Zaat

"I chose this novel, which was written originally in Arabic in the early 1990s, because I think Sonallah Ibrahim is one of the greatest novelists of his generation in Egypt. This isn’t necessarily his best book but not all of them are available in English. Zaat is a book that captures the suffocating nature of the Mubarak regime, and not just in the last few years when everyone was complaining but way back in the 1980s and 1990s. He writes a chapter in traditional narrative format and then he will often have newspaper clippings and little reports from contemporary radio or TV which he transcribes. It really gives you a picture of a society that is quite compelling. Sonallah Ibrahim is worth mentioning because of the symbolic role he played in the recent uprising in Egypt. In 2002 he was awarded a major award by the ministry of culture in Egypt, and when he came up to the podium to accept it he gave an impassioned speech refusing the award, and saying that the government lacked the moral authority to give it to him. All the pro-government intellectuals attacked him, but the people on his side cheered him. And it was one of the moments during the last decade when people started to speak out against the Mubarak regime. He played an important role in this becoming a more acceptable thing for people to do. Sonallah Ibrahim is good at highlighting what the situation is like for many women. Women tend to be more oppressed than men in many parts of Arab society. I think this is one of the issues that is being worked out at the moment. Women played some very important roles in the revolution, despite the cultural taboo of mingling with men. For example, they spent the night in Tahrir Square [in central Cairo] and this was criticised by the regime who brought out propaganda against them, saying there were sex parties taking place. They tried to use the idea that it was inappropriate for women to be out by themselves to stop women going there. “Women played some very important roles in the revolution, despite the cultural taboo of mingling with men.” I think that this is one thing that is changing. We are seeing women speaking out more strongly for themselves on various issues. But many women are concerned there will be a backlash and things will get worse for them because the situation in Egypt still isn’t stable, and conservatives and Islamists are a major political force. The Mubarak regime used a very superficial progressive policy for women to give a positive image of itself to the West. But, frankly, if you don’t have decent human rights generally, you don’t have real women’s rights either."