The Construct of Egypt's National-Self in James Sanua's Early Satire and Caricature

330 Pages·2012·42.094 MB·English

by  Eliane Ursula Ettmüller

Eliane Ursula Ettmüller
The Construct of Egypt's National-Self
Studien zum Modernen Orient
herausgegeben
von Gerd Winkelhane
Studien zum Modernen Orient 22
Eliane Ursula Ettmüller
The Construct of Egypt's National-Self
in James Sanua's Early Satire & Caricature
Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Bibliothek
Die Deutsche Bibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der
Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten
sind im Internet über http://dnb.ddb.de abrufbar.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
http://www.bl.uk
Library of Congress control number available
http://www.loc.gov
Cover page: John Bull vs. the Egyptian peasant,
Le Journal d’Abou Naddara, Cover-page of the annual collection
of the year 1896, published at the beginning of 1897
www.klaus-schwarz-verlag.com
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or
other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
© 2012 by Klaus Schwarz Verlag GmbH
First edition
Producer: J2P Berlin
Printed in Germany on chlorine-free bleached paper
ISBN 978-3-87997-411-5
Dedicated to my grandfather Otto Spiess
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements....................................................................................................9
1 Transliteration..............................................................................................12
2 Footnotes and Abbreviations.....................................................................14
3 Introduction..................................................................................................15
4 The Self against the Other.........................................................................23
4.1 Nationalism as a Political Force in the Modern States
Building Process..........................................................................................27
4.2 The Early Construction of an Egyptian Self-Consciousness...............33
5 Yaʿqub Ṣannuʿ .............................................................................................43
5.1 The ‘Egyptian Molière’...............................................................................44
5.2 The Freemason.............................................................................................58
5.3 The Journalist...............................................................................................69
6 Content Analysis of Sanua’s Journals until the Beginning
of the ʿUrābī Revolution.............................................................................79
6.1 Abu Naẓẓāra Zarqā (25 March 1878–18 May 1878)................................80
6.1.1 The Letter (risala)........................................................................................84
6.1.2 The Dialogue (muḥawara).........................................................................86
6.1.3 The Fable, the Odd Tale or the First Versions of the
‘Extraordinary Dialogue’ (nadira)...........................................................94
6.1.4 The Song (dor)..............................................................................................98
6.1.5 The Theater Play (laʿba tiyatriya)............................................................99
6.1.6 Conclusions.................................................................................................101
6.2 Rihlat Abī Naẓẓāra min Misr al-Qāhira ilā Pārīz al-Fākhira
(7 August 1878–13 March 1879)..............................................................103
6.2.1 The Drawing (rism)...................................................................................105
6.2.2 The Letter (risala) .....................................................................................113
6.2.3 The Dialogue (muḥawara).......................................................................115
6.2.4 The Extraordinary Dialogue....................................................................117
6.2.5 The Session (jalsa).....................................................................................119
6.2.6 The Play (laʿba)..........................................................................................121
6.2.7 Conclusions.................................................................................................124
6.3 Abu Naẓẓāra Zarqā (21 March 1879–approx. 16 December 1879)......127
6.3.1 The Drawing (rism)...................................................................................128
6.3.2 The Letter (risala) or Correspondence (murasalat)............................137
6.3.3 The Foreign Press......................................................................................142
6.3.4 The Political Pamphlet..............................................................................144
6.3.5 The Dialogue (muhāwara).......................................................................147
6.3.6 The Extraordinary Dialogue....................................................................154
6.3.7 The Session (jalsa).....................................................................................158
6.3.8 The Parody (nadira barūdiya)................................................................162
6.3.9 The Play (laʿba)..........................................................................................162
6.3.10 Conclusions.................................................................................................165
6.4 An-Naẓẓārāt al-Misrīya (16 September 1879–6 March 1880) ...........167
6.4.1 The Drawing (rism)...................................................................................171
6.4.2 The Letter (risala) or Correspondence (murasalat)............................176
6.4.3 The Political Pamphlet..............................................................................181
6.4.4 The Maqāma...............................................................................................183
6.4.5 The Story (qiṣṣa)........................................................................................184
6.4.6 The Dirge (marathi)..................................................................................186
6.4.7 The Dialogue (muḥawara).......................................................................188
6.4.8 The Extraordinary Dialogue....................................................................193
6.4.9 The Session (jalsa).....................................................................................196
6.4.10 The Play (laʿba) .........................................................................................201
6.4.11 Conclusions.................................................................................................205
6.5 Abu Ṣuffāra / Le Flutiste (4 June 1880–20 June 1880)..........................208
6.5.1 The Drawing (rism)...................................................................................211
6.5.2 The Letter (risala) or Correspondence (murasalat)............................212
6.5.3 The Article..................................................................................................214
6.5.4 The Political Pamphlet..............................................................................215
6.5.5 The Story (nadira).....................................................................................217
6.5.6 The Dialogue (muḥawara).......................................................................218
6.5.7 Conclusions.................................................................................................219
6.6 Abu Zammāra / La Clarinette (17 July 1880–27 August 1880)............220
6.6.1 The Drawing (rism)...................................................................................223
6.6.2 The Article..................................................................................................225
6.6.3 The Parade (zaffa).....................................................................................226
6.6.4 The Dialogue (muḥawara).......................................................................227
6.6.5 Conclusions.................................................................................................228
6.7 Al-Ḥāwī / Le Charmeur (22 September 1880–25 March 1881)............229
6.7.1 The Drawing (rism)...................................................................................232
6.7.2 The letter (risala).......................................................................................235
6.7.3 The News (akhbar / ḥawadith)...............................................................236
6.7.4 Freedom Square (Mēdan al-Ḥurriya)....................................................238
6.7.5 The Frame Narration: ‘The Charmer Said’ (qala l-Ḥawi)...................239
6.7.6 The Dramatized Story...............................................................................242
6.7.7 The Dialogue (mukhataba)......................................................................245
6.7.8 Conclusions.................................................................................................247
6.8 Abu Naẓẓāra Lisān Ḥā̄l al-Umma l-Miṣrīya l(cid:128)a(cid:129)(cid:129)l al-Umma l-Misrīya l-Ḥurra /
Abou-Naddara Organe de la Jeunesse d’Egypte
(End of April 1881–30 December 1881).................................................249
6.8.1 The Drawing (rism)...................................................................................252
6.8.2 The Letter (risala)......................................................................................256
6.8.3 The Political Prophecy (qala sh-shaykh abū naẓẓara).......................257
6.8.4 Confused Dreams (aḍghath aḥlam).......................................................263
6.8.5 The Dialogue (mukhataba)......................................................................264
6.8.6 Conclusions.................................................................................................269
7 Final Conclusions......................................................................................271
7.1 The Inner Hostis........................................................................................275
7.2 The Outer Hostis.......................................................................................278
7.3 The Inner Socius........................................................................................280
7.4 The Outer Socius.......................................................................................284
7.5 Abu Naẓẓāra, Sanua’s Spokesman for the Construction
of an Egyptian National Identity............................................................286
7.6 The Construct of a National-Self ..........................................................292
Bibliography............................................................................................................294
Appendix: Concise List of Sanua’s Journals
from March 1878 until December 1881 .................................................305
Acknowledgements
At the beginning of my PhD candidacy, I told a colleague in Spain that
writing a doctoral thesis seemed to be a very lonely process. I told him
that I expected it to be like a coming-of-age tribal ritual akin to hunting a
tiger in the forest. But I was proven wrong: working on my PhD, instead
of being lonely, has brought me into contact with, and has required a
phenomenal amount of team effort from, colleagues, fellow scholars,
friends and my family — without them, the culmination of this disserta-
tion would not have been possible. If I were to invoke an image of their
help, it would look like a chain of pearl shaped lights illuminating my
feet as I walked. It is a pleasure to acknowledge each of them here.
First of all I would like to thank my PhD supervisors. Prof. Dr.
Susanne Enderwitz patiently led me into the field of Islamic Studies and
supported all of my projects during my work for the Cluster of Excel-
lence at Heidelberg University. She always encouraged me to do more.
Prof. Dr. Marilyn Booth firstly inspired me through her work, which
pushed me to search further the Egyptian archives, and to ask more ques-
tions about Egyptian colloquial writing. I am, therefore, extremely grate-
ful to have been given the opportunity to work closely with her.
I am also indebted to Prof. Dr. Hans Harder who led the Project,
Gauging Cultural Asymmetries: Asian Satire and the Search for Identity
in the Era of Colonialism and Imperialism, of which I was a member for
three years. I am very thankful for his support of all of my academic en-
deavors at the Cluster of Excellence, and for opening my mind to satire
within a transcultural frame.
At the Cluster of Excellence and Heidelberg University, I had the
pleasure to become acquainted with Prof. Dr. Ursinus and Dr. Heinzel-
mann, who have helped me by introducing me to Ottoman Satirical
Magazines. My colleague Elif Elmas patiently answered my questions
about Turkish-Ottoman expressions. I am grateful to her as well.
I would like to thank all of my Project B1 colleagues. Prabhat Kumar,
Chaiti Basu, Swarali Paranjape, Iwei Wu and Sonja Hotwager: thank you
all for creating an inspiring and engaging work atmosphere. I would also
9
like to highly acknowledge the assistance of Nina Sassani, who contrib-
uted enormously to the elaboration of the lists of Sanua’s publications in
this volume. Together with Johannes Alisch and Florian Kempf she was
also part of the subproject funded by the Cluster of Excellence and de-
signed by Matthias Arnold and me that established a website to make
Sanua's complete works available for researchers all over the world
(http://kjc-fs1.kjc.uni-heidelberg.de:8080/exist/apps/naddara/index.html).
Many thanks to all of them.
In this context I am deeply indebted to Mrs Eva Milhaud for her trust
in me and her help. She made it possible for me to consult with Sanua’s
original scripts which are still in possession of her family.
In Egypt, I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Randa Abou-Bakr from Cairo
University for her constant support through the most ‘revolutionary’
phase of my Ph.D. Prof. Dr. Nagua Anous from the Universitiy of Zaqāz-
iq painstakingly led me through the difficult parts of Sanua’s handwrit-
ing and discussed his theater plays with me. Dr. Nabil Bahgat from Hil-
wān University gave me constant support for finding secondary literat-
ure. We also had long discussions about the status of Sanua’s work in the
area of Egyptian drama. Dr. Riham Salem from the Azhar University in-
troduced me to the Egyptian archives as well as to important sides of
Egyptian folk culture. For aid and hints in matters of translation, I espe-
cially thank her as well as my colleagues form the Cluster of Excellence
and Cairo University, Julten Abdelhalim and Azza Khalfat. I would also
like to thank ʿAhmad ʿAbd an-Naʿim, Mohamed Abla and Christina Abla
for introducing me, on different levels, to the area of Egyptian caricature.
In Spain, I was given the opportunity to work in the Department for
Political Theory at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid with a Schol-
arship (Beca para la Formación de Profesorado Universitario) under the
tutelage of Prof. Dr. Joaquín Abellán who welcomed me to the Spanish
Academia. Prof. Dr. Marta García, Prof. Dr. Javier Franzé, Dr. Miguel-
Angel Simón and Dr. Juan Luis Conde constantly included me into their
academic discussions. Prof. Dr. Santiago Petschen firstly opened my in-
terest for the interconnection of religion and politics.
I thank Prof. Dr. Waleed Saleh from the Universidad Autónoma who,
right from the beginning of my research in Egypt, always supported my
10