Naguib Mahfouz was an
Egyptian writer who lived from 1911-2006. In 1988 he was awarded the Nobel
Prize for Literature. Although he was known for his writing skills the majority
of his life was spent in a variety of governmental jobs that eventually allowed
him to request to work in the Ghuri Library. His first novel was published in
1939 and he would publish 35 more novels and numerous short stories and
articles.
Yusuf Idris:
Yusuf Idris was the same generation writer as Naguib
Mahfouz and lived from 1927-1991. He graduated college in Cairo with a degree
in medicine and was a physician when he started to write. His first anthology
of stories was published in 1954 and there were many more soon after. He was
well known for his style of mixing classical Arabic narration with colloquial
dialect that told realistic stories about ordinary people.
Taha Hussein:
Taha Hussein was in 1889 and
as a young boy of three, lost his sight due to the unskilled care that was
given to him for his simple eye infection. Although he was blind and from the
lower middle class, he dedicated himself to getting into a newly established secular
University of Cairo. Once accepted into the college he excelled and in 1914 was
the first to receive a PH.D from the university. Later in his life he would
return to the University of Cairo to become a professor of Arabic literature
and was frequently criticized for his modern methods. His literary career
contained a plethora of writings that ranged from Novels to social and political
essays.
Omar Sharif:
Omar Sharif was born in
Alexandria Egypt in 1932. He studied mathematics and physics at the Victory
College in Cairo and went on to work in the family lumber business. Only
spending a few years working at the families business, Omar decided to pursue
his acting career. He quickly became a well known local actor but became
internationally famous after his performance in Lawrence of Arabia in 1962. He
continued to do many other movies but in the 70’s started to put his acting
career to the side and was now focusing more time on his passion of bridge.
sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/64847/Omar-Sharif/biography
http://theculturetrip.com/africa/egypt/articles/tales-from-the-nile-the-best-egyptian-writers-/sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/64847/Omar-Sharif/biography
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/580368/Taha-Husayn
http://www.aucpress.com/t-aboutnm.aspx?template=template_naguibmahfouz
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/282069/Yusuf-Idris
Naguib sounds like an amazing, talented man. When he wrote his first novel and it was published, how old was he? It is very saddening to hear how Taha Hussein lost his eyesight. I presumed that a family that is lower middle class could get him adequate medical attention for his simple infection. I guess that is another thing that we take for granted in the states. You mentioned how he was criticized for some of his modern teaching methods; so why is that? It is very interesting to see the difference between Palestinian authors and the Egyptian authors we wrote about. For the most part, your egyptian writers seem way better educated compared to Palestinian authors. However, I noticed that both the Palestinian and Egyptian authors we chose to write about have other jobs then just being an author. Omar sounds like an interesting man. The thought of a successful actor putting his career on hold to play something like bridge mind boggles me. This just shows another difference between the Middle East’s culture and America’s culture.
ReplyDeleteNaguib Mahfouz was almost assassinated by Islamic extremists when he was 82 years old. They found the questions he posed regarding religious views to be too challenging. He survived the stabbing in the neck with some permanent nerve damage.
ReplyDeleteTaha Hussein presented the very controversial idea that pre-Islamic poetry was invented, after Islam, to try to prove Arabic roots of Islam. His views in this matter have been widely and successfully contested, particularly by his student, the amazing Dr. Adel Gamal who just retired from teaching Arabic literature at the U of A this year.
Naguib sounds like an amazing, talented man. When he wrote his first novel and it was published, how old was he? It is very saddening to hear how Taha Hussein lost his eyesight. I presumed that a family that is lower middle class could get him adequate medical attention for his simple infection. I guess that is another thing that we take for granted in the states. You mentioned how he was criticized for some of his modern teaching methods; so why is that? It is very interesting to see the difference between Palestinian authors and the Egyptian authors we wrote about. For the most part, your egyptian writers seem way better educated compared to Palestinian authors. However, I noticed that both the Palestinian and Egyptian authors we chose to write about have other jobs then just being an author. Omar sounds like an interesting man. The thought of a successful actor putting his career on hold to play something like bridge mind boggles me. This just shows another difference between the Middle East’s culture and America’s culture.
ReplyDelete