| Description |
1 online resource (xxii, 145 pages) |
| Series |
Modern intellectual and political history of the Middle East |
|
Modern intellectual and political history of the Middle East
|
| Contents |
The link between the generations -- The responsibilities of every generation -- The gap between the generations -- The clash of generations -- The mutual disregard between the generations -- Deprived children -- The making of the generations -- Nature's generations -- The diversity of generations -- The principle of the coming generations -- The ghost of a generation -- Between two generations -- The coming together of generations -- The responsibilities of young writers of literature -- Young people and innovation in poetry -- A warning to the new poetry of the young -- Honesty is the basis for young people's innovation -- Young people and the devil -- Resurrection at the hands of young people -- The case of the twenty-first century |
| Summary |
Tawfiq al-Hakim (1898-1987) is recognized as one of the most important figures in the history of modern Arabic literature. Considered a pioneer in many literary forms, including drama, novels, and short stories, al-Hakim influenced generations of Egyptian writers. This book is a collection of essays originally published in 1984 that shows al-Hakim as a public intellectual addressing the ongoing conflict between generations. Al-Hakim muses on the cultural, artistic, and intellectual links and breakages between the old and the young generations. He focuses on the young and their role in the continuing development of Egyptian society, which over the course of the last century or so has undergone foreign occupation, an experiment in parliamentary democracy within a monarchical system, a socialist revolution characterized by both successes and failures, the emergence of a dictatorial presidency, and now the development of a complex political scenario currently dominated by groups with varyingly strong ties to the tenets of Islam. Al-Hakim did not live long enough to witness the most recent phases of this elongated and often disruptive process of experimentation and change, but in his writing, he focuses on the institution that he regards as crucial to any forward progress: the family. The essays present readers with a voice from the past, with uncanny foretelling of issues raised by the events that occurred in Egypt more than twenty years after al-Hakim's death. Radwan's translation, along with Roger Allen's foreword, brings to light al-Hakim's lucid and erudite commentary, much of it as relevant to the problems facing Egyptian youth today as it was when first published |
| Notes |
Includes index |
|
English |
|
Print version record |
| Subject |
Arabic essays.
|
|
LITERARY CRITICISM -- African.
|
|
Arabic essays
|
| Form |
Electronic book
|
| Author |
Allen, Roger, 1942- writer of foreword.
|
|
Radwan, Mona, translator.
|
| ISBN |
9780815653004 |
|
081565300X |
|
