The ''Cairo Trilogy'' ( ''ath-thulathia'' ('The Trilogy') or ''thulathia al-Qahra'') is a

trilogy A trilogy is a set of three distinct works that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games. Three-part works that are considered components of ...

of novels written by the Egyptian novelist and

Nobel Prize in Literature The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in ...

winner

Naguib Mahfouz Naguib Mahfouz Abdelaziz Ibrahim Ahmed Al-Basha (, ; 11 December 1911 – 30 August 2006) was an Egyptian writer who won the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature. In awarding the prize, the Swedish Academy described him as a writer "who, through wo ...

, and one of the major works of his literary career. The three novels are ''

Palace Walk Palace Walk () is a novel by Nobel Prize winning Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz, and the first installment of Mahfouz's '' Cairo Trilogy''. Originally published in 1956 with the title ''Bayn al-qasrayn'', the book was then translated into Engli ...

'' (, ''Bayn al-Qasrayn''), first Arabic publication 1956; '' Palace of Desire'' (, ''Qasr al-Shawq''), 1957; and '' Sugar Street'' (, ''Al-Sukkariyya''), 1957.

Titles

The three novels' Arabic titles are taken from the names of actual streets 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 ...

, the city of Mahfouz's childhood and youth. The first novel, ''Bayn al-Qasrayn'', is named after the medieval Cairo street in the Gamaliya district where the strict socially conservative protagonist, Ahmad 'Abd al-Jawad, and his family live. The second novel, ''Qasr al-Shawq'', is named after the street where his eldest son Yasin and his family live, and the third, ''Al-Sukkariyya'', is named after the street where his daughter Khadijah and her family live.

Narrative

The trilogy follows the life of the Cairene patriarch Al-Sayyid (Mr.) Ahmad 'Abd al-Jawad and his family across three generations, from 1919 – the year of Egyptian Revolution against the British colonizers ruling Egypt – to almost the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in 1944. The three novels represent three eras of Cairene socio-political life, a microcosm of early 20th century Egypt, through the life of one well-off Cairo merchant, his children and his grandchildren. To Kamal, 'Abd al-Jawad's youngest son, Mahfouz admits that he gives him some features of himself, as they both got a BA in philosophy from what is now the University of Cairo and have problems with profound contradictions they discern between religious principles and the scientific discoveries of the West. Seen as a child in the first novel, a university student in the second, and a teacher, not married, in the third, Kamal loses his faith in religion, in love, and in traditions and lives in the second and third novels as an outsider in his own society. He keeps searching for meaning of his life until the last scene, in which Kamal's attitude to life changes to the positive as he starts to see himself as 'idealistic' teacher, future husband and revolutionary man. Mahfouz sees the development of society as an important influence on the role of women. He represents the traditional, obedient women who do not go to school such as Amina, 'Abd al-Jawad's wife, and her daughters in the first novel; women as students in the university such as Aida, Kamal's beloved, in the second novel; and women as students in the university, members of the Marxist party and editors of the journal of the party in the third novel. Throughout the trilogy, Mahfouz develops his theme: social progress will be the inevitable result of the evolutionary spirit of humankind. Time is the major leitmotif in all three books, and its passage is marked in literal and symbolic ways, from the daily pounding of bread dough in the morning, which serves as an alarm clock for the family, to the hourly calls for prayers that ring out from the minarets of Cairo. In the first novel time moves slowly; this story belongs to Kamal, still a child. The permanence of childhood is pronounced, and the minutes often tick by like hours. And yet inevitable changes occur: sisters get married, babies are born, grandparents die, life goes on. The passage of time quickens in the following book, and doubles yet again in the third. By the time the trilogy concludes whole years seem to fly by to the middle-aged Kamal.

Translations

The ''Cairo Trilogy'' was first translated into Hebrew between 1981 and 1987. Mahfouz was very satisfied by this and saw it as another proof that the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty of 1979 should be supported. The English translation was published by Doubleday in the early 1990s. The translators were: * ''Palace Walk'' - William M. Hutchins and Olive Kenny * ''Palace of Desire'' - Hutchins, Olive Kenny and Lorne Kenny * ''Sugar Street'' - Hutchins, Olive Kenny and Angele Botros Samaan The translation was overseen by

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American writer, book editor, and socialite who served as the first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A popular f ...

, an editor at Doubleday at the time, and Martha Levin.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Novels by Naguib Mahfouz 1956 novels Literary trilogies Novel series Novels set in Cairo Egyptian novels