# 3
THE CAIRO TRILOGY: A Literary Study of Egyptian Life

Monday 10:00 A.M.                                                    Winter - 7 Weeks 01/09/2012
Coordinator:  Sheri Ross                                   Co-Coordinator:  Jane Silver

Course Description

Has the 2011 Arab Spring made you curious about what set the stage for the drama presented to us on TV?  Naguib Mahfouz, who won the Nobel prize for literature in 1988 for The Cairo Trilogy (completed in 1952), gives us a great opportunity to find out.  He brings to life every-day Egyptian life through the story of three generations of one middle class family living through the turmoil that occurred between World War I and the overthrow of King Farouk in the early 1950s.

Studying The Cairo Trilogy enriches the reader on many levels.  The time period covered is characterized by a drive for modernization; yet, modernization presents fundamental challenges to the traditional society.  Watching the members of the family adapt to the changes whirling around them teaches us much about human nature within the context of an Arab society.  Mahfouz, himself somewhat impatient with traditional society, paints a psychological portrait of his characters that draws the readers into their lives.

One cannot finish The Cairo Trilogy without a better understanding of Egyptian history and Egyptian society.  Mahfouz’s focus on the challenges to patriarchy, the changing roles of women, and the struggle against colonialism, presented through the intimate thoughts, feelings and lives of the members of one family makes this work a must read. 

Participants will read approximately 200 pages per week. Presenters should prepare only questions for discussion, and not present their own material about the reading. 

Please join us for this lively look at a great literary work.  

Discussion Questions to keep in mind while reading:

• How is modernization described?  How does it affect the lives of the individuals in the family?  Who embraces modernization?  Who rejects it?  Who is changed by it? How?
• What are the characteristics of a traditional patriarchal family? Does the family remain patriarchal throughout the trilogy?  What cracks in patriarchy appear within the family?  What events generate these cracks? How does each family member adjust?
• A traditional society is based on hierarchy.  Discuss of the hierarchy of gender, class, family, public status intersect throughout the story.  Does one form of hierarchy take precedence over all others?
• Some critics have argued that Mahfouz’s view is progressive in that its anti-patriarchy.  Do you agree?  In what ways does he fail to break out of his own patriarchal blinders?
• How are women described?  How are men described?  How are men and women portrayed in terms of how they see themselves in relation to the other?
• How does Mahfouz represent women?  Does his underlying representation of women conform to the traditional view of women within a patriarchal society or does it conform to a “modern” conception of women?
• Explore the shifting gender relationships throughout the work.
• How does Mahfouz describe masculinity?  What is his critique of masculinity through the shifting of gender relationships?
• How is female sexuality described? Male sexuality?  How does Mahfouz use prostitutes in the story to shed light on the power within the patriarchal society and on the true nature of masculinity? How do males in a patriarchal society regulate female sexuality?
• How does Mahfouz describe women’s bodies?  What words does he use and what does his choice tell you about the role of women in the trilogy?  What words does Mahfouz use to describe men’s bodies?  How are they different?
• In the books there are “respectable” women and women of ill-repute.  What function does each play?  What does one enlighten about the other? Is there a comparable division for men?  If not, why not?  How does the concept of respectability allow men to control women and to maintain a patriarchal society?
• Do women operate in any space other than the home or the brothel?
• What are the social roles played by the characters? How do the social roles define the character’s identity?
• As you read the trilogy, consider the stories told about two minor characters:  Zanuba and about Bahija. What do their stories tell you about how women are represented in Mahfouz’s work?  What do they tell you about power, respectability, and control?
• What is the role of Aisha throughout the work?  Does she represent a “modern” woman?  If so, what does this tell you about Mahfouz’s view of modern women?
• How does Mahfouz portray motherhood?  Which characters represent the ideal?  Which do not?
• Are women visible in Egyptian society?  Which characters become visible?  What are the consequences?
• What is the role of Saswan?  Does she represent a modern woman?
• What is the role of the institution of marriage?
• What are the relationships between women?  Between men?  To what extent do the characters in the novels find their own needs met by a member of the opposite sex?
• The books cover three generations. How does each generation view the generations that came before it?
• How does Kamal change throughout the trilogy?  How do his changes reflect the political struggle going on in Egypt?

Themes include:  Authority, gender relationships and power, class structure, de-colonization, Arab/Egyptian nationalism, national independence, independence from parents, women’s independence.

Bibliography

Naguib Mahfouz, Palace Walk
Naguib Mahfouz, Palace of Desire
Naguib Mahfouz, Sugar Street

Pre-Meeting:  Thursday December 15 at 1:00 P.M.  (Please note pre-meeting is not same day of the week or time as the SDG and classes will be held offsite on the holiday Mondays.)