Necîp Mahfûz, Abdurrahmânn eş- Şarkâvî ve Alâ el Asvânî’nin Eserleri Işığında Mısır Romanında Hür Subaylar Devrimi ve Totaliter Rejim Eleştirisi
Mısır edebiyatında hayatın güncesini tutan roman sanatı toplumsal yapıya içkin şekillenmiş, modern nesrin ayak sesleri kabul edilen ilk örneklerinden itibaren siyasi ve sosyal yapıyı şekillendirme görevini üstlenmiştir. Batılılaşmanın getirdiği sorunlara cevap arayan ilk dönem romanlar, yerini ulusal bağımsızlık temasını konu edinen eserlere bırakmış, Mısır’ın yerel yöneticilerine kavuştuğu tarih olan 1952 devriminden sonra demokratik yaşam romanın ana temasını oluşturmuştur. Toprak reformu ve ücretsiz eğitim gibi birtakım reformlar nedeniyle entelektüel camianın alkışlarla karşıladığı askeri devrim, bir müddet sonra teokrasiye evrilmiş, bıraktığı miras, günümüz Mısır siyasi hayatında da etkili olmaya devam etmiştir. Jurnal ve tutuklamaların korku saldığı söz konusu dönemde roman yazarları genel olarak siyasetten uzak durmuş bireyin ya da toplumun tekamülüyle meşgul olmuştur. Bu dönemde siyasi gündemi konu edinen yazarlardan Abdurrahman eş- Şarkâvî devrimin gerçekleştirdiği reformları büyük bir heyecanla karşıladığı Fellâh (Çiftçi fellah1967) adlı romanda olumsuzluklara bahane bulmaya çalışırken Necîp Mahfûz yazdığı sembolik romanlarla iktidarı eleştirmiştir. Günümüzde Mısır siyasi tarihini sorunsallaştıran Alâ el-Asvânî yine devrim hakkında yüksek sesle fikir beyan eden ender yazarlar arasındadır. Çalışma, söz konusu dönemi adı geçen üç yazar üzerinden ele almış ve Mısır siyasi hayatına miras kalan istibdat konusunun romanlarda nasıl yer aldığına işaret etmiştir.
Free Officers’ Revolution and the Criticism of the Totalitarian Regime in the Egyptian Novel Under the Light of the Works of Naguip Mahfouz, Abd al-Rahman Sharqawi, and Alaa Al Aswany
In Egyptian literature, the art of novel that records the dairy of life has been formed by social life, and since its early examples, which are accepted as the first steps of modern prose, it has undertaken such a duty to shape social and political structure. Pieces with a national independence theme substitute for the early novels, which were trying to find answers to the problems occurred by westernization, after Egypt retrieve its native rulers with the 1952 revolution, democratic life became the main theme of the novels. The revolution that was welcomed by society due to reforms such as land reform and free education evolved theocracy after some time, and its legacy kept influencing Egypt’s present political life. At a time when denouncements and arrestments spread fear, novel writers generally avoided politics and were occupied with improvements in individuals or society. In that period, while Naguip Mahfouz was criticizing the regime with his symbolic novels Abd al-Rahman Sharqawi, who was crossing the line of politics, was trying to find excuses for the existing problems with his novel “Fellah” which was greeting reforms with great excitement. Alaa Al Aswany, who contemporarily problematized Egypt’s political history, was also among the few writers who out loudly expressed their opinions about the revolution. This study will examine the period mentioned by these three writers and point out how the issue of autocracy, which became a legacy in Egyptian politics, found place in their novels.
Since its early examples, the art of the novel has been an effective way to form the social structure of the country. The westernization of Egypt began with Napoleon’s invasion in 1798. Since then, student groups have visited Western countries, and the question of “how to Westernize” has occurred when they wanted to create a similar cultural environment and modern instruments that they witnessed in the countries they visited. Therefore, the problematics of early Egyptian novels are polygamy, choosing a partner, superstitions, stratification and the disturbance caused by imported laws. The partial freedom gained against Britain in 1919 created a space to discuss these issues.
The 1936 revolution, which occurred with the participation of a large part of the population as a result of the abrogation of the constitution proclaimed in 1923 and the oppression of the farmers, especially in the countryside, by the Ismail Sıdkî Pasha government, which ruled the country with an iron fist between 1932-33, was among the problematics of the second period novelists and their works, which were encouraging the society to demand their rights and freedoms.
In 1952, Abd al-Nasser, the symbol of the Free Officers Revolution, was determined not to share his power with anyone else. To make society forget the defeat in the Egypt-Israel war (1948), he made an unsuccessful incursion into the Israeli territories, and he suppressed opposition.
After Egypt had local rulers for the first time, the government, which had initially gained the support of all segments of the public with social justice-based reforms, evolved into an authoritarian regime, and intellectuals, who had remained silent for a while, were arrested when they criticized the government in the essays they wrote.
Until the Free Officers Revolution, when Egypt regained its native rulers, the two prominent names in political criticism were Abd al-Rahman Sharqawi (1920-1987) and Naguib Mahfouz (1911-2006). The 1952 revolution was welcomed with great enthusiasm in all segments of society, but after a while, it evolved into a totalitarian structure and was again criticized by the two authors. While Sharqawi examined the positive and negative sides of the revolution in his novel “Fellah” (Farmer, 1967), Mahfuz criticized the period of time in his novels “Sersere fevka’n-Nîl” (Chat on Nile, 1966) and “el-Kernek” (Karnak Cafe, 1974). Aswany, who problematized the social and political life of Egypt in the twenty-first century, criticized the authoritarian attitude of Abd al-Nasser, who came to power with the 1952 revolution, in his novel al-Ashjaru Temshi fi al-Alexandria (The Trees are Walking in Alexandria, 2024)
Fellâh (Farmer ,1967)
When the revolution of 1952 took place, Sharqawi, who strived for Egypt’s independence through his realistic novels and played an important role in structuring society, welcomed the revolution with great joy, but he did not hesitate to criticize its negative aspects. In his last novel, Fellâh, the author, who was arrested several times for his writings, noted positive changes after the revolution, such as the sharing of agricultural lands, the spread of education in the countryside, and the access of farmers to machinery through agricultural cooperatives. However, he also did not refrain from criticizing those who abused their positions in the socialist structure.
Sersera fevka’n- Nîl (Chat on Nile, 1966)
After the 1952 revolution, Naguib Mahfouz remained silent for a while and then continued to criticize the government through his symbolic novels. In this novel, which is one of Mahfouz’s symbolic works, Mahfouz depicts the conversations of a group of middle-class individuals (officers, lawyers, journalists, producers, writers) who call themselves ‘the nation’ and come together in a floating house on the Nile. Drugs, which were an integral part of these conversations, distanced them both from the daily agenda and from themselves, and they preferred to stay outside the world that does not make any sense for them.
The illegitimate behavior of this group of intellectuals reflects their disappointment with the Egyptian agenda and their struggle against the meaningless. “They talked about values that gave meaning to life.” They accepted that these values had disappeared and would never return. So now, what are we going to build a life on?”
Al- Karnak (Karnak Cafe; 1974)
Mahfouz’s novel al-Kernek is an open criticism of the Nasser era, which was known for its abuse of power and violence to intimidate the opposition. In this novel, he tells the story of three students, Isma’il al-Sheikh, Hilmi Hamadeh and Zainab Deeyyap, who were arrested and released several times in a cafe run by a former singer and a meeting place for various segments of the public. Each time they were arrested, they became somewhat detached from life. In the novel, the youngsters who tried to keep their faith in the revolution eventually lost their hope, and these experiences became the beginning of authoritarian regimes in Egypt.
al-Ashjaru Temshi fi al-Alexandria (The Trees are Walking in Alexandria, 2024)
As an important figure in 21st-century Egyptian literature, Ala al-Aswany has assumed an important responsibility in both criticizing and shaping the Egyptian social structure through his realistic novels. In his novel al-Ashjaru Temshi fi al-Alexandria (The Trees are Walking in Alexandria, 2024), written in 2024, the author, who aimed at political criticism in his works, problematized the oppression, espionage, and arrests experienced by former foreigners who later made Egypt their home after the revolution and dealt with the confiscation of their properties during the process of nationalization.
On the one hand, people who have not lost faith in the revolution and find fault in individuals but not in the regime, and on the other hand, victims of the regime who became desperate over time. The art of the novel, which is a good source of data for sociology, has been a good opportunity to interpret the ongoing problem in the Middle East from the specific to the general with this phenomenon it problematize.
