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The aimof the article is to describe Nadine Gordimer's political development in the late 1950s by analysing her travel essay "Egypt Revisited" (1959) and her short story "A Thing of the Past" (1959). In the first part of the article, Gordimer's political stance is explained in reference to her non-fictional texts. It is argued that in the late 1950s Gordimer was torn between her liberal humanist belief in multiracialism and the awareness that this stance was becoming increasingly untenable in the changing historical circumstances. Her journey to Egypt in 1959 gave her a valuable opportunity to consider her political convictions in thewider context of the decolonization processes happening on the African continent. What is clear both in "Egypt Revisited" and "A Thing of the Past"--a short story inspired by her visit to Egypt--is her desire to transcend the colonial perspective by distancing herself fromher racial and social origins. These texts also convey her belief that the decolonization processes in African countries force the white inhabitants of the continent to redefine themselves so that they can remain politically relevant in the new reality. This belief would become the basis of the political and artistic theories that she developed in the decades to follow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Journal of Oriental Studies / Sarkiyat Mecmuasi is the property of Istanbul Universitesi Edebiyat Fakultesi and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Although part of it is set in Egypt, the Tale of Ahiqar makes little mention of specific Egyptian realia. In adapting Ahiqar for his own narrative, the author of the Vita Aesopi added many details of Egyptian local colour. The priests of Heliopolis, invited by the Pharaoh to challenge Aesop with the ''riddle of the year'' (chapters 119--120), are such an addition. The Pharaoh's consultation with this group of counsellors in face of a critical situation imitates a well-known motif of ancient Egyptian narratives. Heliopolis was selected as the priests' city of provenance because it was renowned for the erudition of its priesthood. There are also subtle correspondences between the religious life or theology of Heliopolis and the riddle propounded by its priests. This wealth of Egyptian topical elements indicates that the author of the Vita had close familiarity with Egyptian culture and presumably a special relationship with Egypt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the importance of print in children's religious literature in Egypt. Information on new textual forms used in religious textbooks and examinations in schools; Benefits from the production of these new textual forms; Ways in which Muslims produce and communicate their understandings of the Islamic heritage; Techniques used in Egypt to translate traditional genres of sacred text into forms suitable for mass consumption.

With a rich, productive career spanning over 60 years, culminating in the award of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988, Naguib Mahfouz's literary works have naturally attracted numerous studies and critiques. These studies have covered a great many aspects of Mahfouz's creative writing, but, perhaps because of the secular, modern education Mahfouz received (both at school and in the Department of Philosophy in Cairo University), and his personal lifestyle, they have concentrated on the socialist, materialist, and structural aspects of his work. Perhaps because of this, one important aspect of his writing has largely escaped attention: his artistic use of the language of the Qur'an. Mahfouz does not signal that a given phrase or reference is Qur'anic, leaving it to blend with the text, and making it easy to miss the fact that the Qur'an played any part in Mahfouz's use of language. However, to a reader who knows the Qur'an by heart the presence of Qur'anic language in his works is obvious, and equally obvious is Mahfouz's artistic talent in using it. Eventually, he himself announced at the end of his life that he had always had an intimate interest in the Qur'an, read it daily, and benefited from it. This article seeks to demonstrate the ubiquitous presence of Qur'anic language in Mahfouz's works, and the skill and subtlety with which he used it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]