Zaat (novel)
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''Zaat: The Tale of One Woman's Life in Egypt During the Last Fifty Years'' (ذات) is a novel by
Sonallah Ibrahim Son'allah Ibrahim ( ''Ṣunʻ Allāh Ibrāhīm'') (born 1937) is an Egyptian novelist and short story writer and one of the " Sixties Generation" who is known for his leftist views which are expressed rather directly in his work. His novels, es ...
.Alwakeel, p. 254. The book was originally published in 1992. The English translation by Anthony Calderbank was published by the
American University in Cairo Press The American University in Cairo Press (AUCP, AUC Press) is the leading English-language publisher in the Middle East. The largest translator of Arabic literature in the world, AUC Press has a reputation for carefully selecting and translating t ...
in 2001. Hosam Aboul-Ela of the
University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...
wrote in 2001 that it was Ibrahim's "most celebrated novel to date".Aboul-Ela, p. 251. An excerpt is within the anthology '' The Anchor Book of Modern Arabic'' edited by Denys Johnson-Davies. Sarah Hahn of '' The Middle East Journal'' wrote that the book was " nowned for its
black humor Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...
and ironic commentary on modern Egyptian life".Hahn, Sarah. "Zaat: The Tale of One Woman's Life in Egypt During the Last Fifty Years" (review). '' The Middle East Journal'', , 01/2005, Volume 59, Issue 1, p. 169. It is about the life of Zaat, a woman from a
lower middle class In developed nations around the world, the lower middle class is a subdivision of the greater middle class. Universally, the term refers to the group of middle class households or individuals who have not attained the status of the middle or u ...
background.Aboul-Ela, p. 252. ''Zaat'' chronicles her relationships, the surrounding
political climate The political climate is the aggregate mood and opinions of a political society at a particular time. It is generally used to describe when the state of mood and opinion is changing or unstable. The phrase has origins from both ancient Greece and ...
s, and her experiences. She lives through the governments of
Gamal Abdel Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian military officer and revolutionary who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 a ...
,
Anwar Sadat Muhammad Anwar es-Sadat (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until Assassination of Anwar Sadat, his assassination by fundame ...
, and
Hosni Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011 and the 41st Prime Minister of Egypt, prime minister from 1981 to ...
.


Writing style

Newspaper headlines from current events are interspersed with the story, taking up the even-numbered chapters while the story itself is in the odd-numbered chapters. Aboul-Ela wrote that these newspaper articles break up the novel's main story, include distinct characters and themes, and have the role of "further reinforcing he story'sfragmentation, its alinear structure, and the sense that aatis caught in forces larger than herself."Aboul-Ela, p. 253. The original Arabic version has a publisher's note located before the text stating that the newspaper articles are meant to highlight the atmosphere of Egypt during events within the story, and that the inclusions are not intended to infringe copyrights or to endorse the accuracy of the stories. The English version does not include this note.


Characters

* Zaat – The main character. Her name means "self", or "essence." The idafa construction that means "possessor of omething uses ''dhât'' as the first term. **Instead of having a single beginning for Zaat the novel's text argued that any three points could be the start of her character: her birth, her first
menstruation Menstruation (also known as a period, among other colloquial terms) is the regular discharge of blood and Mucous membrane, mucosal tissue from the endometrium, inner lining of the uterus through the vagina. The menstrual cycle is characterized ...
, and the wedding night. Hosam Aboul-Ela of the
University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...
wrote that therefore the work argues that the character "has been
socially constructed Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives fro ...
, rather than appearing already whole as a product of biology." Aboul-Ela explained that her character reflects the trends of Egyptian culture and politics which "reinforces the notion that she is not a Dickensian or
Stendhal Marie-Henri Beyle (; 23 January 1783 – 23 March 1842), better known by his pen name Stendhal (, , ), was a French writer. Best known for the novels ''Le Rouge et le Noir'' ('' The Red and the Black'', 1830) and ''La Chartreuse de Parme'' ('' T ...
ian protagonist, who will grow and become complete over the course of the novel." He added that the concept of the three starting points is also an argument suggesting inadequacy with "the traditional realist notion of linear narrative". Aboul-Ela argued that ''Zaat'' "often seems to be written against the classic 19th-century European ''
bildungsroman In literary criticism, a bildungsroman () is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth and change of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood (coming of age). The term comes from the German words ('formation' or 'edu ...
''", and that the character does "not progress, grow, and learn enough over the course of the novel to make ''Zaat'' a ''
bildungsroman In literary criticism, a bildungsroman () is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth and change of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood (coming of age). The term comes from the German words ('formation' or 'edu ...
''." * Himmat – One of Zaat's friends, Himmat and Zaat join forces to report to health authorities a grocer who sold Zaat expired olives ** The names "Zaat" and "Himmat" combined form the name of the
Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...
princess ''dhât al-himma'' ("possessor of zeal"). * Abdel Maguid – Zaat's husband and the father of her three children. She states that she either has to leave him or she will end up pregnant again. He is controlling and believes himself to be very intelligent.


Television adaptation

In 2012, Misr International Films ( MIF) was producing a television series based on ''Zaat''. Filming of scenes set at
Ain Shams University Ain Shams University () is a public university located in Cairo, Egypt. Founded in 1950, the university provides education at the undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate levels. History Ain Shams University was founded in July 1950, the third ...
in
Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
was scheduled to occur that year, but
Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ('' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar, Imam and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. Al-Banna's teachings s ...
student members and some teachers at the school protested, stating that the 1970s era clothing worn by the actresses was indecent and would not allow filming unless the clothing was changed. Gaby Khoury, the head of the film company, stated that engineering department head Sherif Hammad "insisted that the filming should stop and that we would be reimbursed ... explaining that he was not able to guarantee the protection of the materials or the artists." The series aired in 2013 under the production of MIF and the collaboration of BBC Media Action.


References

* Alwakeel, Saeed. "The dialectic of the documentary and the imaginary in Sonallah Ibrahim's ''Zaat''" (abstract of article). '' Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics'', , 2012, Issue 32, p. 254-255. * Aboul-Ela, Hosam (
University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...
). '' Edebiyât'', 2003, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 251–268. print; online/02/020251-18. Taylor & Francis Ltd, DOI: 10.1080/0364650032000143283.


Notes


Further reading

*Mehrez, Samia. ''Egyptian Writers Between History and Fiction'' airo: AUC Press">airo: AUC Press, 1994 p. 131–2.


External links

* {{cite web">url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcmediaaction/entries/b0ff8860-02ce-30d6-accb-79abe0f57865, title=A Girl Called Zaat: a TV drama for a turbulent Egypt, date=8 August 2013 , publisher= BBC Egyptian novels">BBC Egyptian novels 1992 novels Bildungsromans">Egyptian novels 1992 novels">Egyptian novels">BBC Egyptian novels 1992 novels Bildungsromans Novels adapted into television shows Translations into English