Lorenzo Casini

The politics of imagining the West in the Egyptian novel: Resignifications of the European woman trope from the 1960s to the Arab Spring

Introduction

The politics of imagining the west in the egyptian novel: resignifications of the european woman trope from the 1960s to the arab spring. Explores how Egyptian novels from the 1960s to the Arab Spring re-imagined the European woman trope, challenging nationalist views and reflecting aspirations for democratic change.

Abstract

This article is a study in the poetics and politics of imagining the West in modern Arabic literature. It focuses on the deployment of the European woman trope in four Egyptian novels published between 1959 and 2012 and describes the re-enactment and transformation of this trope in relationship to the authors’ new critical attitudes toward hegemonic nationalist imaginaries in the second decade of the Twentieth century and in the early 2000s. After the 1960s, de-othering the European woman trope became also a means of questioning the hegemonic images of the Self that had been constructed against stereotyped images of Europe. This process led the authors in the early 2000s to re-imagine collective identity in the light of their aspiration to a democratisation of political life.

Review

This article promises a compelling and timely intervention into the study of modern Arabic literature, specifically the Egyptian novel, by examining the complex interplay between literary representation and political thought. Focusing on the 'European woman trope,' the author proposes to trace its 're-enactment and transformation' across four key novels published between 1959 and 2012. The central contention, that this trope's evolution mirrors and informs 'critical attitudes toward hegemonic nationalist imaginaries,' positions the study at the intersection of literary poetics and critical political analysis, offering a nuanced understanding of how cultural production engages with shifting national self-perceptions. The abstract details a clear analytical trajectory, beginning with the post-1960s period where the 'de-othering' of the European woman becomes a strategic means to interrogate 'hegemonic images of the Self' previously constructed against simplistic European stereotypes. This historical lens, spanning from the Nasserite era to the eve of the Arab Spring, suggests a rich contextualization of the chosen literary works. The methodology appears sound, analyzing how specific textual deployments of a recurring motif serve to both reflect and actively shape evolving national discourses, moving beyond a reductive East-West dichotomy towards a more complex internal critique. Ultimately, the article articulates a significant contribution by linking this literary 'resignification' directly to a broader political aspiration: the 're-imagining of collective identity in the light of their aspiration to a democratisation of political life' in the early 2000s. This connection between literary aesthetics, national self-perception, and calls for political reform is particularly insightful and offers valuable perspectives for scholars of postcolonial literature, cultural studies, and Middle Eastern politics. The proposed study thus stands to enrich our understanding of how imaginative literature can serve as a crucial site for intellectual and political contestation in the modern Arab world.

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