Islam and the Culture of Modern Egypt: From the Monarchy to the Republic
Cambridge University Press, 11/8/2018
EAN 9781108417181, ISBN10: 1108417183
Hardcover, 234 pages, 23.5 x 15.7 x 1.5 cm
Language: English
Telling a new story of modern Egypt, Mohammad Salama uses textual and cinematic sources to construct a clear and accessible narrative of the dynamics of Islam and culture in the first half of the twentieth century. The conflict between tradition and secular values in modern Egypt is shown in a stimulating and challenging new light as Salama bridges analysis of nationalism and its connection to Islamism, and outlines the effects of secular education versus traditional Islamic teaching on varied elements of Egyptian society. These include cultural production, politics, economic, identity, and gender relations. All of this helps to discern the harbingers that led to Egypt's social transition from the monarchy to the republic and opens the possibility of Islam as an inspiring and inspirational force. This illuminating, provocative and informative study will be of use to anyone interested in the period, whether general readers, students, or researchers.
Preface
A note on transliteration and translation
Introduction
prelude, considerations, and definitions
1. History matters
2. Nahá¸Âa-t Miá¹£r
Zaynab and the cultural Renaissance of modern Egypt
3. Blindness and insight
challenging the sacred/secular divide in ṬÄÂhĠḤusayn's The Days
4. An Egyptian Sophocles
QurʾÄÂnic inspiration in TawfÄ«q al-ḤakÄ«m's People of the Cave
5. Writing the mad text
freedom, modernity and God in Naguib Mahfouz's 'The Whisper of Madness'
6. Islamism writes back
AlÄ« Aḥmad BÄÂkÄÂthÄ«r's Red Revolutionary and the dismantling of the secular
7. Realism and utopian irony in YÅ«suf IdrÄ«s's FaraḥÄÂt's Republic
8. Islam and secular nationalism in a film age
unveiling Youssef Chahine's GamÄ«la al-GazÄÂ'iriyya
Appendix 1
'The Whisper of Madness'
Appendix 2
an interview with Youssef Chahine
Appendix 3
feature films produced in Egypt from 1927–62
Bibliography
Index.