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The Maturation of a New Literary Genre

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2009

Sabry Hafex
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Extract

The arrival of Lashin1 on the Egyptian literary scene in the 1920s marked a turning point in the history of the short story: he was an outstandingly vigorous pioneer who developed the genre and brought its formative years to a close. His writings represent the culmination, in both form and content, of the work of previous writers and of his contemporaries. He was also the major figure of a versatile literary group, Jama⊂at al-Madrasa al Haditha (the Modern School), which played a decisive role in developing the Egyptian short story, extending its reading public, and shaping the characteristics of the new sensibility of that period. This group did not start as a proper literary school as the name implies, but rather as a gathering of enthusiastic young writers whose common dream of issuing a paper of their own, to express their views and publish their unconventional works, took almost a decade to be realised.

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Articles
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International Journal of Middle East Studies , Volume 16 , Issue 3 , August 1984 , pp. 367 - 389
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1984

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References

NOTES

1 Mahmud Tahir Lashin was born on 7 June 1894 in a middle-class family living in one of Cairo's poorest and most overcrowded quarters, al-Sayyida Zaynab, where he spent his childhood. After completing the ordinary course of his education in 1912 he went to the High School of Engineering (Cairo) from which he graduated in 1917 as a civil engineer. He worked at Maslahat al-Tanzim from 1918 until he was pensioned off at the end of 1953, and died after a few months' illness in April 1954.

2 It consisted of only four members: Lashin, who was a student at the High School of Engineering; Ahmad Khayri Sa⊂id and Husain Fawzi, who were students at the School of Medicine; and Hasan Mahmud, who was a student at the Faculty of Arts.

3 These eight years, 1917–1925, were of special significance in the patriotic struggle of the country and the growth of its aspirations.

4 Ahmad Khayri Sa⊂id applied for permission to issue a weekly paper as early as 1918, but due to both the complications of granting such permission for a paper, and the state of political unrest at that time, he obtained permission only in August 1924. Then he started collecting contributions from friends, and received valuable financial and material aid from al-Hizb al-Watani and its daily al Liwa⊃. On 8 January 1925, the first issue of al-Fajr, the first Egyptian weekly paper devoted entirely to literature, appeared. The paper continued to appear until 13 January 1927, or to be precise, this is the date of the last issue of the only known remaining copy in Dar al-Kutub, Cairo.

5 By the time al-Fajr ceased publication in 1927, the group had grown enormously. It included many short story writers, e.g., Lashin, Hasan Mahmud, Husain Fawzi, Ahmad Khayri Sa⊂id, Andria Jibril, Mahmud ⊂Uzzi Yahya Haqqi, Sa⊂id ⊂Abdu, Habib Zahlawi and more than ten others, and several outstanding critics and translators.

6 There were two influential literary groups in the camp of modernism at that time: the first aimed to establish the Egyptian renaissance in thought and literature on the basis of European civilization and rationalism (that is, Hellenic culture and the achievements of the French school), and integrate these new trends from occidental culture into the Arabic literary tradition in a way which would create a new culture. Among the leading figures of this group were Ahmad Lutfi al-Sayyid, Muhammad Husain Haykal, Taha Husain, and Ahmad Daif. The second was the group of al-Diwan with its heavy Anglo-Saxon background and leanings. The eminent members of this group were al-Mazini, al-⊂Aqqad, ⊂Abd al-Rahman Shukri, ⊂Abbas Hafiz and Muhammad al-Siba⊂i.

7 Ahmad, Khayri Sa⊂id, “al-Istiqlal al-Fikri,” al-Fajr 01 1925).Google Scholar

8 Among the members of the group, there were Husain Fawzi, Muhammad Shukri, and Zakariyya Muhran, who were fond of western music and were interested in developing Arabic music. Sayyid Darwish also attended many of their meetings in one of ⊂Imad al-Din's cafes.

9 In particular, French writers like La Fontaine, Balzac, Hugo, Dumas pere et fils, Baudelaire, Flaubert, Maupassant, and Rimbaud; English writers such as Shakespeare, Scott, Carlyle, Thackeray, Dickens, Stevenson, and Wilde; American writers like Poe and Mark Twain; and Italians such as Dante, Boccaccio, and Pirandello. For a fuller list see Yahya, Haqqi, Fajr al-Qissa al-Misriyya (Cairo: Dar al-Qalam, 1960), pp. 80–81.Google Scholar

10 Ibid., p. 81.

11 See Husain Fawzi's article on the cultural formation of the group, Al-Ahram, 30 04 1965.Google Scholar

12 Ahmad, Khayri Sa⊂id, “al-Madhahib al-Kitabiyya,” al-Shabab, 04 1921.Google Scholar

13 In several issues of al-Fajr, ⊂A⊃isha Fahmi al-Khalafawia, one of the most talented and learned critics of the group, wrote articles on Turgenev and Dostoyevsky. Zakiyy-l-Din al-Siwaifi and ⊂Abd al-Hamid Salim wrote on the schools of Russian literature and introduced other Russian writers.

14 Most of the leading members of this school read Russian literature in its English or French translations. Husain Fawzi emphasised the role of the translations of Muhammad al-Saba⊂i, Ahmad Hasan al-Zayyat, Ibrahim al-Mazini, and Antun al-Jumayyil in the cultural origins of the group. He gives their translations a dominant influence over the preceding Egyptian fictional writings in that respect. al-Ahram, 30 04 1965.Google Scholar

15 Mu⊂awiya, Muhammad Nur, in his article, “Tahir Lashin al-Qasasi,” al-Siyasa al-Usbu⊂iyya, 07 1930,Google Scholar censured Lashin's adaptation of Chekhov's one act play The Bear in his short story “Wa-lakinnaha al-Haya.” He also mentioned another of Lashin's adaptations, this time Maeterlinck's one act play L'Intruse, in his story “al-Za⊃ir al-Samit.” Likewise, Yahya Haqqi in his series of articles on Lashin's first collection Sukhriyat al-Nay, which appeared in Kawkab al-Sharq, February 1927 (see also his Khutuwat fi al-Naqd, pp. 9–33) criticised Lashin's adaptation in his story “allnfijar” of one of Chekhov's short stories which had been translated by Muhammad al-Siba⊂i under the title “Zawba⊂a Manziliyya”.Google Scholar

16 Weber's quotation is taken from Prawer, S. S., Comparative Literary Studies (London: Duck-worth, 1973), p. 13.Google Scholar

17 This was a cliché used by almost all the members of the group when they discussed the literature which they wanted to write.

18 See the dedication of his only novel, al-Dasa⊃is wa-l-Dima⊃ (Cairo: Dar al-Hilal, 1935), p. 3, p. 11, and many of his articles.Google Scholar

19 See ⊂Abbas, Khadr, al-Qissa al-Qasira fi Misr, (Cairo: Al-Dar al-Qawmiyya, 1966), pp. 87–97,Google Scholar and Sayyid, Hamid al-Nassaj, Tatawwur Fann al-Qasira fi Misr (Cairo: Dar al-Katib al-Arabi, 1968), pp. 177–8. They state that the wide appreciation which al-Fajr achieved, especially among serious writers and readers, encouraged well-known writers—e.g., Muhammad Husain Haykal and Salama Musa—and old established periodicals—e.g., al-Hilal and al-Muqtataf—to publish short stories.Google Scholar

20 Lashin emphasised this point in his answer to a literary questionnaire “Fictional Writing in Egypt and the Reasons for its Stagnation,” al-Majalla al-Jadida, 06 1931, p. 968.Google Scholar

21 For a detailed discussion of these avant-garde ideas and critical criteria see the numerous articles of Ahmad, Khayri Sa⊃id in al-Fajr, 8 01 1925, 20 03 1926, 26 06 1925, 6 01 1927;Google ScholarIbrahim, al-Misri, al-Fajr, 24 01 1926;Google ScholarHusain, Fawzi, al-Fajr, 1 05 1926;Google Scholar and Yahya, Haqqi, Kawkab al-Sharq, 02 1927.Google Scholar

22 His contemporary, Mahmud Taymur, was for the greater part of his career far removed from this fundamental support of a coherent literary school and thus did not discover the importance of this primary fact until he had published a number of collections. In order to accentuate the need for the short-story writer to labour extremely hard to improve his work and tighten its structure, Lashin called, in the questionnaire mentioned in note 20, for the devotion of most of the writer's efforts and time to fictional writing, and the importance of al-tafarrugh (making the writing of literature the writer's only full-time job) for creative literature to attain high artistic quality.

23 Hasan Mahmud's introduction to Lashin's only published novel, Hawwa⊃ Bila Adam, suggests that Lashin's first attempt to write fiction was in 1921, while Ahmad Zaki Abu Shadi's introduction to Yuhka Anna suggests 1922.

24 His first published short story is “Sahh,” al-Funun, 09 1924.Google Scholar

25 Such as al-Jadid, al-Hadith, Shahrazad, al Majalla al-Jadida, and al-Hilal.

26 See his stories in al-Fajr such as “Jinayat Umm ⊂Ala Waladiha,” 31 January 1925; “Umm Shihata,” 17 April 1925; “Min al-Kukh ila al-Qasr,” 8 May 1925; “Qissat Mukhaddir,” 10 July 1925; “al-Sariqa al-Mashru⊂a, 2 August 1925; “⊂Aris al-Ghafla,” 14 September 1925; “al-Lughz,” 14 October 1925; “al-Jarima al-Akhira,” 28 October 1925; “al-Tha⊃ir”, 28 December 1925; “Fi Daw⊃ al-Qamar,” 11 April 1926; “al-Musha⊂widh,” 25 April 1926; and several other stories after the closing of al-Fajr in al-Akhbar, Majallat al-Fukaha, and al-Rawi.

27 See his stories in al-Fajr such as “Hikaya Qadima,” 4 02 1925; “Qissat Marida,” 24 February 1925; “al-Shaikh ⊂Uda,” 20 March 1925; “al-Jamadat,” 24 April 1925; and “Nustalijiya,” 10 October 1925. After that date his literary work was interrupted by an educational mission to France.Google Scholar

28 See his stories in al-Fajr such as “Fulla-Mishmish-Lulu,” 15 July 1926; “al-Sukhriya,” 16 September 1926; “Muhammad Bey Yazior ⊂Izbatah,” 28 October 1926; “Shakir Afandi,” 25 November 1926–13 January 1927.

29 The first editions of these two collections are undated but Mansur Fahmi's introduction to the first collection is dated 6 November 1926, and the first review of it appeared in January 1927. From the reviews of the second collection in Egyptian periodicals it would appear that the end of 1929 or the beginning of 1930 is the probable date for its publication.

30 Nevertheless, he published three more short stories: “al-Hubb Yalhu,” al-Majalla al-Jadida, 04 1930Google Scholar and al-Hilal, 04 1934,Google Scholar and “Taht ⊂Ajalat al-Haya,” al-Hilal, 01 1933.Google Scholar These two stories appeared with his third short story “Ahraj Sa⊂a fi Hayati al-Madrasiyya” and his novellette “al-Niqab al-Ta⊃ir” in his third book al-Niqab al-Ta, 1940. He also serialised his novel Hawwa⊃ Bila Adam in al-Hilal, June and July 1933, which then appeared in book form in the following year. After his third collection he published only one short story: “Ma Lam Aqulhu li-Ahad,” al-Hilal, 11 1945.Google Scholar

31 The life of Muhammad ⊂Abd al-Rahim, Lashin's elder brother, strikingly resembles that of Muhammad Taymur. He graduated from Madrasat al-Mu⊂allimin al-⊂Ulya, then went to Europe to further his studies and literary knowledge. When he came back around 1920, he established a theatre group, for which he wrote or translated the necessary texts, and acted and directed most of the group's productions. His fondness for literature, and his artistic activities and ideas had a seminal influence on his young brother, Mahmud Tahir Lashin, and on many of his friends who later formed Jama⊂at al-Madrasa al-Haditha. For more details see Yahya, Haqqi's inroduction to the second edition of Sukhriyat al-Nay in 1964, p. xvi.Google Scholar

32 In his one page preface to Sukhriyat al-Nay, Lashin mentiond with admiration and appreciation the work of both his predecessors and his contemporaries.

33 Beachcroft, T. O., The Modest Art (London: Oxford Univ. Press, 1968), p. 260.Google Scholar

34 Sukhriyat al-Nay, pp. 1–16. Haqqi suggests that this story reflects upon the life of Lashin's elder brother, Muhammad ⊂Abd al-Rahim, who also came back from Europe with tuberculosis.Google Scholar

33 Ibid., pp. 89–107.

36 Yuhka Anna, pp. 25–31.Google Scholar

37 Sukhriyat al-Nay, pp. 17–37.Google Scholar

38 Ibid., pp. 59–88.

39 Ibid., pp. 129–138.

40 Yuhka Anna, pp. 11–22; pp. 83–87; pp. 47–56; pp. 157–166; pp. 123–134.Google Scholar

41 Yuhka Anna, pp. 11–22; pp. 83–87; pp. 47–56; pp. 157–166; pp. 123–134.Google Scholar

42 Yuhka Anna, pp. 11–22; pp. 83–87; pp. 47–56; pp. 157–166; pp. 123–134.Google Scholar

43 Yuhka Anna, pp. 11–22; pp. 83–87; pp. 47–56; pp. 157–166; pp. 123–134.Google Scholar

44 Yuhka Anna, pp. 11–22; pp. 83–87; pp. 47–56; pp. 157–166; pp. 123–134.Google Scholar

45 Ibid., pp. 157–166; pp. 39–58; pp. 137–147; pp. 97–107; pp. 150–154; pp. 59–70.

46 Ibid., pp. 157–166; pp. 39–58; pp. 137–147; pp. 97–107; pp. 150–154; pp. 59–70.

47 Ibid., pp. 157–166; pp. 39–58; pp. 137–147; pp. 97–107; pp. 150–154; pp. 59–70.

48 Ibid., pp. 157–166; pp. 39–58; pp. 137–147; pp. 97–107; pp. 150–154; pp. 59–70.

49 Ibid., pp. 157–166; pp. 39–58; pp. 137–147; pp. 97–107; pp. 150–154; pp. 59–70.

50 Ibid., pp. 157–166; pp. 39–58; pp. 137–147; pp. 97–107; pp. 150–154; pp. 59–70.

51 They are the protagonists of “Mifistufulis” in Sukhriyat al-Nay, pp. 139–166Google Scholar and “al-Shaikh Muhammad al-Yamani” in Yuhka Anna, pp. 91–94.Google Scholar

52 The protagonist of “Mintaqat al-Samt” in Sukhriyat al-Nay, pp. 168–184.Google Scholar

53 Although Mahmud Taymur's stand vis-à-vis the religious shaikhs was almost identical with Lashin's, one cannot say that Lashin'ps excoriation of these religious figures was influenced by Taymur's work. “Mifistufulis” was published in al-Fajr, 30 08 1925. Lashin was the only writer to attack both the shaikhs and the clergymen. His story “Mintaqat al-Samt,” in which he gave the clergymen the same severe treatment, had no precedent and no successors for many years to come.Google Scholar

54 Yuhka Anna, pp. 39–44.Google Scholar

55 Al-Nigab al-Ta⊃ir, pp. 107–180.Google Scholar

56 On the margins of his world one meets a considerable number of these wretched creatures: the public barber, the cobbler, the office boy, the news vendor, the peasant, the watchman, the waiter of the poor trottoir café, the shoeshine boy, the tram conductor, the servant, the incense fumigator, the cemetery keeper, the matchmaker of the poor, the various types of vendor, the street trader, the procurer, the beggar, and those who do similar work.

57 See for example Sukhriyat al-Nay, pp. 39, 59.Google Scholar

58 Malcolm, Bradbury, What is a Novel? (Manchester: Manchester Univ. Press, 1969), p. 40.Google Scholar

59 Ibid., p. 39.

60 The one exception is “Hadith al-Qarya,” in which the reader sees the village through the eyes of a visitor from the town. It seems that Lashin's post as a civil engineer in Maslahat al-Tanzim provided him with a wide knowledge of the streets and alleys of the poor quarters of Cairo, and this, combined with his lack of knowledge about the homes of the poor and lower class, guided him to situate the action in alleys and streets if the story takes him to the poor side of the city.

61 See “Sukhriyat al-Nay,” “Fi Qarar al-Hawiya,” and “al-Za⊃ir al-Samit”.

62 See “Bayt al-Ta⊂a,” “Manzil li-l-ljar,” “Jawla Khasira,” and “Alwu”.

63 See “Hadith al-Qarya,” “al-Hubb Yalhu,” and “al-Witwat”.

64 The examples given in the three previous footnotes do not imply that the other two methods of presenting the scene are not used in the given stories, but only indicate that the features of one particular method are more in evidence than those of others.

65 Published in al-Fajr, 27 01 1925.Google Scholar

66 Published in al-Funun, 09 1924.Google Scholar

67 See the characters of Umm Bikhatirha in “Bayt al-Ta⊂a” and Umm Sayyid in “Fi Qarar al-Hawiya.”

68 See the heroines of “Yuhka Anna,” “Bayt al-Ta⊂a,” and “Lawn al-Khajal.”

69 See the heroines of “Wa-lakinnaha al-Haya,” “Manzil li-l-ljar,” and “Madha Yaqul al-Wada⊂.”

70 See “Alwu,” “al-Witwat,” “Wa-lakinnaha al-Haya,” and “Hadith al-Qarya.”

71 See “al-Za⊃ir al-Samit,” “al-Hubb Yalhu,” and “al-Niqab al-Ta⊃ir.” See also Ahmad Khayri Sa⊂d's story “Jinayat Umm ⊃Ala Waladiha,” al Fajr, 30 04 1925, in which he treats the same theme and manifests the dramatic consequences of the mother's excess of tenderness.Google Scholar

72 See “al-Shabah al-Mithil fi al-Mir⊃ah,” “Hadith al-Qarya,” “Fi Qarar al-Hawiya,” and “Mifistufulis.”

73 As in “Fi Qarar al-Hawiya.”

74 As in “Bayt al-Ta⊂a.”

75 As in “al-Infijar” and “Yuhka Anna.”

76 As in “Mifistufulis” and “Mintaqat al-Samt.”

77 As in “al-Shawish Baghdadi.”

78 See “Lawn al-Khajal” and “Wa-lakinnaha al-Haya.”

79 See “Alwu,” “Manzil li-l-Ijar,” and “al-Kahla al-Mazhuwwa.”

80 Husain Fawzi, in his introduction to al-Nigab al-Ta⊃ir, blames this satirical attitude for the critics' neglect of Lashin's work and for their deliberate attempt to hide his work from the European orientalists, so it would not deface their spotless image of Egyptian social life. See al-Nigab al Ta⊃ir, p. 8.Google Scholar

81 Ibid., p. 9.

82 Some of Lashin's contemporaries perceived the importance of his short stories, see for example Ahmad, Zaki Abu Shadi's introduction to Yuhka Anna, p. 9.Google Scholar

83 Yuhka Anna, p. 80.Google Scholar

84 Ibid.

85 For a detailed discussion of the nature of utopian thinking see Karl, Mannheim, Ideology and Utopia (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1960) pp. 36–40, 173–174.Google Scholar

86 Ibid., p. 36.

87 Yuhka Anna., p. 77.Google Scholar

88 Ibid., p. 79.

89 Yahya Haqqi in his analysis of this story (Fajr al-Qissa al-Misriyya, pp. 91–100)Google Scholar interprets the narrator's comment “I wish I had been with them” as meaning that the narrator was terrified by the fellaheen's primitive solutions to the extent of wishing himself dead along with the two victims (p. 99). Haqqi bases his interpretation, it would seem, on Lashin's usage of the plural pronoun, ma⊂ahum, instead of the singular, ma⊂ahu, which means: with ⊂Abd al-Sami⊂. The narrator' comment does not occur in the story immediately after the description of killing—there are the fellaheen's several comments of sanction or disapprobation, and nature's response expressed through frogs croaking and a great stillness—but after the description of how ⊂Abd al-Sami⊂ made himself a cup of tea and spent the night drinking tea and smoking. Here the narrator's friend comments “Ayy hawl hadha,” (what a horror), and then comes the narrator's response followed this time by the villagers' reactions of revulsion. This series of comments confirms that the narrator's remark was about ⊂Abd al-Sami⊂'s conduct after the killing; he was fascinated by the cobbler's ability to stay beside the two corpses throughout the night. The narrator's desire to be with him during that night demonstrates his craving to explore the inner structure of this character and indicates that he has started to admit his lack of understanding of the villagers' logic. Haqqi's interpretation does not draw its justification from the action. It seems to be based on Lashin's usage of the plural pronoun in ma⊂ahum, even though this usage does not justify Haqqi's interpretation, because the pronoun in ma⊂ahum refers to both ⊂Abd al-Sami⊂ and the two cadavers. It does not mean the two cadavers alone; if it was so, Lashin should have used ma⊂ahuma, especially if one knows that Haqqi gives Lashin the credit of being meticulous in choosing his words (Fajr al-Qissa al-Missriyya, p. 99).Google Scholar

90 Hale, N., The Realities of Fiction (London: Macmillan & Co., 1963), p. 35.Google Scholar

91 In his book Fajr al-Qassa al-Misriyya, p. 99.Google Scholar

92 David, Lodge, Language of Fiction (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1966), p. 29.Google Scholar

93 In Mahmud Taymur's introduction to the second edition of Yuhka Anna (1964), II, he mentions that Lashin read Russian literature in English translations.

94 Maugham, W. Somerset, Points of View (London: Heinemann, 1958), p. 171.Google Scholar

95 e.g. “al-Kahla al-Mazhuwwa,” “lawn al-Khajal,” “al-Witwat,” and “Fi Qarar al Hawiyya.”

96 In his story “Aissat ⊂Ifrit,” for example, he starts with the following dialogue: – Have you seen a ghost, dear reader? – No! – Have you ever had an encounter with a ghost that was invisible, dear reader? – No! No! – Do you believe in the existence of ghosts at all, dear reader? – No! No! No! – Pardon me, dear reader. Note the sense of humour in this preamble, Yuhka Anna, 157.Google Scholar

97 In his introduction to Lashin's last collection, al-Nigab al-Ta⊃air, Husain Fawzi states that Lashin resumed writing at the close of the thirties, after an interval of nearly seven years, because of a favourable remark about his work in a critical study. Though Fawzi declines to mention the book, it seems that he was referring to Ism⊃il Adham and Ibrahim Naji's book, Tawfiq al-Hakim (1938).

98 'Faolain, S. O, The Short Story (London: Collins, 1948), p. 137.Google Scholar

99 One needs to bear in mind that, at this period, the dominant literary values were inimical to any realistic representation. They put vivid imagination, lyricism, inspiration, verbal skills, and strong emotional impact at the top of the scale of aesthetic values. This situation led the writers of fiction to emphasise, in their preambles and the like, the value and importance of their new opposing aesthetics which called for a closer relationship between art and reality and preferred the cognitive to the expressive, the dramatic to the lyrical, the human to the sublime, and the realistic to the imaginary. In their reaction to the dominant literary values they went a little too far, and tried to convince their readers that they were conveying bold reality and not writing fiction.

100 Mirrielaes, E. R., The Story Writer (Boston: Little Brown & Co., 1939), p. 163.Google Scholar

101 Some of these features are at variance with Lashin's rare theoretical statements, in which he favours the realistic attitude and claims that his writing is a whole world away from gratuitous local colour. See an interview with him in al-Majalla al-Jadida, 1931, p. 966.Google Scholar

102 For example, Husain Fawzi in his introduction to al-Niqab al-Ta⊃air.

103 For example, Mu⊃awiya, Muhammad Nur in “Tahir Lashin al-Qasasi, Ara⊃ wa-Mulahazat,” al-Siyasa al- Usbu⊂iyya, 5 07 1930.Google Scholar

104 Lukàcs, G., Writer and Critic, trans. Khan, A. (London: Merlin Press, 1970), p. 132.Google Scholar

105 Ibid.

106 See Yahya, Haqqi's introduction to the second edition of Sukhriyat al-Nay (1964), pp. iv–v.Google Scholar

107 Northrop, Frye, Anatomy of Criticism (Princeton, N.J., Princeton Univ. Press, 1957), p. 304.Google Scholar

108 See for example his two works “al-Shawish Baghdadi” and “al-Shaikh Muhammad al-Yamani.” Although they are more fictional sketches than proper short stories, their vivid comic spirit enables them to stand up to criticism.

109 See for example “Fi Qarar al-Hawiya” and “Taht ⊃Ajalat al-Haya.”

110 Detailed discussion is in Yahya, Haqqi's article on Sukhriyat al-Nay published in Kawkab al-Sharq, 02 1927Google Scholar and in Haqqi's, book Khutwat fi al-Nagd (Cairo: Dar al-Uruba, 1962).Google Scholar

111 Lùkacs, , p. 116.Google Scholar

112 Mu⊂awiya Muhammad Nur (“Tahir Lashin al-Qasasi, Ara⊃ wa-Mulahazat”) discusses this in detail.

113 Yahya, Haqqi, introduction to the second edition of Sukhriyal al-Nay (1964), p. 1.Google Scholar

114 See for example Yuhka Anna, p. 169Google Scholar when he says: “Al-anṣāb yanṣibūn, wa-l-Azlām yazlimūn, wa Kull Rijs min ⊃Amal al Shayṭān yartakibūn,” and al-Nigab al-Ta⊃ir, p. 20, when he says: “Wa-Hum fi Nahār Ka-l-Layl Ya⊃mahūn.”Google Scholar

115 There are many examples throughout his three collections. In Sukhriyat al-Nay for example, one finds on page 4 a deliberate attempt to juxtapose a decorative style full of pun, paronomasia, and internal rhyme, alongside colloquial words to show the absurdity of such a style: “Al-Qulal al-Amīqa wa-l-Abārīq al Rashīqa, wa-l-Azyār al Ṭakhma wa-l-Balālīṣ al Fakhma. Bayn Bayda⊃ bila Tilā⊃, wa-Manqūsha bi-l⊃tina⊃, wa Hamrā⊃ Zāt Bahā⊃ wa-Safra⊃ fi Zuha, wa-Raqṭta⊃ Fantaziyya al-Ruwā⊃.”

116 Muhammad, Lutfi Jum⊃a, al-Majalla al-Jadida, 04 1930, p. 776.Google Scholar

117 Yahya, Haqqi, Introduction to Dukhriyat al-Nay pp. 1–11.Google Scholar

118 Even when there is an Arabic equivalent he uses many of these foreign words, e.g.: automobil, orchestra, imperial, bon jour, propaganda, shake hands, mechanical, utopia, etc.

119 For a detailed discussion of the difference between the two see Richards, I. A., Principles of Literary Criticism (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1924), p. 267.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

120 Daiches, D., A Study of Literature (London: Andre Deutsch, 1968), p. 34.Google Scholar

121 Yarmolinsky, A., Letters of Anton Chekhov (New York: The Viking Press, 1973), p. 71.Google Scholar

122 Anonymous review of Hawwa⊃ Bila Adam, al-Majalla al-Jadida, 03 1934, p. 133.Google Scholar

123 For details on the difference between various types of first-person narrative, see Hildick, W., 13 Types of Narrative (London: Macmillan, 1968), pp. 29–52.Google Scholar

124 Lucas, F. L., Style (London: Cassell, 1955), p. 272.Google Scholar

125 Yahya, Haqqi, Introduction to Sukhriyat al-Nay, p. x.Google Scholar