Midaq Alley
Midaq Alley
Naguib Mahfouz
To what extent is Midaq Alley an “Arab” novel? Does this add to or detract from the novel’s overall impact on an international audience.
The work of literature “Midaq Alley” by Naguib Mahfouz introduces the audience an Arab culture through his descriptions of different characters. Each character is used as an analogue, representing people in the alley with different beliefs and ambitions. Moreover, the characteristics of Mahfouz’s characters also draw international readers’ attention concerning how westernization takes place.
The novel often talks about the setting, time and theme in Egyptian culture through stories of various characters. The culture describes in the novel restricts the readers’ views on each character on the account of the limitations of their knowledge about Arab belief and culture. Religion is a huge component of Egyptian life and Radwan Hussainy is a good example. The alley’s community often turns to him for counseling and everyone respects him because he is a man of morals and uses religion as a centrality. Religion is a big part of Radwan Hussainy’s life; he still believes in God, despite losing his children and the hardship he endured. Moreover, he blames himself for what happened to Zaita, Dr. Booshy (go to jail) and Hamida who prostitutes herself, because in his mind, he believes that he is responsible for what happened in the community. This idea suggests that he really respects his culture and religion which is shown through, “Radwan Hussainy’s opinion drew objections based on both the literal texts and the scholastic interpretations of Islam (272).” All in all, some of the main plot of this Arab novel limits some impacts on an audience in other culture due to the specific concepts of its culture.
Marriages and relationships display in the novel play an important part in reflecting Arab culture. Different couples show different aspects of marriage in the alley. Radwan Hussainy’s wife’s role as a
Naguib Mahfouz
To what extent is Midaq Alley an “Arab” novel? Does this add to or detract from the novel’s overall impact on an international audience.
The work of literature “Midaq Alley” by Naguib Mahfouz introduces the audience an Arab culture through his descriptions of different characters. Each character is used as an analogue, representing people in the alley with different beliefs and ambitions. Moreover, the characteristics of Mahfouz’s characters also draw international readers’ attention concerning how westernization takes place.
The novel often talks about the setting, time and theme in Egyptian culture through stories of various characters. The culture describes in the novel restricts the readers’ views on each character on the account of the limitations of their knowledge about Arab belief and culture. Religion is a huge component of Egyptian life and Radwan Hussainy is a good example. The alley’s community often turns to him for counseling and everyone respects him because he is a man of morals and uses religion as a centrality. Religion is a big part of Radwan Hussainy’s life; he still believes in God, despite losing his children and the hardship he endured. Moreover, he blames himself for what happened to Zaita, Dr. Booshy (go to jail) and Hamida who prostitutes herself, because in his mind, he believes that he is responsible for what happened in the community. This idea suggests that he really respects his culture and religion which is shown through, “Radwan Hussainy’s opinion drew objections based on both the literal texts and the scholastic interpretations of Islam (272).” All in all, some of the main plot of this Arab novel limits some impacts on an audience in other culture due to the specific concepts of its culture.
Marriages and relationships display in the novel play an important part in reflecting Arab culture. Different couples show different aspects of marriage in the alley. Radwan Hussainy’s wife’s role as a