Thursday, October 22, 2015

Gamal al-Ghitani, Egyptian Novelist With a Political Bent








Photo

Gamal al-Ghitani in an undated photograph. CreditPoklekowski/ullstein bild, via Getty Images

Gamal al-Ghitani, a former carpet designer who switched careers to become one of Egypt’s most acclaimed novelists, died on Sunday in Cairo. He was 70.





He had been in a coma at a hospital since being admitted in mid-August with heart and respiratory problems, the state news agency said.
Mr. Ghitani, whose work was frequently published in English translations, was most famous for his 1974 novel “Zayni Barakat,” a scorching allegorical critique of totalitarianism in which a ruthless Egyptian leader’s legitimacy is challenged.
While it was set in the 16th-century Mamluk era, there was little doubt that the novel was a critique of the authoritarian regime of President Gamal Abdel Nasser, who in 1966 had Mr. Ghitani jailed for five months for his public dissent.
Because he opposed Islamic fundamentalists, including the banned Muslim Brotherhood, Mr. Ghitani sometimes found himself endorsing alternatives that might not otherwise have been palatable. He firmly supported the army since the fall of Hosni Mubarak in 2011 and defended its ouster of Mohammed Morsi, the Islamist president, in 2013, despite repressive measures that followed.
After a series of terrorist attacks in Cairo in 1993, he explained: “In the battle between a religious extremism and terrorism seeking to bring down a corrupt and basically repressive government, the choice for many of us, lamentable though it may be, is to side with army and regime.”
But as a writer and editor he was also a fervent defender of artistic freedom.
When an Egyptian court found a novel by Alla Hamed blasphemous to Islam in 1992 and sentenced the author to prison, provoking international protests, Mr. Ghitani dismissed the book, “The Distance in a Man’s Mind,” as mediocre, but said: “We cannot allow religious authorities to censor our creative and intellectual work. I am not defending Mr. Hamed now; I am defending myself.”
And in 1994, when a member of Parliament criticized the reproduction of a Gustav Klimt painting of Adam and Eve in a publication that Mr. Ghitani edited, he responded: “Unless every owner of a pen or a brush and every innovator stands up to such attacks, no one will be able to write a word, compose a tune or paint a color.”
In 2006, when Egypt’s leading Islamic jurist declared that exhibiting statues at home was forbidden, Mr. Ghitani declared, “It’s time for those placing impediments between Islam and innovation to get out of our lives.”
Gamal al-Ghitani was born to a poor family in the town of Guhayna in the upper Egypt governate of Sohag on May 9, 1945. He grew up in Cairo, was apprenticed to a carpet maker and studied Oriental carpet design at the College of Arts and Crafts.
Writing was in his heart, though. His first short story was published when he was 14. In 1969, he joined the staff of the newspaper Akhbar al-Youm and was a correspondent during the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.
He founded Akhbar al-Adab, a leading literary magazine, in 1993 and was its editor until 2011. He wrote more than a dozen novels, including “The Zafarani Files,” “Pyramid Texts,” “The Book of Epiphanies” and “The Book of Revelations,” as well as short story collections.
He also published “The Mahfouz Dialogs,” a collection of recorded conversations that the novelist Naguib Mahfouz, a Nobel laureate, had with friends over a half-century.
In 2013, Mr. Ghitani was a visiting professor at the Mellon Islamic Studies Initiative at the University of Chicago.
Prime Minister Sherif Ismail praised him this week for “enriching literature with his unique style, intelligence and broad vision.”
This year, Mr. Ghitani received the Nile Award, Egypt’s top literary state honor, after having won the French Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, the Egyptian National Prize for Literature and the Sheikh Zayed Book Award for his novel “Ren.”
“A writer of great stature and originality hardly paralleled in modern Arabic,” Salma Khadra Jayyusi wrote in “Modern Arab Fiction: An Anthology,” “his style is rooted in the Arabic literary tradition, and he has successfully attempted to reintroduce the old Arabic ‘tale’ form, in contradiction to other writers who model their fiction on Western styles.”
Humphrey Davies, who translated several of Mr. Ghitani’s books into English, once described Mr. Ghitani’s writing as rooted in “the history of Arabic literature but also areas such as Sufism and magic.”
Survivors include his wife, Magda El Guindy, editor of a children’s magazine; and two children, Magda and Mohammad.
In “Zayni Barakat,” his parable about Egypt under President Nasser, Mr. Ghitani, though describing his country in the 16th century, clearly despaired of what had become of it in the 20th.
“These days the whole of Egypt is in an uproar,” the narrator says. “This is a Cairo I don’t recognize.” The city, he goes on, “looks like an invalid on the point of bursting into tears.”
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Gamal el-Ghitani, (Arabicجمال الغيطانى‎, IPA: [ɡæˈmæːl el ɣeˈtˤɑːni]; 9 May 1945 – 18 October 2015) was an Egyptian author of historical and political novels and cultural and political commentaries and was the editor-in-chief of the literary periodical Akhbar Al-Adab ("Cultural News") till 2011.

Life and works[edit]

Gamal El-Ghitani was born in Guhayna, Sohag Governorate in Upper Egypt and moved with his family to Cairo as a child. He began writing at a young age and had his first short story published when he was only 14. He was originally trained to be a carpet designer and received his diploma in 1962. He continued to write on the side and was imprisoned from October 1966 through March 1967 for his critical commentary on the regime of Gamal Abd el-Nasser. In 1969 he switched careers and became a journalist for the Egyptian newspaper Akhbar El Yom ("The Day's News").[1]
After becoming a journalist, el-Ghitani continued to write historical fiction, and many of his stories are set in Cairo. He also wrote about many cultural and political topics, notably the level of censorship in modern-day Egypt. In an effort to help promote the Arab literary culture, he helped found the literary magazine "Gallery 68".
In 1980, he was awarded with the Egyptian National Prize for Literature, and in 1987, the French Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 1985, he became editor-in-chief of Al Akhbar ("The News")[1] and continued to be a contributing editor to Akhbar El-Yom's literary section. From 1993 to 2011, he was the editor-in-chief of Akhbar Al-Adab, one of Egypt's primary literary magazines.[1] In 2005, he won a French Award for translated literature "Laure Bataillon", one of the highest French awards to be bestowed upon non-French writers. He was entitled for this award due to his giant work "Kitâb al-Tagalliyyât" or "Book of Illuminations". In 2009, he was awarded theSheikh Zayed Book Award for Ren, the award is worth about $200,000 and is one of the world's richest literary awards.
Gamal El-Ghitani was married to the Egyptian journalist Magda El-Guindy, editor-in-chief of Al-Ahram's children's magazine "Alaaeddin". He has a son, Mohammad, and a daughter, Magda. He died on 18 October 2015 at the El Galaa Hospital For Armed Forces Officers Families in Cairo.[2]

Bibliography[edit]

  • Awraq Shab ‘Asha mundhu Alf ‘Am, 1969
  • Ard .. Ard, 1972.
  • Zayni Barakat, 1974.
  • Al-Hisar min Thalath Gihat, 1975.
  • Hikayat el-Gharib, 1976.
  • Waqi'i' Harat al-Za'farani, 1976.
  • al-Rifai, 1977.
  • Dhikr ma Jara, 1978.
  • Khitat al-Ghitani, 1980.
  • Ketab Al Tagaliyat (3 volumes), 1983–1986.
  • Muntasaf Layl al-Ghurba, 1984.
  • Ahrash al-Madina, 1985.
  • Ithaf aI-Zaman bi-Hikayat Jalbi al-Sultan, 1985.
  • Risala min al-Sababa wal Wagd, 1988.
  • Shath al-Madina, 1990.
  • Risilat al-Basi'ir fi al-Masi'ir, 1989.
  • Thimar al Waqt,1990.
  • Asfar al-Asfar, 1992.
  • Asfar al-Mushtaq, 1992.
  • Ha-tif al-Maghib, 1992.
  • Min Daftar al-'Ishq wal-Ghurba, 1993.
  • Naftha Masdur, 1993.
  • Mutun Al- Ahram, 1994.
  • Shatf al-Nar, 1996.
  • Hikayat Al Mo'asasa, 1997.
  • Al Zowail, 2006
  • Rinn, 2008

___________________________________________________________________________________

Gamal el-Ghitani, (Arabic: جمال الغيطانى‎, b. May  9, 1945 –  d. October 18, 2015) was an Egyptian author of historical and political novels and cultural and political commentaries and was the editor-in-chief of the literary periodical Akhbar Al-Adab ("Cultural News") until 2011.

Gamal El-Ghitani was born in Guhayna, Sohag Governorate in Upper Egypt and moved with his family to Cairo as a child. He began writing at a young age and had his first short story published when he was only 14. He was originally trained to be a carpet designer and received his diploma in 1962. He continued to write on the side and was imprisoned from October 1966 through March 1967 for his critical commentary on the regime of  Gamal Abd el-Nasser.  In 1969, he switched careers and became a journalist for the Egyptian newspaper Akhbar El Yom ("The Day's News").

After becoming a journalist, el-Ghitani continued to write historical fiction, and many of his stories are set in Cairo. He also wrote about many cultural and political topics, notably the level of censorship in modern-day Egypt. In an effort to help promote the Arab literary culture, he helped found the literary magazine "Gallery 68".

In 1980, he was awarded with the Egyptian National Prize for Literature, and in 1987, the French Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.  In 1985, he became editor-in-chief of Al Akhbar ("The News") and continued to be a contributing editor to Akhbar El-Yom's literary section. From 1993 to 2011, he was the editor-in-chief of Akhbar Al-Adab, one of Egypt's primary literary magazines. In 2005, he won a French Award for translated literature "Laure Bataillon", one of the highest French awards to be bestowed upon non-French writers. He was earned this award for his giant work "Kitâb al-Tagalliyyât" or "Book of Illuminations". In 2009, he was awarded the Sheikh Zayed Book Award for Ren, the award is worth about $200,000 and is one of the world's richest literary awards. 


Gamal El-Ghitani was married to the Egyptian journalist Magda El-Guindy, editor-in-chief of Al-Ahram's children's magazine "Alaaeddin". He died on October 18, 2015 at the El Galaa Hospital For Armed Forces Officers Families in Cairo.

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