Cairo Trilogy
Encyclopedia
The Cairo Trilogy is a trilogy
of novels written by the Egyptian
novelist and Nobel Prize
winner Naguib Mahfouz
.
The three novels are, in order:
, the city of Mahfouz's childhood and youth. The first novel. Bein el-Qasrein, is named after a street where the protagonist, and his family live, the second, Qasr el-Shoaq, is named after a street where his eldest son Yasin and his family live, whereas the third, El-Sukkareyya, is named after a street where his daughter Khadijah and her family live.
against the British colonizers – to the end of the Second World War in 1944. The three novels represent the three phases of the Cairene socio-political life, a panorama of Egypt, through the life of Abd al-Jawad and his children and grandchildren.
To Kamal, the youngest son, Mahfouz admits that he gives him some features of himself, as they both have got a BA in philosophy from what is called nowadays the University of Cairo and have problems with profound contradictions they discern between religious principles and the scientific discoveries of the West.
Seen as a child in the first novel, a university student in the second, and a teacher, not married, in the third, Kamal loses his faith in religion, in love, and in traditions and lives in the second and third novels as an outsider in his own society. He keeps searching for meaning of his life until the last scene that seems an imposed one by Mahfouz to give some air of hope. Then Kamal's attitude to life changes to the positive as he starts to see himself as 'idealistic' teacher, future husband and revolutionary man.
Likewise Mahfouz sees the development of society has an important influence on the role of women, so he represents the traditional, obedient women who do not go to school such as Amina, Abd al-Jawad's wife, and her daughters in the first novel, women as students in the university such as Aida, Kamal's beloved, in the second novel, and women as students in the university, members of the Marxist party and editors of the journal of the party in the third novel.
Throughout the trilogy, Mahfouz beautifully develops his theme: social progress will be the inevitable result of the evolutionary spirit of humankind. Time is the major leitmotif in all three books, and its passage is marked in myriad literal and symbolic ways, from the daily pounding of bread dough in the morning, which serves as an alarm clock for the family, to the hourly calls for prayers that ring out from the minarets of Cairo. In the first novel time moves slowly, and we sense that because this story belongs to Kamal, still a child, time should indeed feel like a mastodon lumbering slowly through an enchanted landscape; the permanence of childhood is pronounced, and the minutes often tick by like hours. And yet inevitable changes occur: sisters get married, babies are born, grandparents die, life goes on. The passage of time quickens in the following book, and doubles yet again in the third. By the time the trilogy concludes whole years seem to fly by to the middle-aged Kamal, and a reader can only join him in shaking her head at the wonder and mystery of it all.
Mahfouz' concern with the nature of time was no accident, as he had studied the French Philosopher Henri Bergson as an undergraduate, and was also deeply impressed by Proust's Remembrance of Things Past, Proust being another of Bergson's admirers. According to Bergson's philosophy, one needs to make a distinction between psychological time and real, physical time; psychological time is apprehended through intuition, whereas real time is apprehended through the intellect. "Supreme" moments in time Bergson called Duration, and these are the moments when we really live. In the Cairo Trilogy Mahfouz incorporates this idea both frequently and masterfully, dramatizing Bergson's philosophical theories on the nature of time and evoking the most fundamental of human concerns: why are we here?
in the early 1990s. The translators were:
The translation was overseen by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
(who was an editor at Doubleday at the time) and Martha Levin.
Trilogy
A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...
of novels written by the Egyptian
Egyptians
Egyptians are nation an ethnic group made up of Mediterranean North Africans, the indigenous people of Egypt.Egyptian identity is closely tied to geography. The population of Egypt is concentrated in the lower Nile Valley, the small strip of cultivable land stretching from the First Cataract to...
novelist and Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize in Literature
Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
winner Naguib Mahfouz
Naguib Mahfouz
Naguib Mahfouz 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. He published over 50 novels, over 350 short stories, dozens of movie...
.
The three novels are, in order:
- Palace WalkPalace WalkPalace Walk is a novel by Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz, and the first installment of Mahfouz's Cairo Trilogy. Originally published in 1956 with the title Bayn al-qasrayn , the book was translated into English in 1990...
(original Arabic titleArabic languageArabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
: , Bein el-Qasrein, 1956) - Palace of DesirePalace of DesirePalace of Desire is a novel by Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz, and the second installment of Mahfouz's Cairo Trilogy. It was originally published in Arabic in 1957 with the title Qasr el-Shōq....
( , Qasr el-Shoaq, 1957) - Sugar Street ( , El-Sukkareyya, 1957)
Titles
The books' Arabic titles are taken from actual streets in CairoCairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, the city of Mahfouz's childhood and youth. The first novel. Bein el-Qasrein, is named after a street where the protagonist, and his family live, the second, Qasr el-Shoaq, is named after a street where his eldest son Yasin and his family live, whereas the third, El-Sukkareyya, is named after a street where his daughter Khadijah and her family live.
Narrative
The trilogy follows the life of the Cairene patriarch Al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad and his family across three generations, from 1919 – the Egyptian RevolutionEgyptian Revolution of 1919
The Egyptian Revolution of 1919 was a countrywide revolution against the British occupation of Egypt and Sudan. It was carried out by Egyptians and Sudanese from different walks of life in the wake of the British-ordered exile of revolutionary leader Saad Zaghlul, and other members of the Wafd...
against the British colonizers – to the end of the Second World War in 1944. The three novels represent the three phases of the Cairene socio-political life, a panorama of Egypt, through the life of Abd al-Jawad and his children and grandchildren.
To Kamal, the youngest son, Mahfouz admits that he gives him some features of himself, as they both have got a BA in philosophy from what is called nowadays the University of Cairo and have problems with profound contradictions they discern between religious principles and the scientific discoveries of the West.
Seen as a child in the first novel, a university student in the second, and a teacher, not married, in the third, Kamal loses his faith in religion, in love, and in traditions and lives in the second and third novels as an outsider in his own society. He keeps searching for meaning of his life until the last scene that seems an imposed one by Mahfouz to give some air of hope. Then Kamal's attitude to life changes to the positive as he starts to see himself as 'idealistic' teacher, future husband and revolutionary man.
Likewise Mahfouz sees the development of society has an important influence on the role of women, so he represents the traditional, obedient women who do not go to school such as Amina, Abd al-Jawad's wife, and her daughters in the first novel, women as students in the university such as Aida, Kamal's beloved, in the second novel, and women as students in the university, members of the Marxist party and editors of the journal of the party in the third novel.
Throughout the trilogy, Mahfouz beautifully develops his theme: social progress will be the inevitable result of the evolutionary spirit of humankind. Time is the major leitmotif in all three books, and its passage is marked in myriad literal and symbolic ways, from the daily pounding of bread dough in the morning, which serves as an alarm clock for the family, to the hourly calls for prayers that ring out from the minarets of Cairo. In the first novel time moves slowly, and we sense that because this story belongs to Kamal, still a child, time should indeed feel like a mastodon lumbering slowly through an enchanted landscape; the permanence of childhood is pronounced, and the minutes often tick by like hours. And yet inevitable changes occur: sisters get married, babies are born, grandparents die, life goes on. The passage of time quickens in the following book, and doubles yet again in the third. By the time the trilogy concludes whole years seem to fly by to the middle-aged Kamal, and a reader can only join him in shaking her head at the wonder and mystery of it all.
Mahfouz' concern with the nature of time was no accident, as he had studied the French Philosopher Henri Bergson as an undergraduate, and was also deeply impressed by Proust's Remembrance of Things Past, Proust being another of Bergson's admirers. According to Bergson's philosophy, one needs to make a distinction between psychological time and real, physical time; psychological time is apprehended through intuition, whereas real time is apprehended through the intellect. "Supreme" moments in time Bergson called Duration, and these are the moments when we really live. In the Cairo Trilogy Mahfouz incorporates this idea both frequently and masterfully, dramatizing Bergson's philosophical theories on the nature of time and evoking the most fundamental of human concerns: why are we here?
Translations
The Cairo Trilogy was published in English translation by DoubledayDoubleday
-History:It was founded as Doubleday & McClure Company in 1897 by Frank Nelson Doubleday, who had formed a partnership with magazine publisher Samuel McClure. One of their first bestsellers was The Day's Work by Rudyard Kipling. Other authors published by the company in its early years include W....
in the early 1990s. The translators were:
- Palace Walk - William M. HutchinsWilliam M. HutchinsWilliam Maynard Hutchins is an American academic, author and translator of contemporary Arabic literature. He is currently a professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina....
and Olive Kenny - Palace of Desire - William M. Hutchins, Lorne Kenny and Olive Kenny
- Sugar Street - William M. Hutchins, Angele Botros SamaanAngele Botros SamaanAngele Botros Samaan was an Egyptian academic and translator. She obtained a BA and an MA degree from Cairo University and later served as a professor in the university's English department for many years. She wrote a number of books and scholarly articles in both English and Arabic.She is best...
and Olive Kenny
The translation was overseen by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier "Jackie" Kennedy Onassis was the wife of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and served as First Lady of the United States during his presidency from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. Five years later she married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle...
(who was an editor at Doubleday at the time) and Martha Levin.