Egypt
(see also Middle East: General & Islamic Fundamentalism)
Basics
CIA World Factbook Includes map.
UN Development Program, Human Development Indicators
On the Web: Articles
'Kifaya' in Egypt. Editorial, Washington Post (3/15/05). Mubarak opponents say "enough."
Enough is not Enough. Amira Howeidy, Al-Ahram (2/24/05).
Naguib Mahfouz and the Cruelty of Memory. Edward Said, Counterpunch (12/17/01). Importance of this great novelist, until recently little translated into English (but see "Fiction" below)
Why Egypt Produces Extremists. Geneive Abdo, Christian Science Monitor (10/12/01). Anti-American sentiments condoned by govt as "safe"outlet for anger against a repressive regime.
Cairo, the intellectual capital of the Arab world, is a hotbed of state-sanctioned antiwestern fervour. Jeff Goldberg, NY Times (10/7/01). Our "allies" use anti-Americanism as a pressure valve for their own brutal regimes.
Bin Laden Aide Implicated. Dan Eggen & Serge F. Kovaleski, Wash Post (10/7/01). Background on some bin Laden aides & 9/11 attackers, and their political motives.
On the Web: Specialized Sites
Al-Ahram Weekly. Venerable English-language paper based in Cairo, major source for Middle East news with a moderate Arab perspective.
Kifaya. Coalition in opposition to Mubarak regime.
Middle East Research & Information Project. Publishers of indispensable Middle East Report.
In the Library: Articles
Abed-Katob, Sana. "The accommodationists speak: goals & strategies of the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt," International Journal of Middle East Studies 27,3 (8/95):321-40.
Aboul-Ela, Hosam. "Challenging the embargo: Arabic literature in the US market," Middle East Report 219 (sum 2001).
Abu-Lughod, Lila. "Migdim: Egyptian bedouin matriarch," in E. Burke III (ed.) Struggle & Survival in the Modern Middle East (Berkeley, 1993), pp. 271-89.
Amin, Samir. "Contradictions in the capitalist development of Egypt: a review essay," Monthly Review 36,4 (9/84):13-21.
Arbrust, Walter. "Sex & marriage in Egyptian film," Middle East Report 206 (spring 1998).
Azzam, M. "The Islamists & the State under Mubarak," in Sidahmed & Ehteshami (eds.) Islamic Fundamentalism (Boulder: Westview, 1996).
Baer, Gabriel. "The village shaykh in modern Egypt," in U. Heyd (ed.) Studies in Islamic History & Civilization (Jerusalem, 1961), pp. 121-53.
Beinin, Joel. "Henri Curiel & the Egyptian Communist movement," Radical History Review 45 (1989):157-63.
Bell, Jennifer. "Egyptian environmental activist's uphill struggle," Middle East Report 216 (fall 2000).
Binder, Leonard. "Ideological foundations of Egyptian-Arab nationalism," in D. Apter (ed.) Ideology & Discontent (Berkeley, 1964).
Bush, Ray & Amal Sabri. "Mining for fish: privatization of the "commons" along Egypt's northern coastline," Middle East Report 216 (fall 2000).
Carson, William Morris. "The social history of an Egyptian factory," Middle East Journal 11,4 (1957).
Colla, Elliot. "Solidarity in the time of anti-normalization," Middle East Report 224 (fall 2002).
El-Ghobashy, Mona. "Unsettling the authorities: constitutional reform in Egypt," Middle East Report 226 (spr 2003):28-35.
Elkoury, Fouad. "The suburbs of Cairo," Granta 34 (1990).
Gawhary, Karim. "AIDS hotline in Cairo," Middle East Report 206 (spring 1998).
Ghobashy, Mona. "Unsettling the authorities: constitutional reform in Egypt," Middle East Report 226 (spring 2003):28-34.
Goldberg, Jeffrey. "Behind Mubarak. Egyptian clerics & intellectuals respond to terrorism," New Yorker (10/8/01):48-55.
Herrera, Lina. "Downveiling: gender and the contest over culture in Cairo," Middle East Report 219 (sum 2001).
Iwan, James L. "From social welfare to local government: the United Arab Republic (Egypt)," Middle East Journal 22,3 (1968):265-76.
Issawi, Charles. "Egypt since 1800: a study in lop-sided development," in his Economic History of the Middle East, 1800-1914 (Chicago, 1966), pp. 359-74.
Mehrez, Samia. "Take them out of the ball game: Egypt's cultural players in crisis," Middle East Report 219 (sum 2001).
Menicucci, Garay. "Homosexuality in Egyptian film," Middle East Report 206 (spring 1998).
Oren, Michael. Six Days of War: June 1967 & the Making of the Modern Middle East (NY: Ballantine, 2003).
Kerr, Malcolm H. "The emergence of a socialist ideology in Egypt," Middle East Journal 16,2 (1962).
LeGassick, Trevor. "A malaise in Cairo: three contemporary Egyptian authors," Middle East Journal 21,2 (1967).
Negus, Steve. "Letter from Cairo," Nation (11/19/01):17-19.
__________. "Egyptian justice, US-style," Nation (1/28/02):7.
Pripstein-Posusney, Marsha. "Egyptian privatization: new challenges for the left," Middle East Report 210 (spring 1999).
Reeves, Edward B. "Power, resistance & the cult of Muslim saints in a northern Egyptian town," American Ethnologist 22,2 (5/95):306-24.
Shoubachi, Farida. "The suicide of Anwar Sadat," Monthly Review 33,10 (3/82):44-47. An Egyptian nationalist perspective on Sadat's humiliation at Camp David & in Israeli Knesset as price for peace, US assistance & recuperation of Sinai.
Smith, Lee. "Egypt's Islamist dilemma," Nation (12/1/03). Al Gama'a al-Islamiya crushed by Mubarak regime, but may have won larger ideological war.
Swedenburg, Ted. "Arab 'world music' in the US," Middle East Report 219 (summ 2001).
Vidal, Gore. "Nasser's Egypt," Esquire (10/63).
In the Library: Non-Fiction Books
Ammar, Hamed. Growing Up in an Egyptian Village (NY?, 1954).
Beattie, Andrew. Cairo: A Cultural History (NY: Oxford, 2005).
Beinin, Joel & Zachary Lockman. Workers on the Nile: Nationalism, Communism, Islam & the Egyptian Working Class, 1882-1954 (Princeton, 1987). Unions in early 20th c.
__________. Was the Red Flag Flying There? Marxist Politics & the Arab-Israeli Conflict in Egypt & Israel, 1948-1965 (Berkeley: U. California, 1990).
__________. The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry: Culture, Politics &
the Formation of a Modern Diaspora (Berkeley: U. California, 1998).
Berger, Morroe. Military Elite & Social Change: Egypt Since Napoleon
(Princeton, 1960).
__________. Islam in Egypt Today: Social & Political Aspects of Popular Religion (London, 1970).
Berque, Jacques. Histoire Sociale d’un Village Egyptien au XXème siècle (The Hague, 1957).
__________. Egypt: Imperialism & Revolution (London, 1972).
Cole, Donald P. & Soraya Altorki. Bedouin, Settlers & Holiday-Makers: Egypt's Changing Northwest Coast (Cairo: American U., 1998).
Cole, Juan R.I. Colonialism & Revolution in the Middle East: Social & Cultural Origins of Egypt's 'Urabi Movement (Princeton: Princeton, 1993).
Critchfield, Richard. Shahhat: an Egyptian (Syracuse, 1978).
Deonna, Laurence. The War with Two Voices: Testimonies by Women from Egypt & Israel (Washington: Three Continents, 1989).
Doran, Michael. Pan-Arabism Before Nasser: Egyptian Power Politics & the Palestine Question (NY: Oxford, 2002).
Fahmy, Khaled. All the Pasha’s Men: Mehmed Ali, His Army, and the
Making of Modern Egypt (NY, 1997).
Ghosh, Amitav. In an Antique Land (NY, 1992).
Greener, Leslie. High Dam over Nubia (NY: Viking, 1962).
Holt, Peter M. (ed.) Political & Social Change in Modern Egypt
(Oxford, 1968).
Hopgood, Derek. Egypt: Politics & Society, 1945-1981 (Winchester
MA, 1982).
Hopkins, Nicholas S. Agrarian Transformation in Egypt (Boulder, 1987).
Hussein, Mahmoud. Class Conflict in Egypt: 1945-1970 (NY: Monthly Review, 1973).
Jankowski, James. Nasser's Egypt, Arab Nationalism & the United Arab Republic (Boulder CO: Lynne Rienner, 2002).
Johansen, Julian. Sufism & Islamic Reform in Egypt: The Battle for
Islamic Tradition (NY, 1996).
Kedourie, Elie & Sylvia G. Haim (eds.) Modern Egypt: Studies in Politics & Society (London, 1980).
Kepel, Gilles. Muslim Extremism in Egypt. The Prophet & the Pharaoh (Berkeley, 1985). Good intro to life & thought of Sayyid Qutb.
Little, Tom. High Dam at Aswan: The Subjugation of the Nile (NY: John Day, 1965).
Mansfield, Peter. Nasser’s Egypt (Harmondsworth, 1965).
Mitchell, Timothy. Colonizing Egypt (NY, 1988).
Moaddel, Mansoor. Jordanian Exceptionalism: A Comparative Analysis of State-Religion Relationships in Egypt, Iran, Jordan & Syria (NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002).
Oren, Michael B. Six Days of War: June 1967 & the Making of the Modern Middle East (NY: Oxford, 2002).
Podeh, Elie. The Decline of Arab Unity: Rise & Fall of the United Arab Republic (Portland OR: Sussex Academic, 1999). Nasser's project uniting Egypt & Syria.
Richards, Alan. Egypt’s Agricultural Development, 1800-1980. Technical
& Social Change (Boulder, 1982).
Richmond, J.C.B. Egypt, 1798-1952: Her Advance Towards a Modern Identity
(London, 1977).
el-Saadawi, Nawal. The Hidden Face of Eve: Women in the Arab World (Boston: Beacon, 1980).
__________. Memoirs from the Women's Prison [1986] (Berkeley: U. California, 1994).
__________. A Daughter of Isis: Autobiography (London: Zed, 1999).
__________. Walking Through Fire: A Life of Nawal El Saadawi (NY: Zed, 2002).
Smith, Charles D. Islam & the Search for Social Order in Modern Egypt: A Biography of Muhammad Husayn Haykal (Albany: SUNY, 1983).
Tarabishi, Jurj. Woman Against Her Sex: A Critique of Nawal el-Saadawi
with a Reply by Nawal el-Saadawi (London: Saqi, 1988).
Weaver, Mary Anne. A Portrait of Egypt. A Journey Through the World of
Militant Islam (NY, 2000).
Wikan, Unni. Life Among the Poor in Cairo (London: Tavistock, 1980).
__________. Tomorrow, God Willing: Self-Made Destinies in Cairo (Chicago: U. Chicago, 1996).
In the Library: Fiction
Al-Qa'id, Yusuf. War in the Land of Egypt (NY: Interlink, 1998). Rural Egypt just before 1973 October War.
Al-Tahawy, Miral. Blue Aubergine (Cairo: American University, 2002). Story of young woman born in 1967, year of defeat by Israelis, growing up amidst social & political upheavals of 70s, 80s & 90s.
Bindari, Sami. The House of Power (Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1980).
Ducornet, Rikki. Gazelle: A Novel (NY: Knopf, 2003). Americans in 1950s Cairo.
el-Saadawi, Nawal. Woman at Point Zero (London: Zed, 1983).
__________. Two Women in One (Seattle: Seal, 1986).
__________. God Dies By the Nile (London: Zed, 1985).
__________. Death of an Ex-Minister (London: Methuen, 1987).
__________. She Has No Place in Paradise (London: Methuen, 1987).
__________. The Fall of the Imam (London: Methuen, 1988).
__________. Memoirs of a Woman Doctor: A Novel (London: Saqi, 1988).
__________. The Circling Song (London: Zed, 1989).
__________. Searching (London: Zed, 1991).
__________. The Well of Life & The Thread: Two Short Novels (London: Lime Tree, 1993).
__________. The Innocence of the Devil (Berkeley: U. California, 1994).
__________. The Nawal El Saadawi Reader (NY: Zed, 1997).
__________. Love in the Kingdom of Oil (London: Saqi, 2001).
Mahfouz, Naguib. Autumn Quail (Irvington, 1985).
__________. The Thief & the Dogs (Irvington, 1985).
__________. Wedding Song (Irvington, 1985).
__________. The Beggar (Irvington, 1986).
__________. The Beginning & the End (Irvington, 1986).
__________. The Day the Leader Was Killed [1985] (trans. Malak Mashem; NY: Anchor, 2000). Travails of middle-class Cairenes in 1981, during last days of Anwar al-Sadat.
In the Library: For Young Readers
In the Library: Poetry
In the Library: Drama
In the Library: Photography
CD & Audio
Film & Video
"Arab Diaries: Youth" [2001], dir. Ali Bilail, Samia Chala & Muriel Aboulrouss, 26m. From First Run/Icarus. Youth issues in Lebanon, Algeria & Egypt.
"Date Wine" [1998], dir. Radwan Al-Kashef, 120m. Boy grows up among women in a village whose men have left to earn their living abroad.
"Determination" [1940], dir. Kamal Selim. Realistic portrayal of slum life in Cairo.
"Kit Kat" [1991], dir. Daoud Abdel Sayed.
"Living with the Past: Historic Cairo" [2001], dir. Maysoon Pachachi, 52m. From First Run/Icarus. Historic preservation with socio-economic development in old city's Darb al-Ahmar neighborhood.
"Naguib Mahfouz: The Passage of the Century" [1999], dir. Francka Mouloudi, 49m. From First Run/Icarus. Profile of the Nobel prize-winning novelist as a very old man.
"The Price of Change" [1982], dir. Marilyn Gaunt, 26m. From First Run/Icarus. Explores effects of participation in the labor force on five Egyptian women.
"Proud & Beggars" [1991], dir. Asma El Bakri.
"The Search for Sayed Marzouk" [1991], dir. Daoud Abdel Sayed.
"The Vagabonds" [1985], dir. Daoud Abdel Sayed.
"A Veiled Revolution" [1982], dir. Marilyn Gaunt, 26m. From First Run/Icarus. On why some modern Egyptian women decided to return to wearing traditional clothing.
"Violets are Blue" [1992], dir. Radwan Al-Kashef, 120m. Dreams & friendship amidst urban poverty.
"Women in the Arab world l. Egypt: To Live with the Differences" [1996], dir. Froukje Bos, 25 m. From Filmakers Library. Saudi anthropologist Soraya Altorki of American U. in Cairo, discusses her fears regarding Islamic fundamentalism & the roles of women.