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Pluto Journals
Al-Zayni Barakat: Narrative as StrategyAuthor(s): Samia
MehrezSource: Arab Studies Quarterly, Vol. 8, No. 2, Modern Arab
Writers and the Politics of theMiddle East (Spring 1986), pp.
120-142Published by: Pluto JournalsStable URL:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/41857824 .Accessed: 29/05/2014
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Al-Zayni Barakat:
Narrative as Strategy
Samia Mehrez
The spreading influence of political and social facts into the
literary field of consciousness has produced a new type of
scriptor, halfway between the party member and the writer, deriving
from the former an ideal image of committed man and from the latter
the notion that a writ- ten work is an act. . . .Writing here
resembles the signature one affixes at the foot of a collective
proclamation one has not written oneself.
Roland Barthes, Writing Degree Zero 1
Al-Zayni Barakat was first published in Beirut in 1 974.2 The
novel is consid- ered one of the most significant literary works
produced in the Arab world during the past decade. Both the Arabic
text and the French translation of it (Seuil, 1985) have generated
tremendous enthusiasm from literary critics world-wide.3 Al-Zayni
has succeeded in sustaining this kind of interest because of the
incredible richness of its narrative texture, as well as its imme-
diate relevance to the contemporary political situation of the
Middle East in particular, and authority /people dynamics in
general.
The novel deals with a period in Egyptian medieval history
(1507-1518) that parallels contemporary Egyptian reality
(1952-1967). At the same time, al-Zayni is a manifestation of the
artistic maturity of its author, al-Ghitani, who, in trying to both
represent and come to terms with his own historical present,
becomes that "new type of scriptor, halfway between the party
member and the writer." The text of al-Zayni Barakat (as well as
most of al-Ghitani's works)4 is an "act." Both the structure and
discourse of al-Zayni are indeed a "silent" statement of the
author's political and ideological strategies.
This paper will examine how narrative structure and narrative
discourse in al-Zayni are a means of strategizing against the
"authorities." Such an analy- sis requires that the novel and the
author first be situated within their histori- cal context This
will entail several things. First, the author's generation
(referred to as the "young authors") in post-revolutionary Egypt
will be briefly discussed, with special reference to these writers'
medium, i.e., the
Samia Mehrez is Assistant Professor of Near Eastern Studies,
Cornell University.
120 ASQ Volume 8 Number 2
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Al-Zayni Barakat 1 21
Arabic language. Second, I will relate al-Zayni Barakat to its
model text (Ibn Iyas's sixteenth-century chronicle of Egypt under
the Mamluks), in an attempt to show why al-Ghitani chose to write
about this specific period in Egyptian history, in what ways it
relates to his own present, and finally, and most significant of
all, how, in adopting some of the characteristics of medieval
forms, al-Ghitani is able to write his own statement in the face of
an oppres- sive system.
Gamal al-Ghitani and the "generation of the revolution"
Gamal al-Ghitani was born in 1945 in Suhag, in Upper Egypt. The
family then moved to Gammaliyah, in Old Cairo, where al-Ghitani
remained until he married. It is, therefore, no surprise that Old
Cairo serves as a setting for many of his works. From 1962 to 1968
al-Ghitani studied carpet design and worked as a designer. In fact,
this short-lived career has had a great influence on the way he
"constructs" his novels.5 Al-Ghitani started his writing career in
1963 and published his first short story in the Lebanese literary
journal Al- Adib. He began his career as a journalist in 1968, and
continues to work for the Egyptian daily Akhbar al-Yawm.
Al-Ghitani's literary production includes both fictional and
non-fictional works.6 Among his works of fiction is a collection of
short stories that may be considered embryonic forms of many of his
longer texts. Awraq Shabb
* Asha Mundhu Alf ( Am (1969)
includes short stories that demonstrate al-Ghitani's
experimentation with the style of medieval Islamic historiography
and his attempt at molding new narrative forms. The general tone
and style of the collection resembles that which we encounter, on a
more sophisticated level, in al-Zayni. Influential on this writing
are two contemporary Arab writers who have fascinated al- Ghitani
more than any others. In Egypt, he was highly influenced by the
works of Najib Mahfuz, Egypt's most prolific modern novelist. The
second writer whom al-Ghitani cites as one of the most important
Arab writers is the Palestinian Imil Habibi. Like al-Ghitani,
Habibi has drawn on the Arabic classical heritage in writing Sid,
the Pessoptimist (1974).
Two of the major events in al-Ghitani's life have been the June
1967 Arab-Israeli war, and Sadat's visit to Jerusalem in 1977,
which culminated in peace with Israel. He describes these periods
as being some of the blackest in his life. For him these two
historical moments represented the erosion of principles and the
destruction of an ideology that he had grown up with.7 Al-Ghitani,
who was one of the young writers imprisoned in 1966 because of
"political activism," spent six months in a detention camp.
Thereafter he refrained from direct political involvement. The
choice to remain silent on the open political front has been
paralleled by a very strong political and ideolog- ical message
delivered through his fiction. Al-Zayni Barakat is that indirect
statement. As Edward Said has pointed out:
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1 22 Arab Studies Quarterly
Every novelist is of his time, however much his imagination may
take him beyond it. Each novelist articulates a consciousness of
his time that he shares with a group of which historical
circumstances (class, period, perspective) make him a part. Thus
even in its irreducible singularity the novelistic work is itself a
historical reality.8
Gamal al-Ghitani belongs to what we can refer to as jil
al-thawrah (the generation of the revolution). He probably started
his school days with the advent of the 1952 revolution in Egypt.
One of the primary goals of the Free Officers' regime was to breed
a new generation fed on a new ideology, a new rhetoric and a new
self-image. Through a process of standardizing education and
rewriting history in a manner that would downgrade the
pre-revolution- ary period, the new "democratic" regime succeeded
in molding a generation that strongly believed in this newly forged
image of Egypt: the "heart" and "strongest nation" of the "Arab
world."9 On the other hand, the Nasser regime fully realized the
politically significant role assigned to the press in the
pre-revolutionary period. Consequently, one of the first measures
taken by the revolution was censorship of the press.
The press played an important role in pre- and
post-revolutionary Egypt, insofar as literature and newspapers have
a very special relationship not only in Egypt, but in the Arab
world in general. In speaking about the function of the press in
Egypt, William A. Rugh points out:
Cairo newspapers and magazines have on their staffs some of the
leading and best-known professional journalists, as well as some of
the very best novelists, playwrights, and short-story writers in
the entire Arab world.
. . . These journalists function in the Egyptian political
environment, which is not static but changing, so over time their
fortunes change depending on how their views and personalities fit
with the times.10
The pre-revolutionary press in Egypt played an important part in
the devel- opment of modern Arabic fiction. From the 1870s until
the 1952 revolution in Egypt, the press fulfilled two major
functions. Primarily it helped develop a modern Arabic literary
style that freed itself from the restraints of classical Arabic
prose. Language was no longer an aesthetic object to be
contemplated for its own sake; rather it was a vehicle to
communicate a message. On the other hand, the publishers of these
newspapers, following the example of contemporary French
newspapers, which were largely cultural in content, considered the
Arab press one of the proper vehicles for Arab literature.11 Hence,
another function of the press was the creation of a new space for
creative writing, whether short stories or serialized novels.12
With the 1952 revolution in Egypt there was a shift of emphasis in
the function of the press. The new regime abolished the party
system, and with this new measure a
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Al-Zayni Barokat 1 23
great number of party newspapers were closed down. The remaining
ones were placed under very close censorship and became mouthpieces
for the government. Whereas pre-revolutionary newspapers had been
responsible for the development of a modern Arabic literary style,
post-revolutionary papers were responsible for the erosion of that
modern Arabic style. The language of the press became laden with
cliches that resounded only with the ideology of the
authorities:
This [authoritarian] system is based on the theory that truth is
not the product of a great mass of people, but of a few wise men
... in a position to guide and direct their fellows. Comment and
criticism are carefully guided, and articulated; goals for the
community conform with the goals of the regime itself.13
This tightly controlled grasp on the media, including radio and
television, remains in place even today, despite the existence of
"opposition" papers such as al-Ahali and al-Sha% that are published
by the now existing "parties" in Egypt. This fact was demonstrated
by Sadas crackdown on the press in 1973 and his comments, at the
time, "justifying" censorship and suspension of major journalists:
"I want freedom of the press. At the same time I want it to be a
dedicated press."14
The Egyptian defeat in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war had already
made it impossible for the local media to mask the reality of the
Arab situation. The Egyptian people entered the war backed by an
elaborate media-fabricated rhetoric:
It is clear that the Arab mass media participate very actively
in politics. Their commentaries, how they report the news, and what
they report or omit are matters that Arab politicians, government
officials on all levels, and many others watch carefully on a
day-to-day basis.15
The defeat brought with it a disillusionment, a sensitivity to
the misleading language that had so far been adopted to forge the
modern history of the Egyptians:
No Arab can have been immune from the feeling that his modern
history, so laboriously created, scene by scene, would prove so
easy to brush aside in the test.16
In other words, the war led to a re- examination of the ideology
and the very language that expressed that ideology. On the literary
front, the war caused a re-evaluation of existing literary forms,
the role of the writer in society, and the representation of
reality in a work of fiction.
The generation of young writers, among whom is Gamal al-Ghitani,
was
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1 24 Arab Studies Quarterly
confronted with a complex problem. First, they were disowned by
their liter- ary predecessors, many of whom had been neutralized by
the authorities by being placed in key positions in the press (the
government mouthpiece):
This young generation that does not read (Taha Husayn), that
does not study (Muhammad Hasanayn Haykal), that does not seek depth
(Ahmad Baha' al- Din), this generation of bureaucrats that does not
know its own classics, nor the classics of others, what will it
write?17
Secondly, they were persecuted by the authorities for voicing
their political opinions and accused of "aiming to destroy the
government," "spreading hostile propaganda," and "acting against
the national interest."18 The young writers had to face many
challenges, among which were a medium (the Arabic language) that
had been robbed of its richness, a censor that monitored that
medium, and the need to refashion "conventional" literary forms
that no longer represented their contemporary reality.19
Al-Zayni Barakat and Nasser's Egypt
Al-Zayni Barakat confronts all these challenges. The novel is
set in sixteenth-century Cairo during the region of the Mamluk
Sultan al-Ghawri, just before the Ottoman invasion of Egypt in 1517
A.D. Al-Ghitani's main source on sixteenth-century Egypt is the
medieval chronicle by Ibn Iyas, BadaT al-Zuhur Fi WakaY al-Duhur.
Mamluk rule in Egypt was character- ized by constant instability.
In fact, this is a period in the history of medieval Egypt that
symbolizes the police state. As many critics have already pointed
out, and as al-Ghitani himself confirmed, there exists an analogy
between the medieval police state that we read about in al-Zayni
and Egypt under Nasser (its modern counterpart).
Any portion or groups which could threaten [the Free Officers']
power were systematically destroyed. ...In 1954 following an
attempt on Nasser's life several thousand members of the [Muslim]
Brotherhood were arrested and lead- ers of the movement
executed.20
Furthermore, the factors that contributed to the Ottoman
invasion in 15 17 A.D. and the Egyptian defeat in 1967 were not
dissimilar. We know that the historian Ibn Iyas was very critical
of the Sultan and his corrupt administra- tion and held them
responsible for the defeat. In both cases we have administrations
that failed to live up to their images. And in both cases we have
regimes that tried to mask the reality of defeat from the people
for as long as possible. The inherent parallel between the two
situations leads Samia As'ad to interpret the opening line of
al-Zayni , "To every first there
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Al-Zayni Barokot 1 25
is a last; to every beginning an end," as follows:
The novel covers a certain historical period. It may be similar
to a preceding period or a herald of one yet to come.21
The main character in the novel is al-Zayni Barakat Ibn Musa.
Barakat Ibn Musa is a real historical figure of the sixteenth
century. He was a judge who was appointed by the Sultan al-Ghawri
to the position of muhtasib (supervisor of trade and prices). The
word "al-Zayni" (the one who adorns) is a title bestowed upon
Barakat Ibn Musa by the Sultan. In many periods of medieval
history, the position of muhtasib involved far more than simply
monitoring the prices of merchandise. This was the case with both
the real and the fictional Barakat Ibn Musa. The novel traces the
emergence of al-Zayni Barakat, his rise to power, and his success
at remaining in power even after the fall of the Mamluks. Working
closely with Ibn Iyas's medieval chronicle, two volumes of which
are a day-by-day eyewitness account, al-Ghitani recreates a whole
epoch. Al-Zayni Barakat, to use Ceza Kassem's words, is the
"absent/pres- ent."22 He never actually appears, as a character, in
the novel. However, all the events and characters in the book are
directly or indirectly connected with him. We hear of him and about
him through others, and he remains a contro- versial figure till
the end.
There exist several sources of information, in the novel, on
al-Zayni. One of these is the text of memoirs of a Venetian
traveler, who records some of the significant events that took
place during his numerous visits to Cairo before and after the
Ottoman invasion. He provides the view of the outsider who has
access primarily to a public reality. The other sources of
information can be divided into two categories. One pole is
represented by the chief of police, Zakariya, and his network of
spies (among whom is a student at al-Azhar) - i.e., the
authorities. The other pole is represented by another Azhar
student, Sa'id, who seems to be the articulation of the other
component in this world, namely, the people. Al-Zayni Barakas
increasing power poses a threat to that of Zakariya. Throughout the
novel, the latter tries to unveil the myste- rious history of the
baffling Barakat. When Zakariya finally realizes that his
self-interest lies in allying himself with al-Zayni, he abandons
his plans to destroy him. Sa'id, on the other hand, is the
intellectual, who is destroyed by that perfect alliance of
authorities (Zakariya and Barakat). He begins as a firm believer in
Barakat, but his belief is shaken when he witnesses incidents that
seem to point to Barakas corrupt and hypocritical nature. When
Sa'id, at a gathering in a mosque, finally accuses Barakat of being
a liar, he becomes a threat to the authorities (Barakat and
Zakariya). They decide to eliminate him. Zakariya and his men
capture and torture Sa'id. The "authorities" even meddle with
Sa'id's personal life; it is said that al-Zayni arranges a marriage
for Samah, the girl Sa'id loves. The novel ends with Sa'id totally
destroyed,
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1 26 Arab Studies Quarterly
crying out: "They have made me rot, they have destroyed my
forts" (p. 238). Any reader familiar with the history of modern
Egypt will not fail to see the
affinities that exist between the character of al-Zayni and that
of Nasser.23 Both figures seem to elicit the same controversial
questions: Are they good or are they evil? Are they working for the
people or simply manipulating them? Are they villains or are they
heroes? The same shaykh who supports Barakat's appointment to the
position of muhtasib later orders the people to beat him. In 1954,
the hero of the revolution and the new "democratic regime" was seen
as a "usurper of people's rights."24 Furthermore, no one will fail
to identify Sa'id, the disillusioned Azhar student, with a whole
generation of young Egyptians, among whom is Gamal al-Ghitani
himself; a generation that grew up with the slogans of the new
regime only to be oppressed by this very same "democratic"
regime.
Parody and pastiche The above has been a rather bare
reconstruction of the "story" of al-Zayni
Barakat from a text that begins at the end, that defies the idea
of an authorita- tive voice in the narrative, and that narrates
through the juxtaposition of "fictional" reproductions of medieval
documentary forms. The question is, how does it work? More
significant, however, are the implications behind the strategies
that al-Ghitani uses to make al-Zayni work. A good starting point
would be to examine further the relationship between al-Zayni
Barakat and its model text, the medieval chronicle (which we must
not isolate from its generic and historical context of Islamic
medieval historiography). Ibn Iyas's chronicle provides al-Ghitani
with an inexhaustible repertoire of historical data (bureaucratic
and popular traditions). Furthermore, medieval historio- graphy
provides him with specific stylistic and formal characteristics of
his- torical discourse, which he draws upon constantly in other of
his works as well.25 In an interview, al-Ghitani talks about how he
internalized the style of the chronicle before he started writing
al-Zayni
I used to read whole pages aloud and I used t copy down in my
notebook whole pages from it in an attempt to capture the internal
rhythm of the style of Ibn Iyas.26
The relationship that exists between al-Zayni Barakat and Ibn
Iyas's medieval chronicle can be best defined in Gerard Genette's
term "hypertextuality."27 According to Genette, the object of
poetics is not the text in its singularity; rather it is the
textual transcendence of the text, its transtextuality. In other
words, it is that which puts the text in a manifest or secret
relation with other texts. Hypertextuality is the relation that
unites a text (B), which Genette calls the "hypertext" (in this
case al-Zayni ), with an anterior text (A), the "hypo-
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Ai-Zoyni Barakat 1 27
text" (in this case medieval historiography). Hypertextuality
operates on two levels: parody , which is the transformation of the
elements of the hypotext, and pastiche, which Genette identifies
with imitation of the hypotext.
In al-Zayni , parody is identifiable on the level of style,
where some of the most prominent stylistic characteristics of
medieval Islamic historiography are re-used to create the
"fictional world" of the novel. Here I am referring especially to
the use of narrated discourse and the passive voice. It is impor-
tant for us to consider the function of these devices in historical
texts in order to appreciate the significance of their prevalence
in al-Ghitani's fiction. Both narrated discourse and variations on
passive constructions are means by which a historian can
demonstrate his "detachment" and "objectivity." At the same time
they are "non-incriminating" devices; they do not allow for a
reliable source of information. There is no responsible "I" at
which a finger can be pointed. The historian can hide behind that
absent "I" and inject the text with his own biases and opinions
without assuming direct responsibility. On the other hand, the
absence of the "I" is a way by which the historical text can
reflect a collective consciousness. What does it mean, then, for a
fictional narrative to be written using predominantly these two
devices?
Pastiche (the other dimension of hypertextuality) is likewise
evident in al-Zaynl Events in the novel are "narrated" primarily
through the juxtaposi- tion of complete texts of "fictional"
medieval documents. Even the characters rarely speak directly, but
are presented through narrative sections bearing their respective
names as headings. Al-Ghitani makes his characters part of the
documents. What they say and think is "told" rather than "shown."
We know the characters through their individual narrated
monologues, while they themselves remain silent throughout, each
locked within the space ascribed to him in a section. They are
isolated units, imprisoned in their respective con- sciousness, a
gesture that further emphasizes the police state.
Here it is important to establish a yet more significant point,
namely the relationship between medieval historiography and the
modern press. Al- Ghitani is a journalist by profession in a system
that has censored the freedom of the press. To get around direct
confrontation with the authorities, he, like the medieval
historian, must adopt certain strategies. In The Arab Press, Rugh
enumerates some of the games a journalist can play with the
system:
. . .by omitting parts of the story, by emphasizing other parts
by putting them in the lead paragraph or headline, by juxtaposing
elements of the story to create a certain impression, by printing
as unattributed fact information from only one source on a
controversial issue, by uncritically publishing information from a
doubtful source, or by outright fabricating.28
The strategies Rugh lists above act as a double-edged weapon.
They can be used to ensure the security of the "authorities," or
they can instigate a revolt
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1 28 Arab Studies Quarterly
against the "authorities," depending on the allegiances of the
journalist, i.e., our modern historian! Al-Zayni Barakat uses both
edges of the weapon. It uses the language and strategy of the
authorities, only to raise consciousness and instigate against the
very language it uses. (I will presently analyze passages from the
text in order to demonstrate my point.) Another important dimension
to Rugh's quotation is the question it raises around "reality," a
central question in al-Zayni Barakat. Do we have access to the
"real"? What implications does the juxtaposition of "fictional"
documentary forms in al-Zayni have on "his- tory" as the
presentation of "reality"?
In discussing the text of al-Zayni Barakat ' in order to
demonstrate how its very structure and narrative discourse can help
us understand al-Ghitani's political statements, I will present two
levels of analysis: (1) the significance of the juxtaposition of
the major blocks (memoir sections and surdaq sec- tions); and (2)
the internal organization of the surdaq sections.
Memoir sections and surdaq sections
On the first level we have two major blocks that are juxtaposed
against each other: the texts of the memoirs written in the first
person by the Venetian traveler, and the surdaq (pavilion)
sections. The Venetian traveler does not have total access to the
"reality" we privileged readers are given in the surdaq sections,
which contain "fictional" documents and the narrated monologues of
the major characters.
There are five memoir sections carefully placed within the text
of al-Zayni The first section of memoirs appears on the first page
of the novel:
Rajab 922 A.H.- August to September 1517 A.D. An excerpt from
the memoirs of the Venetian traveler, Visconte Giante, who visited
Cairo more than once during the sixteenth century while traveling
throughout the world. These memoirs record the conditions in Cairo
during the month of August 1517 a.D.- Rajab 922 a.h. (P. 7)
The other sections are found on the following pages: 121, 169,
187, and 239. The order of the dates that appear with the memoir
sections are as follows:
Page Hijra (A.H.) A.D.
7 922 1517 121 914 1509 169 920 1515 187 922 1517 239 923
1518
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Al-Zayn Barakat 1 29
The second through fifth memoir sections are in chronological
order. The first section, with which the novel begins, has been
uprooted from the chronologi- cal order, an act of dislocation that
has special significance and relevance to the narrative structure
of al-Zayni On a purely historical level, the year 1517 A.D. is the
highly important date of the Ottoman invasion and the fall of the
Mamluk dynasty in Egypt. Placed at the beginning of the novel, the
memoir section, bearing that significant date, gives the reader an
"after the fact" view of the situation in Egypt. It draws our
attention to the significance of the period in which the novel is
set. In the first section of memoirs the traveler portrays the
conditions in Cairo immediately before the defeat of the Mamluk
Sultan of Egypt. The last section of memoirs, dated 1518 A.D.,
portrays Cairo after the Ottoman invasion.
Al-Ghitani sets the general mood of al-Zayni by displacing the
chronology of the memoir sections. He introduces the date 1517 A.D.
at the beginning of the novel to highlight the historical
significance of the period during which the novel is set. Despite
the fact that the memoir section appears on the first page of the
text of al-Zayni, it is not the beginning of the novel. If
anything, it is a false beginning. Placed at the beginning, the
first memoir section is followed by a surdaq dated 1507 A.D., which
carries the reader ten years back in time. The novel actually
begins ten years before the Ottoman invasion. The first memoir
section, dated 1517, however, mirrors a general feeling of terror
and unrest and captures the spirit of the decline and corruption of
Mamluk rule:
Conditions in the land of Egypt are troubled these days. Cairo
seems strange to me; not what I had known on my previous visits. ..
.1 see the face of the city sickly, on the brink of tears. (P.
9)
The first time we hear of al-Zayni Barakat is through the
remarks made by the Venetian traveler in the first memoir section.
Given the traveler's limited analytic and interpretive perspective,
al-Zayni is presented in highly contro- versial terms. The
controversy over al-Zayni Barakat is, indeed, what remains with the
reader till the end of the novel:
The people of Cairo see al-Zayni, every day, at least once. The
processional drums precede him, attendants walk in his train.
Al-Zayni is forever supervising the prices of merchandise. He
searches out dens of immorality. . . .On my last visit to Egypt;
al-Zayni Barakat was strong and sturdy. I don't know what has
become of him. I saw al-Zayni himself dismount and talk with the
vendors of pastries, cheeses and eggs. . . .1 know of the people's
respect for him, their love for him. I remember what I wrote about
him after our first meeting. ...I have never seen anything like the
gleam that is in his eyes. . . .There is a striking intelligence in
his features. The blink of his eye is full of tenderness and
compas- sion which captures the soul. At the same time it evokes
fear. (P. 1 1 ; my italics).
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1 30 Arab Studies Quarterly
The traveler reports what he hears from the people, what he sees
; and how he feels ; without synthesizing the information. His
description of al-Zayni Bara- kat leaves the reader with the two
conflicting elements of the muhtasiV s character: he is
compassionate, yet he inspires fear. Another example of the
traveler's detachment in reporting occurs immediately after the
above pas- sage. Once more his detachment accentuates the
controversial character of al-Zayni Barakat. Visconte Giante
records a story that he hears from the people, in which a young
slave girl appeals to al-Zayni for help when her master abuses her
sexually. Al-Zayni orders his men to storm into the accused man's
house. They take the slave girl away and abuse the man. The story
circulates among the people, and a debate arises about the
legitimacy of al-Zayni's interference:
People disagreed about al-Zayni's Barakas behavior. One group
supported what he had done, especially as the girl had sent to him
asking for help when she felt she could bear no more. But another
group felt that he had intruded on the most private matters of
people's lives; and that no one at all could feel safe in his home
or about his family, especially after a rumor indicated that the
girl had never appealed to al-Zayni at all; that he had found out
about the matter through dubious methods which enable him to
acquire information about the minutest details that occur within
homes. (P. 13; my italics)
Historically speaking, the conventional form of the memoir
belongs to a larger species or genre, namely, travel literature.
However, within the context of al-Zayni, the memoir acquires a new,
fictional function. It becomes an objective commentary that
provides a different point of view on the events. By the same
token, its authoritative voice is undermined because the reader has
another access to the "real" in the surdaq sections. The memoir
sections always interrupt the text after an important event has
been presented in the surdaqs. Very often the internal organization
of the surdaqs includes details of which the Venetian traveler is
totally unaware, making the memoir sections seem at times naive. In
other instances they are complementary to the surdaqs because they
provide a different perspective by recording scenes that have only
been mentioned in passing with the surdaqs. Such instances downplay
the authority of the surdaqs. An example of this complementary
function is the incident with 'Ali, who was muhtasib of Cairo
before al-Zayni Barakat. The first surdaq includes a royal decree
for 'Ali's arrest, which is followed by oral proclamations
announcing his public torture. The memoir section that follows the
first surdaq is an eyewitness record of that public torture.
The remaining four memoir sections occur after the following
major inci- dents in al-Zayni :
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Al'Zoyni Barakat 1 31
Event Memoir dates
1. The nomination of al-Zayni Barakat 1509 A.D./914 A.H. as the
Governor of Cairo. section II
2. Al-Zayni's public appearance at the 1515 A.D./920 A.H.
mosque, where he is interrupted by a section III voice that accuses
him of being a liar.
3. A quoted passage from Ibn Iyas's 1517 A.D./922 A.H.
chronicle. The passage describes section IV the Sultan's procession
on his way to Greater Syria to meet the Ottomans. Visconte Giante
includes this passage in his memoirs, he being Ibn Iyas's
friend.
4. Rumors of the defeat of the Sultan 1517 A.D./922 A.H. and
al-Zayni's disappearance from Cairo. section I
5. After the Ottoman invasion. A descrip- 1518 A.D./923 A.H.
tion of al-Zayni's usual procession. section V
The external juxtaposition of the two major blocks, i.e., the
memoir sections and surdaqs , generates what Samia As'ad refers to
as a feeling of cyclical history: the novel begins at the end. This
symbolic gesture, she suggests, points to al-Ghitani's
interpretation of the movement of history. The circle suggests
re-occurrence, and the defeat of the Sultan in 1517 is Egypt's
defeat in the war against Israel in 1967.29
On yet another level, however, the traveler's memoirs reflect a
very public version of the situation in Egypt. He records
congregations at mosques, cof- feeshops, conversations that take
place between the people- but he, like all other characters in the
novel, remains ignorant of the private complexities of the
situation. He never rises above the people's immediate
understanding to question their vision or to comment on the
controversies that surround them. We, as readers, are in a position
to see through the traveler's naivet because we have access to more
information. While the traveler is busy describing Sultan
al-Ghawri's procession on his way out of Egypt to meet the
Ottomans, the reader turns the page to find that something equally
significant is happen- ing within Egypt. A summit meeting is being
held for police chiefs from all over the world.
May God bestow peace on these lands. Top secret. Not accessible
to any living soul.
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1 32 Arab Studies Quarterly
A letter prepared on the occasion of the meeting of the world's
police chiefs in Cairo, the mother of the world, and garden of the
universe. This meeting is held to study conditions and methods used
and developed to exchange knowledge and benefits. This letter was
prepared in the Diwan of the Mamluk Sultan's police force. It was
read by the Great Shihab, Zakariya Ibn Radi, may God forgive him
and guide his way. Cairo
Jamadi First 922 a h. (P. 189)
This letterhead is followed by the text of the letter that
Zakariya read at the meeting. The text is full of horrifying
details of recently developed torture techniques that would allow
the authorities to maintain an even tighter grip on the people.
Zakariya describes all his own experiments in the field of human
torture and concludes:
In this way I transform life into an Inferno padded with spikes
so that even Death becomes a longed-for hope and much desired
luxury. (P. 201)
All this happens simultaneously as the traveler records
"conditions in the land of Egypt!" The juxtaposition of the
traveler's memoirs, which describe very public things, with the
horrifying texts of these top-secret documents in the surdaq
sections, renders the information in the memoir sections ironic.
Al- Ghitani silently creates a comment on the discourse of the
Venetian traveler.
In his book Irony , D. C. Muecke discusses that aspect of irony
that consists in the contrast of reality and appearance:
The ironist presents an appearance and pretends to be unaware of
a reality while the victim is deceived by an appearance and is
unaware of a reality.30
The above definition of irony describes al-Ghitani's gesture
towards the Venetian traveler. It is the traveler's genuine
unawareness of the contrast between appearance and reality that
makes him ironic. On the other hand, al-Ghitani, the silent ironist
par excellence, makes the traveler the victim of irony by a simple
juxtaposition of the latter's memoirs and the secret letters of the
authorities. As readers we have this totality of vision because we
have the text.
If a contrast of an appearance and a reality is a basic feature
of irony, an awareness of contrast is a necessary condition of the
recognition of irony.31
Internal organization of the surdaq sections
The surdaq sections constitute the second major block in
al-Zayni. The
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Al-Zoyni Barokot 1 33
word surdaq means a pavilion or large tent. Within the context
of al-Zayni , al-Ghitani attributes a new fictional function to
this spatial concept by using the surdaq to create a large umbrella
under which events and characters exist simultaneously within the
same space. In al-Zayni there are seven such sur- daqs , each
bearing a number indicative of its temporal sequence within the
text. The cluster of nonfictional documentary forms and character
sections within each surdaq is organized around one central
event.
The surdaq sections in al-Zayni represent a very elaborate form
of pastiche, wherein al-Ghitani imitates several kinds of
documents. He draws on a reper- toire of medieval conventional
forms. Each of these medieval documents has its own historical
function and characteristics. In order to "narrate" the events in
al-Zayni , al-Ghitani organizes the documents within each of the
surdaq sections according to their historical characteristics and
function. All seven surdaqs have the same heterogeneous internal
structure. Each deals with one central event in the novel: the
arrest of the old muhtasib of Cairo, the rise of al-Zayni Barakat
to power, and so on. The central or topical event that is the
subject of each surdaq is presented to the reader through basically
two kinds of entries. The first are fictional texts of medieval
documents, both written and oral. The second are narrative sections
bearing as sub-headings either the name of a character (followed by
that character's narrated monologue), or the name of a place
(followed, generally, by a section presenting the people's point of
view).
On the level of historical function, the medieval documents
included in al-Zayni can be divided into two major categories: 1.
Texts of documents (oral and written) presented from an authority
(the
Sultan, al-Zayni Barakat, the chief of the police force) to the
people of Egypt. This first category of authority/people documents
includes the following: a. Royal decrees from the Sultan. b. Oral
proclamations from the Sultan. c. Oral proclamations from al-Zayni.
e. Fatwas , which are Islamic legal statements made by prominent
shaykhs. f. Reports from the Sultan on a given situation.
Each of the above medieval documents has its own distinguishing
historical formal, rhetorical and stylistic characteristics.
Al-Ghitani reproduces all such medieval stamps of the conventional
forms, so that the documents are very period- specific. 2. Texts of
documents that are presented from one authority to another
authority. These documents are accessible to the reader, but
some of the fictional characters remain ignorant of their
circulation and existence. In some instances, the reader is given
only the title of a document, but not the text. There are three
subdivisions of authority/authority documents:
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1 34 Arab Studies Quarterly
a. Texts of letters exchanged between authorities in the novel.
These authority/authority documents are accessible to the
reader.
b. Texts of spy reports presented to the authorities in the
novel. These, also, are accessible to the reader.
c. Titles of reports and letterheads followed by no text. These
are authori- ty/authority documents to which even the "privileged"
reader has no access.
All authority/people documents represent an action taken by the
authorities and announced to the people through these conventional
forms. They are essentially public forms and predominantly oral.
All authority/authority forms are either intentions of carrying out
actions or reports on reactions (basically of the people) to
certain actions already taken by the authorities. They are
essentially private forms and are, therefore, predominantly
written.
Al-Ghitani's understanding of the historical functions of both
categories of documents allows him to juxtapose them in such a way
that they "tell" the story. The documents, in their organization,
"narrate" the events of the novel. I will define the organizing
principle of this elaborate pastiche, with examples from the text,
shortly after the following section.
The second kind of entry in the surdaq is the narrative sections
bearing as headings the names of characters or the names of places.
These are all written in the third person. The narrator of these
entries oscillates between the camera eye (recording events with a
focus on the present moment) and the reporter (reporting events
from the characters' past). The categories and functions of the
character and place entries within the surdaq sections are
analogous to those of the medieval documents. The place sections
describe people's reac- tions to events. The character sections can
be divided into two categories: authority (represented by sections
that bear the name of the police chief, Zakariya); and people
(represented by sections that bear the name of the Azhar student
Sa'id. The character entries thus represent two points of view:
that of the authorities and that of the people. Each character
reflects upon, reacts to, and comments on the events and
information given in the form of medieval documents.
The basic principle that governs the juxtaposition of the
documents and the characters on the level of internal organization
is that of action/reaction. An authority/people document (action)
will be followed by an authority/author- ity document (reaction).
The following is an example of the action/reaction principle as it
manifests itself in al-Zayni. After al-Zayni Barakat assumes his
position as muhtasib of Cairo, he issues an oral proclamation.
According to my categories, the proclamation is an authority/people
document. It is an action. In this oral proclamation al-Zayni
announces that lanterns should be posted at the entrance of every
alley, and at the gate of every palace (p. 89). Following the oral
proclamation in the text, a report is sent to Zakariya, the
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Al'Zoyni Borakot 1 35
police chief, summarizing the reaction of the people to the
action of the lanterns. The reaction of the people is complemented
by the texts of fatwas (legal opinions from
' ulama X concerning al-Zayni's action. A third level of
reaction is represented through the texts of letters sent by a
group of Emirs to the Sultan. It is the reaction of the authorities
(police, 'ulama', Emirs) to the action of al-Zayni that elicits a
counter- action on the part of the Sultan. A royal decree, i.e., an
authority/people document that constitutes a new action, is issued
by the Sultan. The royal decree bans the suggested use of
lanterns:
A Royal Decree: The idea of lanterns will be stopped. . . .those
already posted will be removed; consider that they had never
existed. (P. 105)
The action/reaction axis in al-Zayni can be very complex. One
action can elicit several reactions. Depending on the source, the
reactions will be pres- ented through different categories of
medieval documents. The above exam- ple of the lanterns is one such
action that generates several reactions. The people's reaction is
presented through a spy report. They do not seem totally opposed to
the idea of the lanterns:
Al-Zayni wants to introduce an innovation that will be
attributed to him. Another man said: perhaps this innovation will
win the blessing of the people. (P. 92)
However, the 'ulama' in their fatwas are opposed to it:
A fatwa from the Supreme Qadi: The lanterns rob the people of
divine blessing. (P. 99)
The letters from the Emirs to the Sultan reflect the former's
opposition to the lanterns. Some oppose the idea because it
encourages women to remain out longer; others feel it encourages
children to stay out longer. All the Emirs, who continuously vie
amongst themselves, want to keep Cairo dark at night. The Sultan
finally grants them their wish in a royal decree. The juxtaposition
of all these reactions to one action (that of the lanterns) through
a series of documentary forms, leaves the reader with the burden of
interpretation, and the controversy of the lanterns is not
resolved. Did al-Zayni want the lanterns for the safety of the
people, or did he want the lanterns in order to be in full control
of the situation by weakening the night activities of the Mamluk
Emirs? However, the issue of the lanterns can be understood when we
know the context and the circumstances surrounding it. This is not
unlike the exer- cise the reader acquires in dealing with
information presented in a modern newspaper. As William Rugh points
out, "Readers look for information, but
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1 36 Arab Studies Quarterly
they also seek nuances in language and even omissions in
reporting."32 Earlier in this paper I indicated that al-Zayni
Barakat never appears
directly in the novel. Nevertheless we do obtain, at
second-hand, his reaction to the action taken by the Sultan
concerning the lanterns. This occurs in a narrative section bearing
Sa'id's name. Al-Zayni is said to have been disap- pointed, to have
felt that the Emirs cheated the Sultan and acted against the best
interest of the people. Hence, character entries within the surdaq
can also at times function on the level of reactions to certain
actions. The most impor- tant characteristic of the character
entries is that they symbolize the isolation of the characters in
the novel. The reactions presented through character entries are
personal, unvoiced, and untransmitted.
In one of Zakariya's sections, he broods over the new
controversial muh- tasib , al-Zayni Barakat:
From what earth has this Barakat been created. Has the
Antichrist come incog- nito? . . .He ascends to the Citadel, in
disguise, he prostrates in front of the Emirs, he weeps, real
tears. . . he says what causes Zakariya to pace up and down till
this minute. (P. 36)
Reactions that are introduced in character sections add another
dimension to the organizing principle action/reaction. They supply
personal reactions to actions announced in the texts of
documents.
The documents within the surdaqs represent two categories:
authority/peo- ple documents, i.e., documents accessible to the
public, and authority/author- ity documents, i.e., documents not
accessible to the public. The juxtaposition of these two categories
of "conventional forms" generates two levels of real- ity in the
text of al-Zayni. There is a reality that is common to all, which
is represented by the content of oral proclamations and royal
decrees (authority/ people documents). There is, however, another,
secret reality shared only by characters in positions of power
(authority/authority documents). The contra- diction that exists
between these two realities, the obvious discrepancies between
appearance (authority/people documents) and reality (authority/au-
thority documents), generates irony in the text of al-Zayni
The oral proclamations involve the people in a very trivial,
mundane real- ity. One of the longer oral proclamations within the
surdaq sections begins with the formula:
Oh people of Cairo We ordain what is just And prohibit what is
forbidden. . . .
It then announces the following messages to the people of
Cairo:
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Al-Zoyrii Barokot 1 37
1. The Sultan has taken off the black wool, and is now wearing
his white outfit.
2. The chief of the police force has ordered the public
execution of a man. The corpse is to be displayed for three
days.
3. Coffee houses and pastry shops must close after evening
prayer. Those who disobey will be whipped fifty lashes.
4. News of the battles between the Mamluk Sultan and the Ottoman
soldiers: the Mamluks killed forty of the Ottoman soldiers.
The proclamation ends with:
Take heed O, people of Egypt. Oh, people of Egypt.
The above oral proclamation is typical of the level of reality
that is presented to the people by the authorities. Still another
proclamation announces to the people that the Sultan (who had been
in bed with a cold) is feeling better and playing polo. When
proclamations do not include news of the Sultan, they are either
threats or impositions of new regulations. There are seventeen oral
proclamations in al-Zayni, all announcing messages that keep the
people busy with their very immediate reality (taxes, new hours for
shops, the Sultan, executions, etc.).
At the same time, another level of reality is channeled through
authori- ty/authority documents. The above oral proclamation
mentions the battles between the Sultan and the Ottomans in Syria.
The proclamation makes the situation appear favorable to Egypt, for
the Mamluks are announced to have killed forty Ottoman soldiers.
That is the reality announced to the people. The next document
within the same surdaq is a confidential report- an authori-
ty/authority document- sent to Zakariya, the chief of police. The
report announces a catastrophic event, which remains concealed from
the public:
Friday 15 Sha'ban 922 A.H.
The Secretary of the Diwan, deputy to the Great Shihab,
Zakariya, responsible for the situation with the Ottomans:
A Great Calamity A great misfortune has befallen us. The details
are as follows: Sultan al-
Ghawri has been overtaken by the soldiers of the Ottoman Salim I
on Sunday 25 Rajab (a day of continuous misfortunes). (P. 213)
The above report announces the most critical event in al-Zayni,
the even- tual defeat of the Mamluk Sultan and the prospect of an
Ottoman invasion of Egypt. However, it is an authority/authority
document and is, therefore,
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1 38 Arab Studies Quarterly
not available to the public. This crucial event is not presented
as part of the people's immediate reality.
At this point it becomes clear just how al-Ghitani builds up the
analogy between 1517 and 1967. If we are to reflect on the idea
that the modern press functions on the same level as the
authority/people documents in al-Zayni (royal decrees and oral
proclamations), we will understand that al-Ghitani is pointing at
the role the media played in 1967 when it tried to mask the defeat
in order to delay the shock. As Rugh indicates, "Politically
important issues are not treated from various angles but are
represented from the one point of view which is acceptable to the
government."33 By confronting us with these "authority/people"
documents, al-Ghitani leads us, through al-Zayni, to question the
discourse of the authorities.
In one of the narrative sections bearing his name, Zakariya
describes the function of the proclamation and voices the means by
which it can become effective:
Since the time of the Great Shibab Ja'far, the chief of the
police force during the reign of al-Ashraf Kayetbay, all the
proclamations heralds have been under the supervision of the chief
of the police force. The texts of proclamation are sent to him. The
way in which an incident is announced may lead to serious matters.
Indeed, the chief of the police stresses the importance of the
herald's enthusiastic tone of voice in announcing a certain
incident. He equally emphasizes the importance of feigning grief or
indifference. All such elements influence the peo- ple. (P. 52; my
italics)
The above statement suggests that oral proclamations, like
newspapers, are designed to manipulate people rather than inform
them of the reality. The heralds are actors who feign grief,
indifference and enthusiasm. It is the authorities' responsibility
to match the desired, feigned emotion with the kind of news to be
announced. It is in this manner that the authorities can control
the reactions of the people. They can involve them or disinvolve
them accord- ing to the general tone and wording of the selected
incidents that are actually announced.
By contrast, the character sections in al-Zayni sometimes
function as a zoom lens for the camera eye of third-person
narration. The character sec- tions, which focus on the character
whose name appears in the heading, represent very complex layers of
narration. Sometimes they begin with a camera-eye report, a
transparent presence that seems to be closely watching the
character's movements, in the present. The camera eye, a type of
external narrative mode, describes the events and the character
from the outside. At times, however, the camera eye suddenly slips
into the character's conscious- ness. In one passage, for example,
the scene is set in the private quarters of Zakariya, who has been
pacing up and down the room, anxiously awaiting a
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AUZayni Borakot 1 39
reply to a letter he has sent to al-Zayni Barakat. The reply
does not come, and Zakariya's mind wanders, trying to resolve the
mysteries behind al-Zayni Barakat. He picks up a report, presented
to him by one of his chief spies, that concerns the rumors
surrounding Barakat. Zakariya reads the report to him- self. The
activity of reading is, therefore, still part of the internal
narrative mode. The whole passage is a narrated monologue,
representing the unspoken thoughts of Zakariya narrated in his own
idiom but through the use of a third-person pronoun. The act of
reading to oneself remains within the realm of the "unspoken
thoughts and words" of a "fictional mind":
At the same time the chief spy continued to search for this
woman who appeared in front of al-Zayni's procession ... she
yelled. ..You wicked one . . . hence she knows him, perhaps
tracking her down will reveal the hidden in al-Zayni's past. The
chief spy said in his first report she is a woman without family,
the residents of Bayn al-Sayarij and 'Amir al-Juyush street and Bab
al-Sha'riyah know her. They have seen her around since their
childhood. No home is known for her. It was said that she sleeps in
cemeteries that lead outside Bab al-Nasr. Her name is Umm Suhayr.
Others said her name is Miska, and she has no daughter by the name
of Suhayr. She insulted al-Zayni twice in al-Saliba street and
al-Mu'izz street, she was not seen. It is as if the earth opened
and swallowed her. It was said in the report of one of the reliable
efficient spies that an old man who always sits near the water
fountain of Bishtak, with his eyes blind-folded, said this woman
goes to al-Zayni Barakat Ibn Musa, she embraces him, they cry, she
holds his head in her hands, she whispers the softest words to him,
then she tells him about the future, and everything that happens to
him and what is being plotted against him. The old man said she is
in close contact with a number of jinn who serve her and bring her
true prophecies. As to who she is, the old man does not know, when
she sees al-Zayni in private, he has no idea, why she cried out in
his face in front of the people, that is what no living being will
find out. The old man alluded to the possibility of the existence
of a hidden link between al-Zayni and the world of the jinn,
al-Zayni ignored the letter, it is as if he hadn't received it. (P.
78; my italics)
This passage demonstrates a highly elaborate and rich narrative
process. The first seven lines as well as the final line represent
Zakariya's narrated monologue. The indications, in the opening
lines, that we are within Zaka- riya's mind are obvious. There
follows a whole "narrated" process of reason- ing, one that is
internal, unspoken. Zakariya recalls to himself the incident of the
old woman who yelled at al-Zayni, which had been reported to him
earlier by his chief spy. He reasons out the dynamics of the
situation in an attempt to make sense out of it. This process of
silent reasoning is marked by the unspoken "hence" followed
immediately by the use of the indicative "she knows him." This
reasoning is followed by the introduction of possibility through
the word "perhaps." Possibilities are projections into the
future.
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1 40 Arab Studies Quarterly
"Perhaps" is followed by the simple future "will reveal," which
marks that projection of an event that has not yet occurred. The
elision of all punctuation in the passage leads us to glide very
comfortably into a silent reading of an actual report. Zakariya
reads the text; he does not just remember its contents. This is
indicated by the use of the present tense: "The chief spy said in
his first report she is a woman without a family." The elision of
punctuation misleads the reader and he finds himself in the
external narrative mode (the narrated discourse in the spy's
report) within the larger encompassing internal narra- tive mode
(Zakariya's narrated monologue).
The spy's report presented within Zakariya's narrated monologue
is an interesting example of interwoven layers of the quoted and
the narrated dis- course, both aspects of the external narrative
mode. It is obvious from the passage that the spy presented
information which he received orally from the residents of a
certain area. It is a collective narrated discourse, marked by the
use of the passive form of the verb: "It was said that." No
specific person relates this information that the spy narrates, and
the idea of collectivity is further emphasized by "others said
" Another marker of the collective narrated discourse is the
idiom. Narrated discourse is the spoken words of a character in
that character's idiom but presented in the third person. When the
chief spy includes in his report the statement: "It is as if the
earth opened and swallowed her," we know that he is narrating a
"collective" idiom. These words are not the words of the reporter.
Rather, they are the words of the informants.
To further complicate the dynamics of narration, al-Ghitani
presents another report within the first one that Zakariya is in
the process of reading. A subordinate spy had presented a report to
his chief on the same subject of the woman who yelled at al-Zayni,
and the chief spy has included this second report as part of his
own report. He does not summarize it, he quotes it; and the
subordinate spy, in turn, has quoted an old man in his own report.
No punctuation alerts the reader. However, the quoted discourse of
the old man is introduced by the demonstrative "this" followed by a
series of verbs in the present tense: "goes," "embraces," "holds,"
"whispers," "tells," and so on. The final section of the second
report by the subordinate spy is a ques- tion/answer, narrated
discourse. The question/answer format took place be- tween the
subordinate spy and the old man. We know that it is narrated
discourse because of the narrated idiom of the old man: "This is
what no living being will find out." From the old man's allusion to
al-Zayni's link with the world of the Jinn we are transported from
this passage of "seemingly" external narrative mode to the larger
context of the whole passage, namely Zakariya's narrated monologue.
The final line is in the internal narrative mode, represented by
Zakariya's unspoken thoughts: "Al-Zayni ignored the letter."
Finally, what do we as readers, or even Zakariya, as a "fictional
character," really know about the incident of the old woman and
al-Zayni?
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Al-Zayni Borokot 141
The use of "narrated discourse" in the novel is symbolic of
al-Ghitani's political strategy vis--vis an increasingly repressive
political system. It is a symbolic act against the censor.
"Narrated discourse" means that there is no "I" to be held
responsible; it also means that what is "narrated" is not by
necessity what was said. Since historical accounts and reports rely
primarily on "narrated discourse," al-Ghitani poses the questions:
what is history, what are facts, and what is reality? By using the
objective tool of historical dis- course, i.e., "narrated
discourse," al-Ghitani challenges the objectivity of that
historical discourse. We have only to return to Edward Said's
remark on how contemporary Arab history was "laboriously created,"
"scene by scene," and how after 1967 this whole version of history
was "brushed aside" when put to the test. Al-Zayni Barakat is
indeed a revolutionary document. The text is, in fact, that
"signature one affixes at the foot of a collective proclamation one
has not written oneself."
Notes
1 . Roland Barthes, Writing Degree Zero , trans. Annette Lavers
and Colin Smith (New York: Hill and Wang, 1967), 26-27.
2. Gamal al-Ghitani, al-Zayni Barakat (Cairo: Madbuli, 1974). 3.
See articles in Fusul 2 ( 1 982); Edward Said's review in TLS
(October 1 8, 1 985);
La Croix l-Evnement (March 23, 1 985); Libration (April 2 1 , 1
985); Le Monde (March 29, 1985); Le Monde Diplomatique (January
1985); Al-Ahram (July 13, 1985).
4. For more details see my discussion of al-Ghitani's novels in
"Bricolage as Hypertextuality: A Study of Narrative. . (Ph.D.
diss., UCLA, 1985).
5. In a 1980 interview, al-Ghitani confirmed my thesis about the
relationship between carpet designing and his writing
techniques.
6. Among al-Ghitani's works of fiction are: Waqa'i' Harat
al-Zafarani, Al-Rifa% Khitat al-Ghitani, Awraq Shabb, Dhikr ma Jara
and Kitab al-Tajaliyat. His works of non-fiction include
al-Misriyun wa-al-Harb, Hurras al-Bawwabah al-Sharqiyah, and
Qahiriyat.
7. "Intertextual Dialectics: An Interview with Gamal
al-Ghitani," Alif 4 (1984): 71-82.
8. Edward Said, "Introduction" to Halim Barakat, Days of Dust ,
trans. Trevor Le Gassick (Illinois: Medina University Press
International, 1974), xi.
9. Nasser's speeches are perfect examples of this kind of
rhetoric. 10. William A. Rugh, The Arab Press (Syracuse: Syracuse
University Press, 1979),
47. 11. Ibid., 8. 12. Roger Allen, The Modern Arabic Novel
(Syracuse: Syracuse University Press,
1982), 25. 1 3. Rugh, Arab Press , 25. 14. Ibid., 48. 15. Ibid.,
xi. 16. Said, "Introduction," Days of Dust, xxviii. 1 7. Nada
Tomiche, Histoire de la littrature romanesque de V Egypte moderne
(Paris:
Maisonneuve et Larose, 1981), 130.
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142 Arab Studies Quarterly
1 8. Rugh, Arab Press, 62. 19. See Ceza Kassem's article
"al-Mufaraqah fi al-Qass al-'Arabi al-Mu'asir,"
Fusul 2(1982): 143-152. 20. Hilary Kirkpatrick, The Modern
Egyptian Novel : A Study in Social Crticism
(London: Ithaca Press, 974), 14. 21. Samia As'ad, '"Indama
Yaktub al-Riwa'i al-Tarikh," Fusul 2 (1982): 67. 22. Ceza Kassem,
"In Quest of New Narrative Forms" (paper presented at the
annual conference of the Middle East Studies Association, 1979).
23. In "In Quest of New Narrative Forms," Ceza Kassem identifies
al-Zayni with
Gamal Abdel Nasser. 24. Rugh, Arab Press ; 62. 25. See
al-Ghitani's use of historiography in Awraq Shabb and Khitat
al-Ghitani 26. "Interview with Gamal al-Ghitani," Alif. 79. 27.
Gerard Genette, Palimpsestes: La Littrature au second degr (Paris:
Editions du
Seuil, 1982). 28. Rugh, Arab Press, 17. 29. Samia As'ad,
'"Indama Yaktub. . Fusul 69. 30. D.C. Muecke, Irony (London:
McThoem, 1976), 30. 31. Ibid., 54. 32. Rugh, Arab Press, xvii. 33.
Ibid., 33.
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Issue Table of ContentsArab Studies Quarterly, Vol. 8, No. 2,
Modern Arab Writers and the Politics of the Middle East (Spring
1986), pp. i-iv, 101-217Front MatterIntroduction [pp. 101-103]The
Poetics of the Political Poem [pp. 104-119]Al-Zayni Barakat:
Narrative as Strategy [pp. 120-142]The Fiction of Sahar Khalifah:
Between Defiance and Deliverance [pp. 143-160]Quest for Identity:
The I-Thou Imbroglio in Tayeb Salih's "Season of Migration to the
North" [pp. 161-177]Arabic Folk Literature and Political Expression
[pp. 178-185]Book ReviewsWomen and Societal Change [pp.
186-191]Review: untitled [pp. 192-194]Review: untitled [pp.
194-197]Review: untitled [pp. 197-200]Review: untitled [pp.
201-203]Review: untitled [pp. 203-205]Review: untitled [pp.
206-217]
Back Matter