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Politics, History, and Culture in Nasser's Egypt

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2009

Jack Crabbs Jr
Jack Crabbs Jr
Affiliation:
California State University at Fullerton, Fullerton, California
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Extract

Although the effects of the Revolution of 23 July 1952 on Egyptian politics and the economy are well known, its impact on Egyptian culture has not yet been satisfactorily explained. Politically and economically, the Revolution has gone thrsough two more or less distinct phases. During the first decade of its existence, it moved cautiously on all fronts, and its spokesmen were fond of pointing out that their ‘ideology’ was experimental, pragmatic, and flexible rather than bound to any set of predetermined ideas. Then in 1961 the government veered sharply to the left. The so-called Socialist Laws were issued, altering profoundly the ownership and distribution of wealth in Egypt.

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Articles
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International Journal of Middle East Studies , Volume 6 , Issue 4 , October 1975 , pp. 386 - 420
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1975

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References

page 386 note 1 The best brief account is 'Awad's, Louis ‘Cultural and Intellectual Developments’, Egypt since the Revolution, ed. Vatikiotis, P. J. (New York and Washington: Frederick A. Praeger, Publishers, 1968), Pp. 143–61.Google Scholar

page 386 note 2 Throughout this study the word ‘Revolution’, when capitalized, refers specifically to the Revolution of 23 July. Written in lower-case letters, ‘revolution’ or ‘revolutionary’ carries its usual generic meaning.Google Scholar

page 386 note 3 Thus according to President Nasser: ‘I want to be fair to myself and fair to the philosophy of the revolution. So I leave it to history to draw up its outlines as I see them, as others see them, as and they are demonstrated by events — and then to distill from all this the full truth’ (Premier Nasser, Gamal Abdul, Egypt's Liberation: The Philosophy of the Revolution [Washington, D.C.: Public Affairs Press, 1955], p. 29).Google ScholarCf. Hanna, Sami A. and Gardner, George H., Arab Socialism (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1969), p. 335.Google Scholar

page 386 note 4 Some observers feel that this and other experiments with ‘socialist legislation’ were caused by or at least timed with disappointments abroad. Thus the encirclement of the Baghdad Pact, the tripartite arms embargo, the High Dam controversy, the uproar over nationalization of the Suez Canal, and the Anglo-French-Israeli attack combined to trigger the first such laws in 1956. Dekmejian, R. Hrair, Egypt under Nasir: A Study in Political Dynamics (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1971), p. 122. Malcolm Kerr maintains that the dissolution of the United Arab Republic in 1961 was the shock that occasioned the more extreme socialist legislation of 1961–19612Google Scholar (The Arab Cold War: Gamal ‘Abd al-Nasir and His Rivals, 1958–1970 [3rd ed.; London, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1971]), p. 26. Finally, let it be no hat the much vaunted Declaration of 30 March (Bayân 30 Mâris) was timed to coincide with the defeat of the Six-Day War and the Israeli victory march through Jerusalem.Google Scholar

page 387 note 1 As cited in Anîs, Muhammad, ‘Hawl Qadiyyat al-Taghayyur al-Thaqâfî’, Al-Hilâl, vol. 75, 9 (1 09. 1967), p. 5.Google Scholar

page 387 note 2 Rif'at, Kamâl al-Dîn [Minister of Labor], ‘Al-Dîmuqrâtiyyah fîl-Mujtama’ al Ishtirâkî', Al-Majallah, no. 68 (09. 1962), pp. 8–9.Google Scholar

page 387 note 3 Ibid p. 4. Cf. Abû'l-Majd, Ahmad Kamâl,‘Al-Dîmuqrâiyyah Allatî Nurîduhâ fî Zill al-Mithâq’,Al-Majallah al-Misriyyah li'l-' Ulûm al-Siyâsiyyah, no. 23 (02. 1963), p. 12.Google Scholar The same sort of reasoning was implicit in an article on Israel, in which the author stated that the proliferation of political parties in that country was not a sign of democracy but a reflexion of ‘a regime of contradictions and of the disintegration of Israeli society’ (Anîs, Muhammad, ‘Isrâ'îl min al-Dâthacirc;il: Al-Dîmuqrâtiyyah al-Zâ'ifah…wa'l-Tanâqu;dât al-Siyâsiyyah li'l-Qâ'idah al-Sahyûniyyah’, Al-Ahrâm, 15 06. 1964.Google Scholar

page 387 note 4 Khaffâjah, Muhammad Saqr, ‘Jâmi'âtunâ fî II 'Âmân’, Al-Majallah al-Misriyyah li'l-' Ulûm al-Siyâsiyyah, no. 28 (07 1963), pp. 132–3.Google Scholar

page 387 note 5 al-Zakî, 'Abd al-'Azîz Muhammad, ‘Hawl al-Takhtît al-Ishtirâkî li'l-Thaqâfah’, Al-Majallah, no. 103 (07 1965), p. 34.Google Scholar

page 387 note 6 On Soviet gains in general seeBerger, Morroe, The Arab World Today (Anchor Books; Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Co., Inc., 1964), pp. 302–3, 326–33, 340–57.Google Scholar

page 388 note 1 Kushk, Muhammad Jalâl,‘Difâ''an al-Tahtâwî’, Al-Risâlah, 1117 (10 06 1965), 36.Google Scholar

page 388 note 2 Zurayq, Qustantn, Nahnu wa'l-Ta'rikh (Beirut: Dâr al-'Ilm 'l-Malâyin, 1963), p. 40. Professor Zurayq himself calls Marxist historiography ‘simplistic’ (mubassat)Google Scholar (Ibid. p. 411).

page 388 note 3 On this see al-Wahhâb, Salâh al-Dîn 'Abd, ‘Al-Ishtirâkiyyah al-‘Arabiyyah’,Al-Majallah, no. 85 (06. 1964), p. 36;Google Scholar and by the same author ‘Al-Ishtirâkiyyah al-'Arabiyyah wa'l-Ishtirâkiyyah al-Yamîniyyah’, Al-Majallah, no. 86 (02. 1964), pp. 7–8.Google Scholar There are also many concrete events that belie the thesis that Egypt under Nasser had plunged headlong into a socialist—communist abyss — Nasser's incarceration of Egyptian communists, his frequent and embarrassing rebuffs to Nikita Khrushchev, the startling arrest in 1970 of the strongly pro-Marxist editor of al-Kâtib and his private secretary, the president's decision to educate his daughter at the ‘imperialistic’ American University in Cairo, and so on.

page 388 note 4 The best study in English of al-Jabartî is still Ayalon, David, ‘The Historian al-Jabarti and His Background’, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, vol. 23, 2 (1960), pp. 218–49.Google Scholar On nineteenth-century Egyptian historiography in general, see el-Shayyal, Gamal el-Din, A History of Egyptian Historiography in the Nineteenth Century, Faculty of Arts, no. 15 (Alexandria: Alexandria University Press, 1962).Google Scholar

page 388 note 5 Zaydân can be included here, even though he is of Syrian origin. He spent most of his life and did all of his work in Egypt.Google Scholar

page 389 note 1 Interview with Muhammad Sabri, 13 Aug. 1970.Google Scholar

page 389 note 2 Anîs, Muhammad, ‘Shafîq Ghhurbâl wa Madrasat al-Ta'rîlkh al-Misrî al-Hadîth’,Al-Majallah, no. 8 (11. 1961), p. 13.Google Scholar

page 389 note 3 'Âshûr, 'Abd al-Fattâh, 'Al-Duktûr Muhammad Mustafâ Ziyâdah’, Al-Majallah, no. 145 (06. 1969), pp. 32–3.Google Scholar Husayn Mu'nis should also be included here as a medievalist of international renown. He left Egypt in 1951.

page 389 note 4 Rif'at, Muhammad, ‘Mu'arrikh Yatahaddath li'l-shabâb 'an al-Ta'rîkh’, Al-Hilâl, vol. 61, 2 (1953), p. 11.Google Scholar

page 389 note 5 Anonymous, Review of Al-Mutâla'ah al-Ta'rîthiyyah, by Rif'at, Muhammad, 'Alî, Zakî and Ziyâdah, Muhammad Mustaâ, Al-Hilâl, vol. 66, 4 (1938), pp. 473.Google Scholar See also Rif'at, Muhammad, ‘Barnâmij Misr al-Siyâsî ba'd al-Harb’ Al-HilâJ, vol. 52, 2 P. 165.Google Scholar

page 389 note 6 Except for Sabrî, much of these men's time was devoted to teaching and administrative duties. shafîq shurbâl, for example, considered his students more important than his writings (Muhammad Anîs, ‘shafîq shurbâl wa Madrasat al-Ta'ri al-Misrî al-Hadîth’, p. 13).Google Scholar

page 390 note 1 al-Râfi'î, 'Abd al-Rahmân, Mudhakkirâtî, 1889–1951 (Cairo: Dâr al-Hilâl, 1952), pp 70–7.Google Scholar

page 390 note 2 Interview with Muhammad Sabrl, 13 Aug. 1970.Google Scholar

page 390 note 3 ‘Mu’arrith’, ‘Haqâ'iq al-Ta'rîth’, Al-Risâlah, no. 62 (10 09. 1934), p. 1482.Google Scholar

page 390 note 4 This viewpoint can be challenged, but it is in any case a popular one among Egyptian historians. For further details see the following: (I) Muhammad Anîs, ‘shafîq Ghurbâl wa Madrasat al-Ta'rîkh al-Misrî al-Hadith’, p.13;Google Scholar (2) Mustafâ, Ahmad 'Abd al-Rahîm, ‘'Abd al-Rahmân al-Râfi'î Wa Ta'rîth al-Harakah al-Qawimiyyah’, Al-Majallah, no. 60 (06. 1962), p. 27;Google Scholar (3) Mustafâ, Ahmad 'Abd al-Rabîm, ‘Abd al-Rahmân al-Râfi'î:1889–1966’, Al-Hilâl, vol. 75, 1 (106. 1967), p.46;Google Scholar (4) Fawdah, 'Abbûd, ‘Hadîth alMadînah: Su'âl wa Jawâb ma'a 'Abd al-Rahmân al-Râfi'l’, Al-Jumhûriyyah, 25 04 1961;Google Scholar and (5) Rizq, Tulbah, ‘Wathâ'iqunâ al-Ta'rîthiyyah Iâ Tazâlu Muhmalatân wa Tahtâju ilâ Juhûd Jabbârah li-Tanzîmihâ’, Binâ' al-Watan (09. 1966). The latter contains the judgment of Abmad 'Izzat 'Abd al-Karîm. It is probably true that Fu'âd paid each of these men for his work, but, as one prominent Egyptian historian pointed out to me, this could be considered a simple commission rather than a bribe. Most of the above-mentioned individuals were historians of some renown. It is unlikely that they would have treated their professional integrity so lightly. Finally, it should not be forgotten that some of the work commissioned by Fu'âd revolved around photocopying, translating, and reorganizing the Egyptian archives. This was supervised by the French historian Dény, whose archival index is still invaluable.Google Scholar See, for example, Tawfîq, Muhammad Muhammad, ‘Al-Halqah al-Mafqûdah fî Wathâ'iq Ta'rîth Misr al-Hadîth’, Al-Hilâi, vol. 49, 4 (1941), p.5.Google Scholar

page 390 note 5 Anîs, Muhammad, ‘Al-Ta'rîkh fî Khidmat al-Tatawwur al-Ishtirâki: Al-Ishtirâkiyyah Taqyîm-Mâdînâbi-qadrimâ Hiya Tanzîmli-Hâdîirnâ’, Al-Ahrâm, 7 07 1963. There is nowadays, as we shall see, no longer any dearth of historical literature written from the so-called national point of view.Google Scholar

page 391 note 1 Some Egyptian historians cannot bring themselves to admit this. ‘Abd al-Muhsin Taha Badr, for example, describes freedom of the press under the British as ‘specious’ and Qâsim Amîn, who was of a different viewpoint, as ‘deluded’ (Badr, 'Abd al-Muhsin Tahâ, Tatawwur al-Riwâyah al-'Arabiyyah al-Hadîthah fî Misr, 1870–1938, Maktabat al-Dirst al-Adabiyyah, no. 32 ‘Cairo: Dât al-Ma'ârif, 1963], P. 36). The fact remains, however, that when Lord Cromer came to Egypt in 1882 there was only a handful of newspapers in existence; by 1904 (three years before his departure) there were 176 in Cairo alone. Every political party had its paper, and during the period 1892–1900 about 150 new newspapers and periodicals appeared–as many as during the entire previous sixty-three years.Google ScholarOn this see ‘Umar al-Dusûqi, Fî'l-Adab al-Hadîth (Cairo: Dâr al-Fikr al-'Arabî, 1966), vol. ii, PP. 67–9;Google Scholar and Zaydân, Jurjî, Ta'rîkh Âdâb al-Lughah al-'Arabiyyah (Cairo: Maktabat al-Hilâl,1914), vol. iv, p. 70.Google Scholar

page 391 note 2 See, for example, the angry denunciation of the 1936 treaty by ‘Abd al-Rahmân al-Râfi'î, published in al-Ahram (‘Abd al-Rahmân al-Râfi'î, Fl A'qâb al-Thawrah al-Misriyyah [Maktabat al-Nah;diah al-Misriyyah, 1951], vol. III, pp. 59–31.Google Scholar

page 391 note 3 al-'Aqqâd, 'Abbâs Mahmûd, ‘Islâh al-Sihâfah’, Al-Risâlah, no. 282 (28 11. 1938), P. 1923.Google Scholar

page 391 note 4 Hanna and Gardner, Arab Socialism, p. 57.Google Scholar

page 391 note 5 ‘Chronology’, Middle Eastern Affairs, vol. 1, 5 (1960), p. 161.Google ScholarPubMed

page 391 note 6 al-Sawâfîrî, Kâmil, ‘Adab al-Thawrah wa'l-Kifâh’, Al-Risâlah, no. 960 (26 11. 1951), pp, 1337–8.Google Scholar

page 391 note 7 al-Jundî, Anwar, ‘Hal Yuktab al-Ta'rîth min Jadîd?’, Al-Risâlah, no. 1000 (1 09.1952), p. 984.Google Scholar

page 392 note 1 Vatikiotis, P. J., The Modern History of Egypt (New York and Washington: Frederick A. Praeger, 1969), p. 382.Google Scholar

page 392 note 2 Unless otherwise indicated, the above information has been taken from Hopkins, Harry, Egypt: The Crucible (Boston: Houghton Muffin Co., 1970), pp. 345–8.Google Scholar

page 392 note 3 Hanna and Gardner, Arab Socialism, p. 357.Google Scholar

page 392 note 4 al-Tahâmî, Muthtâr, ‘Ustûrat Hurriyyat al-sihâfah fî Amrîkâ’, Al-Kâtib, 79 (10. 1967), 61.Google Scholar

page 392 note 5 Sâlih, Rushdî, ‘Dirâsah fî Azmat a1-Sihâfah al-' Âlamiyyah’, Al-Majallah, no. 52 (04 1962), pp. 31–8.Google Scholar The quotation is from a speech of Nasser's to Egyptian newspaper editors on 29 May 1960. The reader will note the use of the word ‘deviations’, which is one of the favorite Soviet labels for the ideological lapses of its artists and intellectuals.

page 393 note 1 The earliest appeal came from Anwar al-Jundî, who in 1952 declared that all preRevolutionary historiography was biased. Villains had been painted as heroes and vice versa (al-Jundî, Anwar, ‘Tathîr al-Ta'rîkh’, Al-Risâlah, no. 1002 [1 09. 1952], p. 1043).Google Scholar

page 393 note 2 As cited in Hanna and Gardner, Arab Socialism, p. 370.Google Scholar

page 393 note 3 Fawdah, 'Abbûd, ‘Hadîth al-Madînah ma'a'l-Duktûr Muhammad Anîs’, Al-Jumhûriyyah, 17 05 1961. Hasan ‘Uthmân was a venerable old man f Egyptian historiography and a pioneer in the introduction of modem historical method among Egyptian students. His Manhaj al-Bahth al-Ta'rîthî first appeared in 1943 and was reissued in 1965 and 1970.Google Scholar

page 393 note 4 For shurbâl's view see Fawdah, 'Abbûd, ‘Hadîth al-Madînah: Su'âl wa Jawâb ma'a Muhammad shafîq hurbâl’, Al-Jumhûriyyah, 8 05 1961.Google ScholarSabrî's attitude is indicated in Sulaymân, Fawzî, ‘Hadâth al-Usbû' ma'a'l-Duktûr Muhammad sabri al-Surbûnî’, Al-Masâ, 18 11. 1962. It is doubtful that sabrl had any influence on decisions.Google Scholar

page 393 note 5 Anonymous, ‘Su'âl wa Jawâb ma'al-Duktûr Muhammad Anîs’, Al-Jumhûriyyah, 11 Aug. 1962.Google Scholar

page 394 note 1 The Charter had specifically called for study of the 1919 Revolution on the grounds that the reasons for its failure were identical with the causes of the 1952 Revolution (Fa'inn'l-Asbâb Allatî Addat ilâ Fashalihâ Hiya Nafs al-A sbâb Allatî Harrakat Hawâfiz al-Thawrah Sanat 1952). The Charter also maintained that the failure of the 1919 Revolution was due to control of the political parties by the landowning class and the inability of revolutionary leaders to ‘pinpoint any Egyptian personality’ (taidîd al-shathiyyah al-misriyyah)Google Scholar (Anîs, Muhammad, ‘Ta'rîkhunâ al-Qawmî fî'l-Mîthâq’, Al-Kâtib, no. 63 [06 1966], p. 73).Google Scholar

page 394 note 2 al-Sayyid, Jalâl, ‘Al-Manhaj al-Jadid li-Dirâsat al-Ta'rith’, Al-Jumhûriyyah, 21 04 1964. Anîs's appointment, according to al-Sayyid, was also a victory for the socialist interpretation of history.Google Scholar

page 394 note 3 Anonymous, ‘Al-Muqâwamah al-sha'biyyah fî ‘Ahd al-Ihtilâl al-Faransî’, Al-Athbâr, 5 06 1964.Google Scholar

page 394 note 4 On this see Anîs, Muhammad, ‘Turâthunâ al-Qawmî…Yâ Wazîr al-Thaqâfah! Hal Yasbiqunâ al-Ajânib li-Dirâsat Wathâ'iqinâ'l-Ta'rîkhiyyah?’, Al-Ahrâm, 4 04 1963; and the follow-up article in Al-Ahrâm, 5 April 1963.Google Scholar

page 394 note 5 Many articles appeared on this controversy. On Zashlûl's memoirs, see especially al-Sayyid, Jalâl, ‘Ta'rîkhunâ al-Qawmî fî Daw' al-Ishtirâkiyyah’, Al-Kâtib, no. 29 (08. 1963), pp.91–2;Google Scholar and Mandûr, Muhammad, ‘Thawrat 1919 wa Mudhakkirât Sa'd Zaghlûl’, Al-Kâtib, no. 31 (10. 1963), p.5.Google ScholarOn Farîd's memoirs see Anîs, Muhammad, ‘Da’wah li'l-Wataniyyah, lâ Da'wah li'l-Ihtikâr’, Al-Jumhûriyyah, 30 07 1964;Google Scholar and Sabrî, Mûsâ, ‘Hâtû liyya Habîbî’, Al-Akhbâr, 5 08. 1964. The real loser here was the newspaper al-Akhbâr, which was pronounced guilty in both instances. Recall that a new editor was appointed to the newspaper in the same year (above, p. 392).Google Scholar

page 395 note 1 I'ddah in Arabic can also mean renewal, restoration, reinstatement.Google Scholar

page 395 note 2 Jalâl al-Sayyid, ‘Ta'rîkhunâ al-Qawmî fî Daw’ al-Ishtirâkiyyah’, p. 90. A1-Sayyid's own comment on this is that the project's purpose should be expanded to make ‘socialist understanding… a weapon of professors in our universities’Google Scholar (Ibid).

page 395 note 3 al-sharqâwî, Muhammad, ‘Fî Dirâsat Ta'rîkhinâ al-Hadîth’, Al-Risâlah, 1036 (21 11. 1963), 22.Google Scholar

page 395 note 4 Anonymous, ‘Al-Madrasah al-Thâlikhah fî Kitâbat al-Ta'rîkh’, Al-Jumhûriyyah, 19 09. 1963.Google Scholar

page 395 note 5 al-Sayyid, Jalâl, ‘Ta'rîkhunâ al-Qawmî fî Daw' al-Ishtirâkiyyah’, p. 92.Google Scholar

page 396 note 1 al-shharqâwî, Muhammad, ‘Fî Dirâsat Ta'rîkhinâ al-Hadîth’, pp. 22–3.Google Scholar

page 396 note 2 For example, it is practically impossible to give the expression ‘al-mubâdiriûn al-hayyâbûn’ a coherent translation.Google Scholar

page 396 note 3 Anîs, Muhammad, ‘Al-Haqîqah hawl Mawdû' Kitâbat Ta'rîkh Misr al-Hadîth’, Al-Jumhûriyyah, 20 06 1963.Google Scholar

page 396 note 4 Anîs, ‘Al-Ta'rîkh fî Khidmat al-Tatawwur al-Ishtirâkî’.Google Scholar

page 396 note 5 Anîs, ‘Al-Haqîqah hawl Mawdû’ Kitâbat Ta'rîth Misr al-Hadîth’.Google Scholar

page 397 note 1 Anîs, Muhammad, ‘Al-Ta'rikh fî Khidmat al-Tatawwur al-Ishirâkî: Al-Nazrah al-Ishtirâkiyyah li-Ta'rîkh Mujtama'inâ’, Al-Ahrâm, 10 07 1963.Google Scholar

page 397 note 2 Sorely needed in much modern Egyptian historical writing.Google Scholar

page 397 note 3 For the proceedings of the conference see Mustafâ, Ahmad 'Abd al-Rahîm, ‘Nadwat I'âdat Kitâbat al-Ta'rîkh al-Qawmî’, Al-Majallah al-Ta'rîkhiyyah al-Misriyyah, vol. 13 (1967), pp. 345–61. The nature of the Egyptian-government's approach to such matters is indicated by the fact that these differences did indeed get into print.Google Scholar

page 397 note 4 In 1968, for example, Anîs reported on ‘Rewriting History in the Developing Countries’ at the Havana Conference. Anîs, Muhammad, ‘Munâqashât Hâddah hawl al-Qadiyyah al-'Arabiyyah fî Mu'tamar Hâfânâ al-Thaqâfî’, Al-Jumhûriyyah, 8 02 1968.Google Scholar

page 398 note 1 Anîs, Muhammad, ‘Al-Jâmi'ah 'alâ Tarîq al-Ishtirâkiyyah: Al-Madmûn al-Thawrî li'l-Tatwîr al-Jâmi'î’, Al-Ahrâm, 4 07 1964.Google Scholar

page 398 note 2 Anîs, Muhammad, ‘Al-Dîmuqrâtiyyah dâkhil al-Tanzîm al-sha'bî wa khârijuhâ’, Al-Ahrâm, 10 12 1962.Google Scholar

page 398 note 3 See, for example, his ‘Radd 'alâ Maqâlât Ba'd Kibâr al-Subufiyîn fî'l-Qâhirah’, Al-Anwâr, 9 Aug. 1967; and by the same author, ‘Al-Ab'âd al-Ta'rîkhiyyah li-Ma'rakat al-Sumûd al-Râhinah’, Al-Jumhûriyyah, 18 April 1968. Anîs himself told me that he began writing for al-Jumhûriyyah after the Six-Day War since it represented a contrary position to Al-Ahrâm's increasing readiness to compromise (interview with Muhammad Anîs, 31 May 1970).Google Scholar

page 398 note 4 Anîs, Muhammad, ‘Hû shî Minh: Munâdilân wa Mufakkirân’, Al-Kâtib, no. 103 (10 1969); and the follow-up article in al-Kâtib, no. 104 (Nov. 1969).Google Scholar

page 398 note 5 Anîs, Muhammad, ‘Amrîkâ wa'l-'Uzlah’, Al-Jumhûriyyah, 19 02 1968.Google Scholar

page 398 note 6 Anîs, Muhammad, ‘Liqâ’ al-Shujûn’, Al-Jumhûriyyah, 9 08 1969.Google Scholar

page 398 note 7 Anîs campaigned vigorously for this. See, for example, ‘Kayf Nuwâjih Amrîkî?’, Al-Akhbâr, 4 09 1969;Google Scholar‘Thumma…Ayna Nuwâjih al-Isti'mâr al-Amrîkî?’, Al-Jumhûriyyah, 11 09 1969;Google Scholar‘Awsa' Jabhah…didd Isrâ'il’, Al-Jumhûriyyah, 9 10 1969;Google Scholar and ‘Al-Dalîl al-Thawrî li-Muwâjahat al-Isti'mâr al-Amrîkî’, Al-Jumhûriyyah, 5 03 1970.Google Scholar

page 398 note 8 Anîs, Muhammad, ‘Al-Jamâhîr al-'Arabiyyah…wa Sîskû MâDalâlat Hâdhâ'l-Liqâ?’, Al-Jumhûriyyah, 23 04 1970.Google Scholar

page 398 note 9 Anîs, Muhammad, ‘Ma'a'l-Nâs 'alâ Jabhat al-Qitâl’, Al-Akhbâr, 27 03 1969.Google Scholar

page 399 note 1 Space limitations prohibit analysis of the works of these men at this time. The reader is referred to al-shâfi'î's Tatawwur al-Harakah al-Wataniyyah al-Misriyyah, Jirjis's Dirâsât fî Ta'rîkh Misr mundhu'l-'Asr al-Mamlûkî, and 'Âmir's Al-Ard wa'l-Fallâh fî Misr.Google Scholar

page 399 note 2 On the Zanj, see ‘Alî Husnî al-Kharbütalî, 'Thawrat al-Zanj Awwal Thawrah 'alâ'l-Iqtâ' fî'l-'Asr al-Islâmî’, Al-Hilâl, no. 6 (1 06 1967).Google ScholarOn Israel and the Crusades see Zakî, 'Abd al-Rahmân, ‘Yawm Mashhûd fî Ta'rîkhinâ al-Islâmî’, Al-Majallah, no.2 (02 1957). Zakî is a competent historian, and the tone of his article is considerably more subdued than the other cases cited here.Google Scholar

page 399 note 3 Robert, St. John, The BossGoogle Scholar, as cited in Hâfiz, Hamdî, ‘Al-Ra'îs Jamâl ‘Abd al-Nâsir fî'l-Maktabah al-'Âlamiyyah’, Al-Majallah, no. 91 (07 1964), p. 5.Google Scholar

page 399 note 4 Faraj, Al-Sayyid, ‘Intisâr Rashîd’, Al-Majallah, no. 34 (10 1959), p. 56.Google Scholar

page 399 note 5 Sidqî, 'Abd al-Rahmân, ‘Ma'rakat Rashîd bayn Ahdâth al-'Âlam al-Ta'rîkhiyyah’, Al-Majallah, no. 34 (10 1959), p. 7. Purple prose of this sort often proceeds as much from what the author thinks others want to hear as from his own convictions – a fact that complicates enormously the study of Egyptian society and culture under the Revolution. ‘Abd al-Rahmân Sidqî, although a patriotic Egyptian by any standards, is too cultivated and educated an individual to engage in such soap-box oratory. Perhaps his passion for eloquence (al-fasâhah) in Arabic got the better of him for a brief moment, although even then he could not have been unconscious of the audience to which he was playing. The same forces may have been at work on Sidqî which produced ‘Abd al-Rabmân Zakî's article on the Crusades cited above.Google Scholar

page 399 note 6 See, for example, the Philosophy of the Revolution, pp. 18–19.Google Scholar

page 400 note 1 al-Qâdir, Hasanayn 'Abd (Professor of Journalism at the University of Cairo!), ‘Al-Sayyid Muhammad Kurayyim, Hâkim al-Iskandariyyah’, Al-Majallah al-Misriyyah li'l-'Ulûm al-Siyâsiyyah, no. 18 (09 1962), p. 69.Google Scholar

page 400 note 2 Emam, Ibrahim, ‘Bonaparte's Information Policy in Egypt’, Al-Majallah al-Misiyyah li'l-'Ulû al-Siyâsiyyah, no. 22 (01 1963), p. 20.Google Scholar

page 400 note 3 See, for example, al-Sharqâwî, Mahmûd, ‘Mashhadân min Mashâhid al-Shajâ'ah wa'l-sharaf khilâl al-Thawrah al-'Urâbiyyah’, Al-Majallah, no. 48 (12 1960), pp. 50–3.Google ScholarA curious case is furnished by ‘Alî Adham's article on 'Urâbî et al., entitled ‘Al-Mudhakkirât al-Siyâsiyyah wa Kitâbat al-Ta'rikh’, Al-Hilâl, no. 6 (1 06 1964). The article itself refers to 'Urâbî's memoirs as ‘indispensable’ (lâ mandûhah 'an al-rujû' ilayhâ), but the accompanying picture of 'Urâbî carries the much more visible caption ‘The Memoirs of Ahmad 'Urâbî, A Reliable Source’ (Ahmad ‘Urâbî, Musdhakkirâtuhu Marfa' Mawtthûq bi-hi)Google Scholar (Ibid pp. 51–2). In the interests of fairness it should be noted here that pre-Revolutionary Egyptian historiography, notably the works of 'Abd al-Rabmân al-Râfl'î, had also stressed the ‘patriotism’ of men like Muhammad Kurayyim, 'Umar Makram, and Ahmad 'Urâbî. Al-Râfi'î's study of 'Urâbî, on the other hand, is quite critical at points, and al-Râfî'î's feeling that ‘Urâbî should have left politics to the politicians cannot have been welcome to President Nasser. See, for example, al-Râfi'î, 'Abd al-Rahmân, Al-Thawrah al-'Urâbiyyah wa'l-Ihtilâl al-Injilîzî (Cairo: n.p., 1966), p. 557. All earlier printings of al-Râfi'î's books were done by Maktabat al-Nahclah al-Misriyyah. Apparently the 1966 printing of his work on ‘Urâbî had to be privately financed, but once again it is significant that it was allowed to appear at all.Google Scholar

page 401 note 1 Al-Sayyid, ‘Ta'rîkhunâ al-Qawmî fî Daw’ al-Ishtirkiyyah’, pp. 87–90.Google Scholar

page 401 note 2 Al-Kâtib, for example, contained masterful analyses by Muhammad Rif'at of European diplomatic history and the foreign policy objectives of major European powers. Al- Talîah, on the other hand, stressed Egyptian social and economic history, the labor movement, etc., and included the pioneer studies of men like Amîn ‘Izz al-Dîn and Târiq al-Basharî.Google Scholar

page 401 note 3 Al-Risâlah was apparently discontinued from February 1953 to July 1963. The new version from 1963 on was ‘issued’ (saddar) by the Ministry of Culture and National Guidance (Wizârat al-Thaqâfah wa'l-Irshâd al-Qawmî) with the predictable changes. It continued, however, to have some use as a periodical.Google Scholar

page 401 note 4 Egyptian writers were fully conversant with and appreciative of the latest Western methods. For discussion of E. H.Carr, Harry Elmer Barnes, James Harvey Robinson and R. G. Collingwood,Google Scholarsee Burj, Muhammad 'Abd al-Rabmân ‘Al-Jadîd fî Mawdû' al-Ta'rîkh’. Al-Fikr al-Mu'âsir, no. 54. (08 1969), pp. 74–8.Google ScholarCf. Husayn, Muhammad Ahmad, ‘Al-Dirâsât al-Ta'rîkhiyyah wa Manâhijuhâ al-Hadîthah’, Al-Majallah, no. 119 (11 1966), pp. 16–20.Google ScholarFor refutation of the Marxist viewpoint see Adham's, 'Alî two articles, ‘Al-Asbâb al-Ta'rîkhiyyah wa'l-Qiyâm al-Insâniyyah’, Al-Majallah, no. 79 (07 1963), pp. 43–7;Google Scholar and ‘Al.Ta'rîkh bayn al-Darûrah wa'l-Hurriyyah’, Al-Fikr al-Mu'âsir, no. 10 (12 1965), pp. 36–8.Google ScholarEven more profound is the analysis by al-Najjâr, Husayn Fawzî, ‘Al-Ishtirâkiyyah al-'Arabiyyah wa Tafsîr al-Ta'rîkh’, Al-Fikr al-Mu'âir, no. 16 (06 1966), pp. 11–30. Al-Najjâr's views are quite far to the left, but he is always worthwhile reading owing to his care in research and the freshness of his approach. He has written a valuable article on 'Abd al-Rahmân al-Râfi'î (al-Fikr al-Mu'âsir [1967]), a discussion of the ‘thought-content’ of history à la Croce and Colling-wood (al-Fikr al-Mu'âsir, 1965), and a small biography of Ahmad Lutfî al-Sayyid (Cairo, 1963).Google Scholar

page 402 note 1 The articles on the memoirs of Muhammad Farîd (al-Kâtib [1969–1970’) are excellent.Google ScholarSo is the lengthy study by Anîs's student Ramadân, 'Abd al-'Azîm Muhammad – Tatawwur al-Harakah al-Wataniyyah fî Misr min Sanat 1918 ilâ Sanat 1936 (Cairo, 1968).Google Scholar

page 402 note 2 When I talked with Professor Anîs in 1970 he told me that he was particularly proud of (i) the series of seven articles he wrote in 1967 for al-Ahrâm on the Wafd ministry of 4 February 1942 and (2) the articles he wrote in 1969 for al-Jumhûriyyah on the Cairo fire of 1952 (interview with Muhammad Anîs, 31 May 1970). I have not seen the latter series, but the articles on al-Nahhâs Pasha and the Wafd in al-Ahrâm are indicative of Anîs at his best — thorough, fair, and critical. Anîs might also have extended this list considerably. He has written on such diverse areas as eighteenth-century commerce in the Red Sea, al-Jabartî, the 1919 Revolution, Mustafâs Kâmil, the bombardment of Alexandria (11 June 1882), and Ottoman-Egyptian historiography. Only very occasionally in all these writings do his radical political views peek through.Google Scholar

page 402 note 3 All three men came to approximately the same conclusions and pronounced very unfavorably on modern Arabic historiography. For their views see the following articles: (i) Gibb, H. A. R., ‘Problems of Middle Eastern History’, Studies on the Civilisation of Islam, ed. Shaw, Stanford and Polk, William R. (Boston: Beacon Press, 1962), p. 339;Google Scholar (2) Faris, Nabih Amin, ‘The Arabs and Their History’, Middle East Journal, vol. 8, 2 (1954), p. 162;Google Scholar (3) Chejne, Anwar G., ‘The use of History by Modern Arab Writers’, Middle East Journal, vol. 14, 4 (1960), pp. 387–9;Google Scholar and (4) Chejne, Anwar G., ‘The Concept of History in the Modern Arab World’, Studies in Islam, vol. 4, 1 (1967), pp. 28–9. The authors of the articles mentioned are quite correct to point out that absolute freedom of enquiry is found only rarely in the Arab world and that much modern Arabic historiography is flavored with propaganda. Their generalizations are nevertheless too broad and in the case of Egypt at least misleading. Only Chejne supplied specifically Egyptian examples to illustrate his point, choosing in that regard Tahâ Husayn and al-'Aqqâd. Neither individual is really representative of modern Egyptian historiography. ′Abd al-Rahmân Zakî, Muhammad Anîs, Muhammad Sabrî, Jamâl al-Dîn al-shayyâl, and Muhammad Fu'âd shukrî, to name only a few, have been entirely ignored.Google Scholar

page 403 note 1 I have not been able to ascertain when or why shurbâl left the University of Cairo. He supervised his last candidates for the Master's and Doctor's degrees in 1956 and 1958, respectively. See al-Majallah al-Ta'rîkhiyyah al-Misiyyah, vol. XIII (1967), pp. 405–8, 420–1. He left his position as deputy-director (wakîl) of the Ministry of Education (Wizârat al-Tarbiyah wa'l-Ta'lîm) in 1954, ostensibly because he had reached retirement age.Google ScholarMuhyî'l-Sumrî, , ‘Talâmdhî Hum Awwal ma A'tazzu bi-hi fî Hayâtî’, Al-Masâ', 20 04 1966. In 1956 he succeded Sâti al-Husrî as director of the Center for Arabic Studies in the Arab League, and he was president of the Egyptian Historical Society up till 1960. In spite of such activities, Ghurbâl lived out the remainder of his life virtually as a hermit. He had been ‘kicked upstairs’ and ceased all efforts at publication. On one occasion he commented wistfully that he was now spending much time with his rose garden and had not been to the movies in four yearsGoogle Scholar (Anonymous, ‘shafîq shurbâl Yazra' al-Ward wa Yabhath fî Ta'rîkh al-Bundûqiyyah’, Al-Ahrâm, 7 Oct 1958). Asked by an interviewer in 1961 about his philosophy of life, Ghurbâl replied cryptically: ‘I would prefer to keep my philosophy to myself’ (Anonymous, ‘Sa'alnâhum’, Al-Athbâr, 30 June 1961. He consistently refused invitations to appear on Egyptian television (Muhyî'l-Sumrî, op. cit.).

page 403 note 2 Interview with Muhammad Sabrî, 3 Aug. 1970.Google Scholar

page 403 note 3 See, for example, the articles on Sabrî in al-Ahrâm, 9 May 1959, and 22 Feb 1965.Google Scholar

page 403 note 4 Zakî, has written several recent articles on Islamic architecture. See, for example, ‘Al-'Imârah al-'Askariyyah fî'1-'Uûr al-Wustâ’, Al-Majallah al-Ta'rîkhiyyah al-Misriyyah, vol. 7 (1958);Google Scholar and ‘Al-Qilâ' fî'l-Hurûb al-Salîbiyyah’, Al-Majallah al-Ta'rîkhiyyah al Misriyyah, vol. 15 (1969). He is also working on a book about the city of Cairo and on a dictionary (mu'jam) of Islamic weaponry.Google Scholar See Rizq, Muhammad Tulbah, ‘Wa Nahnu Nu'id Kitâbat al-Ta'rîkh: Al-Duktûr 'Abd al-Rahmân Zakî’, Binâ' al-Dawlah, 1 04 1966.Google Scholar

page 403 note 5 On this see ‘Qissat al-Jâmi'ah ma'a Ahad Asâtidhatihâ’, Al-Ahrâm, 18 11 1962; and the article on shukrî in al-Ahrâm, 18 April 1963. Quite apart from his radical political views, it was typical of the essential warmth and humanity of a man like Muhammad Anîs that he personally took up the struggle on Shukrî's behalf. Anîs pointed out that historians too, and not just actors and singers, were deserving of society's respect. He went on to condemn the republication of one of Shukrî's historical studies without permission from or compensation to Shukrî himself and at the precise moment when Shukrî's health had placed him in an awkward financial positionGoogle Scholar (Anîs, Muhammad, ‘Tahiyyah ilâ 'Âlim Mu'arith fî Mihnatihi: Hal Hâna al-Asâtidhah ‘alâ Jâmi' âtihim?’, Al-Ahrâm, 10 04 1963).Google Scholar

page 404 note 1 See ‘Majlis al-Funûn Yurashshih al-Râfi'i li-Jâ'izat Nûbil?’, Al-Ahrâm, 4 02 1964;Google Scholar and ‘Al-Darâ'ib Tahjuz 'alâ Rasid al-Marhfûm 'Abd al-Rahmân al-Râfi'i!’, Al-Akhbâr, 7 03 1967.Google Scholar

page 404 note 2 Interview with Muhammad Anîs, 31 May 1970.Google Scholar

page 404 note 3 Al-Shayyâl had an additional cushion in that most of his research involved the medieval and early modern periods.Google Scholar

page 404 note 4 Cf. above, p. 388.Google Scholar

page 405 note 1 Collingwood, R. G., The Idea of History (London, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1956), p. 246.Google Scholar

page 405 note 2 Zaytûn, Muhammad Mahmûd, ‘A1-Thaqâfah al-Sha'biyyah’, Al-Risâlah, no. 890(24 07 1950), pp. 820–1. This is the first reference I found to something ‘sha'bî’ in all the journals and newspapers I examined. The oversight was more than made up for in later times, when virtually every art form became in some sense ‘sha'bî’.Google Scholar

page 405 note 3 Rushdi Saâlih, ‘Al-Funûn al-Sha'biyyah al-'Arabiyyah fî Thamâniyat A'wâm’, Al-Majallah, no. 43 (07 1960), p. 24.Google Scholar

page 405 note 4 Ibid p. 24.

page 405 note 5 On music see al-Khûlî, Samhah, ‘Mâdhâ Na'rifu 'an Mûsiqânâ al-Sha'biyyah?'’ Al-Majallah, no. 41 (05 1960), pp. 93–7.Google Scholar On the dance see al-Khâdim, Sa'd, Al-Raqs al-Sha'bi wa Masâdiruhu’, Al-Majallah, no. 45 (09 1960), pp. 83–90. Finally, on literature see the article by Rushdî Sâlih, in which he disparages the literary contribution of Ahmad Taym of Ahmad Taymûr on the basis that it contains few ‘populist’ elements.Google ScholarSâlih, Rushbî, ‘Ahmad Taymûr wa'l-Adab al-Sha'bî’, Al-Majallah, no. 35 (11 1959), p. 28.Google Scholar

page 406 note 1 This was more than just the substitution of one word for another. Sha'bî referred basically to the folkioric aspects of culture which were to receive additional attention. Ishtirâkî carried with it the additional connotation of prescribing exactly in what manner the various art forms had to be viewed.Google Scholar

page 406 note 2 al-Jundî, Anwar, ‘Tathîr fî Muhît al-Udabâ'’, Al-Risâlah, no. 1002 (15 09 1952), p. 1043.Google Scholar

page 406 note 3 Hâtim, Muhammad 'Abd al-Qâdir (quondam Minister of Culture and National Guidance), ‘Al-Thaqâfah li'I-Sha'b’, Al-Majallah, no. 74 (02 1963), pp. 3–7.Google ScholarCf. Bakr, Yahyâ Abû (quondam Deputy Assistant-Director of the Ministry of Culture and National Guidance), ‘Al-Thawrah al-Thaqâfiyyah wa'l-Mîthâq’, Al-Majallah, no. 76 (04 1963), p. 5.Google Scholar

page 406 note 4 Lapidus, Gail W., ‘Literature and the Arts’, Totalitarian Dictatorship and Autocracy, ed. Friedrich, Carl J. and Brzezinski, Zbigniew K. (2nd ed. rev.; Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1965), pp. 329–30.Google Scholar

page 406 note 5 Little, Tom, Modern Egypt (New York and Washington: Frederick A. Praeger, 1967), pp. 249–51.Google Scholar

page 406 note 6 Mandûr, Muhammad, ‘Adabunâ fî 'Ahd al-Thawrah’, Al-Majallah, no. 66 (07 1962), p. 29.Google Scholar

page 406 note 7 Mandûr, Muhammad, ‘Al-Masrah fî 'Ahd al-Thawrah: Hâduhu wa Mustaqbaluhu’, Al-Majallah, no. 91 (07 1964), pp. 28–9.Google Scholar

page 407 note 1 Luwîs, Nâdiyah (Nadya Louis), Review of Al-Ishtirâkiyyah wa'l-Adab, by Louis ‘Awad, Hiwâr, no. 4 (May–June 1963), p. 120.Google Scholar

page 407 note 2 Anîs, ‘Hawl Qadiyyat al-Taghayyur al-Thaqâfî’, pp. 7, 9.Google Scholar

page 407 note 3 Dawwârah, Fu'âd, ‘Shaykh al-Nuqqâd Yatabaddath’, Al-Majallah, no. 98 (02 1965), pp. 65–6.Google Scholar

page 407 note 4 Mandûr, Muhammad, ‘Madhhabî fî'l-Naqd’, Al-Majallah, no. 103 (07 1965), pp. 59–60. Mandû's about-face is so abrupt that one is inclined to question his sincerity. Perhaps he sensed that he had gone too far in his earlier pronouncements.Google Scholar

page 407 note 5 Awad, ‘Cultural and Intellectual Developments’, pp. 157–8.Google Scholar

page 407 note 6 Mandûr, ‘Adabunâ fî 'Ahd al-Thawrah’, p. 32.Google Scholar

page 408 note 1 Berger, The Arab World Today, pp. 327–8.Google Scholar

page 408 note 2 Ibid p. 354.

page 408 note 3 According to Hanna and Gardner (Arab Socialism, pp. 64–6) this book was considered in Egypt ‘to be an ideological statement of central importance’ (pp. 64–6).Google Scholar

page 408 note 4 See by Jalâl, Muhammad Su'âd, ‘Al-Uûl al-'Ammah li-Nazriyyat al-Islâm al-Ishtirâkiyyah’, Al-Risâlah, no. 1027 (19 09 1963), pp. 6–8.Google ScholarCf. ‘Alî al-'Ammârî, 'Al-Fardiyyah ka-mâ Yuawwiruhâ al-Qur'ân’, Al-Risâlah, no. 1117 (10 06 1965), p. 29.Google Scholar

page 408 note 5 al-Zayyât, Ahmad Hasan, ‘Matâ Yakûnu Adabunâ Ishtirâkiyyân?’, Al-Risâlah, no. 5036 (21 11 1963), p. 3.Google Scholar

page 408 note 6 Hasan, Muhammad 'Abd al-Ghanî, ‘Al-Fallâh fî'l-Shi'r al-'Arabî’, Al-Risâlah, no. 1104 (11 03 1965), pp. 27–9, 61.Google Scholar

page 408 note 7 Ibrâhîm, Zakariyâ, ‘Al-Takfîr al-Falsafî fî 'Ahd al-Thawrah’, Al-Majallah, no. 95 (07 1964), p. 13.Google Scholar

page 408 note 8 Yûsuf, Salâh Abû, ‘Nahwa Fann Sînimâ'i Ishtirâkî’, Al-Tali'ah, no. 6 (06 1965), pp. 94–6.Google Scholar

page 409 note 1 According to another authority, government support of cultural activities was due directly to the conviction that a new ideology had to be created (Little, Modern Egypt, p. 251).Google Scholar

page 409 note 2 Not to do so would have been to suffer the fate of a Pasternak. It is precisely this situation too which is described in Ilya Ehrenburg's novel, The Thaw, wherein the chief protagonists represent the conflict between artistic integrity and the comfort that only government patronage can provide (Lapidus, ‘Literature and the Arts’, pp. 331–4).Google ScholarCf. Gaev, A., ‘The Decade since Stalin’, Soviet Literature in the Sixties: An International Symposium, ed. Hayward, Max and Crowley, Edward L. (New York and London: Frederick A. Praeger, 1964), p. 19.Google Scholar

page 409 note 3 Le Gassick, Trevor errs in thinking that Mahfû published nothing for the first seven years after the Revolution (‘Arab Prose and Poetry: A Prod and a Reflection of Unity and Progress’, Mid East, vol. 9, no. (1969), p. 13). The above dates refer to Mahfû's publications, not to any work in progress. Thus it must have required many years for him to finish his trilogy, which came out in 1956–7. The exception to this chronology is The Boys in Our Neighbourhood (Awlâd Hâratinâ), which Mahfûs had to publish outside Egypt in 1958 but which had already appeared earlier in serial form in al-A hrdm.Google Scholar

page 409 note 4 'Âmir, Ibrâhim, ‘Najîb Mahfû Siyâsiyyân min Thawrat 1919 ilâ Yûniyû 1967’, Al-Hilâl, 68, 2 (1970), p. 35. ‘Amir's article is a bitter denunciation of Mahfûz's ‘petty bourgeois’ ideas and his essential hostility to all ‘progressive’ movements.Google Scholar

page 410 note 1 Al-Ta'âm li-kulli Famm (1963), Shams al-Nahâr (1965), Laylat al-Zifâf (1966), Masîr al-Sursâr (1966), and Al-Warttah (1966).Google Scholar

page 410 note 2 Yâ Tâli' al-Shajarah (1962) and Rihlat al-Rabî wa'l-Kharîf (1964).Google Scholar

page 410 note 3 Al-Sultân al-Hâ'ir (1960).Google Scholar

page 410 note 4 See below, p. 417.Google Scholar

page 410 note 5 Cowan, David, ‘Literary Trends in Egypt Since 1952’, Egypt Since the Revolution, p. 167.Google Scholar

page 410 note 6 See below, pp. 417–18.Google Scholar

page 410 note 7 The first question is hard to answer, since Taymûr's first collection of short stories appeared as early as 1925, and he has been writing nonstop ever since. In all, he has published twenty-five collections of short stories, containing more than 400 individual pieces! Mahmûd, Tayrnûr, Bint at- Yawm (Cairo: Mu'assassat Akhbâr al-Yawm, 1971), pp. 6, 12. Taymûr's more recent works further complicate the problem, since they often do not mention any prior publication date and lead the reader, perhaps correctly in some instances, to believe that they are appearing currently for the first time. This is true, for example, of Abû Shawârib wa Qisas Ukhrâ (1959) and Ashtar min Iblîs (1965), both of which had appeared before 1953. Jazîrat al-Jayb was published in 1963 as a first edition, yet it resulted from notes that the author had made about a trip he had taken in 1951. Taymûr himself provides few clues to the answer to the second question. In a recent work on literary trends, he has included a lifeless little eulogy of Muhammad Mandûr. It says virtually nothing and is the kind of thing Egyptians so often write when they wish merely to fill space in an inoffensive way.Google Scholar See by Taymûr, Mahmûd, Ittijâhât al-Adab al-'Arabî (Cairo: Maktabat al-Âdâb bi'l-Jamâmîz, 1970), pp. 181–3. In another recent study, on the other hand, Taymûr reveals his hope that Egyptian socialism, whatever its current faults, may one day result in the same benefits as the Swedish system.Google ScholarTaymûr, Mahmûd, Adab wa Udabâ' (Cairo: Dâr al-Kâtib al-'Arabî li'l-Tibâ'ah wa'l-Nashr, 1958), p. 8. Needless to say, this statement could be read to mean that the repressive elements of the Egyptian political system should be abandoned. Cf. also below p. 416, for information on Taymûr's attitude toward ‘adab sha'bî’.Google Scholar

page 411 note 1 It was later approved and enjoyed a successful rerun in 1967. By the time I was in Egypt in 1970, the play You Killed the Monster (Inta Jill Qatalt al-Wahsh) had become the current rage. It contained some not very veiled allusions to the dulling effects of government censorship and implied that President Nasser's defiance of Israel was not in itself enough to meet the needs of the country. The fact that it was allowed to run is another indication of the casual approach of the Revolution to ideas which do not yet constitute any real danger to the state.Google Scholar

page 411 note 2 Ketman, Georges, ‘The Egyptian Intelligentsia’, The Middle East in Transition, ed. Laqueur, Walter Z. (New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1958), p. 484.Google Scholar

page 411 note 3 I have met and talked with Yûsuf Idrîs on several occasions. I find it hard to believe that he is a communist in any normal sense of the word.Google Scholar

page 412 note 1 Cowan, ‘Literary Trends in Egypt Since 1952’, pp. 167–9.Google Scholar

page 412 note 2 Awad, ‘Cultural and Intellectual Developments’, p. 160.Google Scholar

page 413 note 1 Thus according to a well-known film director it is wise to make at least 25 per cent of films ‘to show the fight for Socialism…. But the rest are international dramas, musicals, comedies, thrillers –just as yours’ (Hopkins, Egypt: The Crucible, p. 351). Egyptian comedies, let it be noted, are by far the most popular moviegoing fare in the country today.Google Scholar

page 413 note 2 It is significant that after World War I and the arrival at ‘independence’ in 1922 the Egyptian masses revealed a much greater interest in the idea of elections than anyone had anticipated (Shafîq, Ahmad, ‘Yaqzat al-Shu Awâ'il al-Qarn al-Tâsi’ ‘Ashar ilâ'l-Ân’, Al-Hilâl, vol.48, 6 (1940), p. 693). They knew, moreover, exactly whom to vote for and returned consistent Wafd majorities every time, in spite of the efforts of large landowners and other political leaders to detach them from the Wafd. So infuriating was their loyalty to the Wafd that the Watanî historian, ‘Abd al-Rahmân al-Râfi'î, eventually came to oppose the idea of free elections in the Wafd's case!Google ScholarSee al-Râfi'î, , Fî A'qâb al-Thawrah al-Misriyyah, vol. 3, pp. 84–5, 289–90.Google Scholar

page 414 note 1 I have found only one instance of such deep dissatisfaction on the part of Egyptian intellectuals before the Revolution. Ahmad klasan al-Zayyât, quondam editor of al-Risâlah, reveals a deep malaise about the inequitable distribution of wealth in Egypt and the inability of the parliamentary system to rectify it. See by al-Zayyât, , ‘Hawl al-Dimuqrâyyah’, Al-Risâlah, no. 199 (26 04 1937), p. 682.Google ScholarCf. also his ‘Bayn al-Faqir wa'l-Ghanî’, Al-Risdlah, no. 289 (16 01 1939), pp. 95–6;Google Scholar and ‘'Id al-Faqrî’, Al-Risâlah, no. 291 (30 01 1939), pp. 191–2;Google Scholar and ‘Kayf Nu'â al-Faqr’ Al-Risâlah, no. 292 (6 02 1939), pp. 239–40.Google Scholar

page 414 note 2 See in this regard his ‘10 Hawâdith 'Uzmâ fî'l-Sittîn Sanah al-Akhîrah’, Al-Hilâl, 61, 1 (1953), pp. 29–35Google Scholar and by the same author, ‘Fî 'Âm Wâbid Tahqqaqat Hâdhihi'l-Intisârât’, A1-Hilâl, 67, 2 (1959), pp. 8–11.Google Scholar

page 414 note 3 For Sabri's remarks see the article ‘Al-Mu'arrikh Sabrâ al-Surbûnî Yaqûlu: Law Kuntu fî'l-Âkhirah’, Al-Jumhûriyyah, 9 06 1962. For Ghurbâl's see his ‘Haqqaqat al-Wihdah Dawlat al-Barrayn wa'l-Barayn’, Watan, 22 Feb 1959.Google Scholar

page 415 note 1 al-Râfi'î, 'Abd al-Rahmn, Arba'at 'Ashar 'Âmân fî'l-Barlamân (Cairo: Matba'at al-Sa'âdah, 1955), pp. 312–14, 319–20, 478–84.Google Scholar

page 415 note 2 'al-Râfi'î, Abd al-Rahmân, ‘Zu'amâ'unâ Mas'ûlûin 'an al-Dîmuqrâtiyyah’, Al-Hilâl, 60, 7 (1952), pp. 7–8.Google Scholar

page 415 note 3 Anonymous, ‘'Abd al-Rahrnân al-Râfi'î Yatahaddath ilâ'l-Ahrâm’, Al-Ahrâm, 18 March 1954.Google Scholar

page 415 note 4 Ghurbâl, Shaîq, ‘Al-Ta'lîm al-Jâmi'î’, Al-Hilâl, vol. IL, 3 (1941), p. 530.Google Scholar

page 415 note 5 Ghurbâl, Shaîq, ‘Markaz Mirs al-Siyâsî’, Al Kitâb, 10, 1 (1951), p. 22.Google Scholar

page 415 note 6 I have not found enough information to be sure of the position of Muhammad Sabrî. Sabrî's sense of bitterness and disillusionment with the Egyptian parliamentary regime and the West in general runs in any case deeper than the individuals mentioned above. See, for example, his ‘Ilâ Ayy Tarîq Nahnu Masûqûn: Mahzalah fî Ma'tam’, Al-Ahrm, 3 Oct. 1925.Google Scholar

page 416 note 1 Husayn, Tahâ, ‘Mustaqbal al-Dîmuqrâiyyah’, Al-Hilâl, 50, 1 (1941), pp. 2, 6.Google Scholar

page 416 note 2 On this see by al-'Aqqâd, , ‘Li-mâdhâ AnâDîmuqurâtî?’, Al-Hilâl, 50, 1 (1941), pp. 10–13.Google ScholarCf. Yûnis, 'Abd al-Hamid, ‘'Abbâs Mabmûd al-'Aqqâd bayn Taqîq al-Turâth wa Hurriyyat al-Ta'bîr’, Al-Risâlah, no. 1054 (26 03 1964), p. 12;Google Scholar and Fu'âd, Ni'mat Ahmad, ‘Abbâs Mahmûd al-'Aqqâd’, Al-Majallah, no. 90 (06 1964), 16.Google Scholar

page 416 note 3 al-'Aqqâd, Abbâs Mahmûd, ‘Al-Fard wa'l-Dawlah’, Al-Risâlah, no. 509 (04 1943), pp. 261–3.Google Scholar

page 416 note 4 Taymûr, Mahmûd, ‘Al-Dîmuqrâtiyyah wa Mustaqbaluhâ’, Al-Risâlah, no. 451 (23 02 1943), 244–5.Google Scholar

page 416 note 5 Taymûr, Mahmûd, ‘Al-Adab al-Sha'bî Al-Risâlah, no. 1020 (19 01 1953), pp. 81–2.Google Scholar

page 417 note 1 al-Hakim, Tawfîq, Adab al-Hayâh (Cairo: Al-Shirkah al-'Arabiyyah li'l-Tiba'ah wa'l-Nashr, 1959), pp. 8–13, 26, 28, 77–84.Google Scholar

page 417 note 2 al-Hakim, Tawfîq, Al-Ta'âduliyyah: Madhabîfî'l-Hayâh wa'l-Fann (Cairo: Maktabat al-Adâb, 1966), pp. 6–7, 65, 88.Google ScholarCf.Dawwârah, Fu'âd, ‘Tawfîq al-Hakîm Yujîb 'alâ As'ilat Fu'âd Dawwârah’, Al-Majallah, no. 92 (08 1964), 26, where essentially the same views are expressed.Google Scholar

page 417 note 3 Al-Hakim, Al-Ta'âduliyyah, p. 112.Google Scholar

page 417 note 4 Above, pp. 387, 391, 406, 408.Google Scholar

page 417 note 5 Al-Hakim, Al-Ta'âduliyyah, pp. 100–1;Google Scholar and al-Hakim, Adab al-Haydh, pp. 108–11.Google Scholar

page 417 note 6 Al-Hakîm, Adab al-Hayâh, pp. 126–9.Google Scholar

page 417 note 7 Cooley, John K., ‘Tewfik al-Hakim: Egypt's Dean of Imagination, Author-in- Residence’, Christian Science Monitor, 22 03 1972.Google Scholar

page 417 note 8 Cf. below p. 420.Google Scholar

page 417 note 9 Haqqî, Yahyâ, ‘Itr al-Ahbâb (Cairo: Matâb' al-Ahrâ al-Tijâriyyah, 1971), p. 17.Google Scholar

page 418 note 1 Haqqî, Yahyâ, Unshûdah li'l-Basâtah (Cairo: Matâbi ‘Al-Ahrâm al-Tijâriyyah, 1972), p. 115.Google Scholar

page 418 note 2 Ibid. pp. 117–18.

page 418 note 3 On these see by Shukrî, Ghalî, Adab al-Muqâwamah (Maktabat al-Dirâsât al-Adabiyyah, no. 52 (Cairo: Dâr al-Ma'ârif bi-Mirs, 1970), pp. 249–53, 385–6.Google Scholar

page 418 note 4 In the work on ‘resistance literature’ mentioned above Shukrî cites only one example of the genre written by Yûsuf Idrîs - a1-Laihzah al-Hârijah. It is by far the most attractive case discussed by Shukrî and contains real elements of tragedy. It was nevertheless angrily denounced by critics, who felt that Idrîs had created ‘a negative national hero’. Shukrî himself says that Idrîs's dramatic effort ‘foundered in its exuberance over “psychological analysis” (ta'aththarat a1-muhâwalah fî ghamrat ‘al-tahîl al-nafsî’) (Shukrî, op. cit. p. 265). Some observers feel that Idrîs's work has not been well received because of its overall poor quality and not because of any ideological deficiencies. Even if true, this would not alter the fact that the harsh criticism of al-Lahzah al-Hârijah was indeed primarily ideological in nature.Google Scholar

page 419 note 1 For the abortive attempt to control the plastic arts by making them ‘socialistic’, see Awad, ‘Cultural and Intellectual Developments’, p. 160.Google Scholar

page 419 note 2 As I write this, I cannot help but recall the humor and typically Egyptian spirit of ‘ma'lish’ with which that fine old gentleman, Muhammad Sabrî, could look on his very straitened circumstances.Google Scholar

page 420 note 1 On recent theatrical productions see Nordell, Roderick, ‘Cairo's Thriving Theater World”, Christian Science Monitor, 27 05 1972.Google Scholar

page 420 note 2 This cannot have occurred without government endorsement. See al-Hakîm's, ‘Al-Hadârah wa'l-Hiwâr’, Al-Ahrâm, 1 06 1973.Google Scholar

page 420 note 3 Mr Haqqî's remarks were made at the annual meeting of the Middle East Studies Association of North America in Binghampton, New York (2–4 Nov. 1972).Google Scholar