Women of Karantina by Eltoukhy Nael;Moger Robin; & Robin Moger

Author:Eltoukhy, Nael;Moger, Robin; & Robin Moger
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The American University in Cairo Press
Published: 2013-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

4

More than one hundred years before Abu Amira died, in 1933 to be precise, Tawfiq al-Hakim wrote a novel entitled Return of the Spirit. We could talk about this book for hours if we had to, but what concerns us here are a few paragraphs in which the author sets out a discussion between an English inspector of irrigation and a French archaeologist about the nature of the Egyptian people. The Englishman views them with disdain, with a blind prejudice against the civilizations of the Orient, whereas the Frenchman is enamored of the hidden essence shared by all Egyptians and is, moreover, more rational when he speaks.

We shall now cite a part of the conversation between the two—not, of course, the part that Abdel Nasser seized on when plotting his revolution. Calmly addressing his English colleague, the Frenchman says: “You may be confident, Mr. Black, that any corruption of morals is not native to Egypt, but was introduced here by other nations, the Bedouin or the Turk, for instance—and yet this does not affect their ever-present and unchanging essence.” The Englishman—and we may picture him giving a whistle of surprise, striking his cap from his head to ruffle his hair as he absorbs the tidal bore of truth that now bears down upon him—answers him: “Tell me: What is this essence?” To which the Frenchman—and we picture a sage, untroubled smile upon his lips—replies: “You doubt my word! But I shall content myself with telling you, Beware! Beware of this people, for it harbors a terrible force of will!”

So it is that the Frenchman describes the essence of the Egyptian people, in wild and woolly phrases compounded of wisdom, conviction, force, and warning, all at one and the same time. But we cannot ignore, not for a moment, the fact that the author of these words was Tawfiq al-Hakim himself, who lived in Paris and admired its inhabitants and their ideas, and so, when he’d decided to create a character both wise and sympathetic to Egyptians, it was a Frenchman that first sprang to mind. And, just like al-Hakim, Hamada, too, loved Paris.

The tremendous force of will, possessed by all Egyptians and divined by Tawfiq al-Hakim some hundred years ago, seemed to find its clearest manifestation in the person of Hamada and his luxurious studio, which bore the name Arts and Colors. After all the symptoms of decline that we’ve detailed above, it was as though the ember of life had been transplanted to the studio, where Hamada tended it, sheltered it, kept it burning, in readiness for the day when it would appear before the eyes of all.

Strength and sensitivity were the two wings that held Hamada aloft. The strength came from the little army that he was raising in his studio to destroy Sousou, the sensitivity manifested itself in the canvases he painted: French in inspiration, refined, focused on the subjects’ inner depths and not their trivial outer features. In a refined palette—orange, mauve, and turquoise, say—he created his most beautiful works.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.