countries, which banned his novels. But many of his works have been made into Arabic films
and his books have been widely sold across the Arab world and make it universal."
![Naguib Mahfouz
He was an Egyptian writer who won the 1988 Nobel Prize for Literature. He is regarded as one
of the first contemporary writers of Arabic literature, along with Tawfiq el-Hakim, to explore
themes of existentialism.[1] He published 34 novels, over 350 short stories, dozens of movie
scripts, and five plays over a 70-year career.
Mahfouz's 1945 book "New Cairo" combined social criticism and psychological insight to
portray living characters in the deeply Islamic slums of Cairo. The realistic style of New Cairo is
credited with starting new school of Arab writing. Another four realistic works followed.
Mahfouz's writing on taboo topics often rankled Islamic conservatives in Egypt and led to an
assassination attempt 12 years ago when he portrayed God in one of his novels. The knife attack
damaged a nerve and seriously impaired his ability to use his writing hand. Two of his attackers
were subsequently hanged.
"They are trying to extinguish the light of reason and thought. Beware, " Mahfouz said after the
attack.
His novels, known across the Arab world and translated into several foreign languages, detailed
the minutiae of Egyptian life while making subtle - but often controversial - political and
philosophical statements. The combination of the political and the personal, said friend and
cultural writer Gamal al-Ghitani, made Mahfouz “the conscience of Egypt”.
The oeuvre spans the history of the modern Egyptian state. With his first novel published in
1939, Mahfouz's prolific output stretched to more than 30 novels, over 350 short stories, and five
short plays. Many of his works reached a mass audience by being converted for cinema. Among
his best-known works are The Cairo Trilogy, and Children of the Alley, the latter of which
aroused the opprobrium of Egypt's conservative religious establishment, and was banned.
The Cairo Trilogy, which was published in serial form beginning in 1956 - four years after the
Egyptian revolution - won critical acclaim across the Arab world for its unpretentious depictions
of urban life, and wound meditations on family and authority for its audience into the fabric of an
ancient and familiar city. Children of the Alley originally published as a serial in 1959 in the
Egyptian newspaper-of-record Al Ahram, was met with severe criticism for its supposed
allegorical representations of God, Jesus, and Mohammed - in transgression of strict Islamic
rules.
Mahfouz's friend, translator and official biographer Raymond Stock said that, “in general, there
is a great deal of sadness. His death is symbolic of the end of an era... the end of a great
generation of litterateurs." Commenting on his legacy, Mr Stock went on to say that “He has left](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)