Middle East/North African Lit discussion

It is my pleasure to open the conversation for Distant View of a Minaret and Other Stories by Alifa Rifaat. Rifaat published her short stories 1955-1960, and also in the 1970s (according to Wikipedia). Denys Johnson-Davies' English translation of her stories appeared in 1983. Thus her work has an established position in Arabic literature available in English, becoming something of a classic as an example of Arab women's writing. Her stories focus on themes of sexuality, Egyptian women, rural Egyptian life, religious experience, and death. Whether or not (or to what degree) her writing continues to represent literature in Egypt or women's experience is up for debate. The eponymous story appeared in the opening of a polemical article, "Why Do They Hate Us?" by Mona El Tahawy in Foreign Policy in 2012, arguing for advocacy of the status of women in the Middle East.

I hope you will consider joining us in discussing this very short collection of influential short stories. Each story (from my reading so far) seems brief and easy to follow. The translation is very clear.

Hi Melanie.

Great choice. I recently read the collection for Women in Translation Month '16 and liked it a lot. The stories are very short without sacrificing the depth.

Two themes emerge most clearly: sexuality and subversive action. It would be fair to say that, through her realistic portraits, Alifa Rifaat has captured the essence of women's lives in the Egyptian heartland.

Even though the stories are about half a century old, they are as relevant today as they were when they were first penned.

It also raises pertinent questions about the nature of feminism and how similar or dissimilar it is to its Western counterpart. I have discussed this further in my review if anyone's interested. Here's the link.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Thank you so much, Jibran, for sharing your thoughts! I particularly liked your closing point:

"I understand why the subtly subversive power of these stories might be lost on readers accustomed to more explicit writing. As it is, Ms Rifaat is not interested in setting down clear answers to the issues she has raised. Her purpose is to draw realistic portraits and through those compel us to ask hard questions."

I agree with you that her objective is to raise issues and questions for readers to consider (as opposed to more explicit criticisms or calls for action).

For those of you who have read Naguib Mahfouz, especially The Cairo Trilogy: Palace Walk / Palace of Desire / Sugar Street, and wondered: Where are the Egyptian women writers of this era? Alifa Rifaat's book might be just what you are looking for!

Thank you. Relevant comparison with Mahfouz, though I'm not sure of her total output. Mahfouz, as you'd know, was quite prolific. Do you know of any other translations of Rifaat's work?

No, this book is all I know of in English. It contains the author's most famous short stories it seems (There are several short story collections by her in Arabic, but the English volume is not limited to any one of them. After all, the stories were originally published individually, from what I understand.) As far as I know, there is only one completed novel by Rifaat: جوهرة فرعون, available in Arabic online here:
http://dar.bibalex.org/webpages/mainp...

Thanks for digging it up. "Pharaoh's Jewel" - from the title it looks like a historical novel. I hope it gets translated soon.

I'd like to join I this group read, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to. My library does not have it and I'm avoiding buying any more books. I'll see if I can get it as an inter-library loan.

Melanie wrote: "No, this book is all I know of in English. It contains the author's most famous short stories it seems (There are several short story collections by her in Arabic, but the English volume is not lim..."

Thanks for the link , I have not read for Rifaat before , I am very curious about this discussion .

I have just finished reading this book and although I am not a fan of short stories I enjoyed these very much. Alifa Rifaat writes so subtly but with so much meaning.

Glad you liked it, Anne!