QUEUE AS A DYSTOPIAN TAHRĪR: BASMA ʿABDALʿAZĪZ’S AT-TĀBŪR

• Authors: Bešková Katarína
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

This article deals with the dystopian novel called at-Tābūr (The Queue) written by the contemporary Egyptian writer and psychiatrist Basma ʿAbdalʿazīz. The article briefly discusses the emergence of dystopian fiction in Egypt, especially from the point of view of its assumed connection to the outbreak of the Egyptian revolution of 2011. It focuses on the examination of ʿAbdalʿazīz’s depiction of a dystopian reality in the novel, with special emphasis on moments of rupture that are often mentioned but never shown. The article argues that the portrayal of the Queue in the novel can be interpreted as a reversal of the positive literary image of Tahrīr Square that appeared in many revolutionary diaries and memoirs. Both sites are analysed not only as places but also as time-spaces or chronotopes. The aim of the article is to explore the ways in which these sites are contrasted, juxtaposed and presented in a dialectical relationship with each other to point to the reversal of the utopian reality to dystopian nightmare. It also seeks to show that in spite of its dystopian character, the novel actually articulates a certain degree of optimism.

Keywords

EN

DYSTOPIA; BASMA ʿABDALʿAZĪZ; QUEUE; CHRONOTOPE; ARABIC LITERATURE

• Publisher: Institute of Oriental Studies, Slovak Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Asian and African Studies
• Year: 2022
• Volume: 31
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 251 – 276

Contributors

author

Bešková Katarína

• Institute of Oriental Studies, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Klemensova 19, 813 94, Bratislava, Slovak republic

• https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9345-3222

Identifiers

DOI

https://doi.org/10.31577/aassav.2022.31.2.02