"Abu Dhabi Book" Discusses Naguib Mahfouz’s relationship with history and society
ABU DHABI, 30 APRIL / WAM / The first session of the Central Figure Program of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair 2024 was held today, under the title “Naguib Mahfouz, a Mirror of History and Society.”
Dr. Ahmed Zayed, Director of the Library of Alexandria, Dr. Mohsen Al-Moussawi, Professor of Comparative Arab Studies at Columbia University, Dr. Mohamed Afifi, Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at Cairo University, and Dr. Saeed Bin Said Al-Alawi, Honorary Professor at Mohammed V University, participated in the session. The author moderated the session. Dr. Reem Bassiouni.
Regarding Naguib Mahfouz’s influence on society, Dr. Ahmed Zayed said that Mahfouz is a world-class writer by all standards. He was able to reflect beauty and imagination with a philosophical vision to embody images of society, starting with the neighborhood and the conflict and longing for justice and revolution we find in it, as he focused on the middle class in Arab society. In his trilogy, which reflects how that class arose and developed.
Dr. Muhammad Afifi discussed Mahfouz’s experience in the historical novel, explaining that the historical aspect in Mahfouz’s novels is high and influential, as history was his great obsession and influenced him greatly.
Dr. Saeed Bensaid Al-Alawi said that the novel is a mirror of history and society, and we can talk about history and society in Mahfouz’s novels. History is what we seek and create, and there is a new building for society. Mahfouz’s novel, “Chatter on the Nile,” evokes the entire history of Egypt.
Dr. Mohsen Al-Moussawi, who issued a study entitled “The Dissolution of the Sacred Contract of the Arabic Novel after Mahfouz,” pointed out that Mahfouz was premature when he was the one who drew attention to the existence of Arabic literature, especially since he is the only Arab novelist to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, noting that universities depend on Its courses are based on what was mentioned in Mahfouz’s novels about Arab society.
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