Nasser in the Egyptian Imaginary (Edinburgh Studies in Modern Arabic Literature) - Hardcover

Khalifah, Omar

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1474410197 ISBN 13: 9781474410199

Publisher: Edinburgh University Press, 2016

Synopsis

The late President of Egypt, Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918-1970), has been represented in many major works of Egyptian literature and film, and continues to have a presence in everyday life and discourse in the country. Omar Khalifah's analysis of these representations focuses on how the historical character of Nasser has emerged in the Egyptian imaginary. He explores the recurrent images of Nasser in literature and film and shows how Nasser constitutes a perfect site for plural interpretations. He argues that Nasser has become a rhetorical device, a figure of speech, a trope that connotes specific images constantly invoked whenever he is mentioned. His study makes a case for literature and art to be seen as alternative archives that question, erase, distort and add to the official history of Nasser.

About this title

About the Author:

Omar Khalifah is Assistant Professor of Arabic Literature and Culture at Georgetown School of Foreign Service in Qatar.

Review:

"Omar Khalifah's Nasser in the Egyptian Imaginary critically analyses the varied representation of the charismatic Egyptian president, Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918-1970), in both fiction and film. His image in public memory, as documented by Khalifah, veers from that of an intellectual martyr, a romantic hero, to the ultimate Pharaoh, full of misdeeds. The volume affords an opportunity to learn about the multiple Nassers." -- Abdur Raheem Kidwai, Aligarh Muslim University, India, The Muslim World Book Review

About this edition

• Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1474410197
• ISBN 13: 9781474410199
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256