Alaa+Al+Aswany,+The+Yacoubian+Building+(2002)

The Yacoubian Building is a novel about the citizens of Egypt and the struggles they had to endure and adapt through. Which were caused by corrupt politicians and the effects of religion on peoples life's. Very many things came into play in this book, leaving no sensitive topic untouched. Homosexuality, prostitution, pedophilia, and anything else that is considered taboo was used in this novel to but a real emphasize on how desperate the people in this book were to do what had to be done for them and their loved ones to survive.The author used a large amount of characters to portray his thoughts across to his audience, making sure he had more than enough to work with to touch all the controversial topics.

Forum Assignment
The Yacoubian Building wiki page Novel 3-245 Write 300-500 words Part A) After reading through the novel and seeing how provocative the novel is, conjure a guess as to why you think the author wrote the novel this way and what was he trying to accomplish from provoking the reader? Include two quotes from the novel to support this claim. Part B) As the author included very many sensitive topics in this book, In what ways did this novel provoke you as the reader?

Biographical Info
Alaa Al Aswany, born May 26, 1957. Alaa is a Egyptian writer and a founding member of the political movement "Kefaya". His mother, Zainab, came from an aristocratic family; her uncle was a Pasha and Minister of Education before the Egyptian Revolution. His father, Abbas Al-Aswany, was from Aswan and was a lawyer and writer who “is remembered as being a captivating and charismatic speaker with a broad following and loyalty within a cross-section of the Egyptian revolutionary intelligentsia”. Abbas Al-Aswany wrote a regular back-page essay in the Egyptian weekly magazine entitled //Aswaaniyat//In 1972, he was “the recipient of the state award for literature". He died when Alaa was only nineteen years old. Aswany attended Le Lycée Français in Cairo and received a bachelor's degree in dental and oral medicine at Cairo University in 1980. He went on to pursue a master's degree in dentistry at the University of Illinois in 1985. He speaks Arabic, English, French and Spanish, he also studied Spanish literature in Madrid for short time. Al-Aswany was in Tahrir square each of the 18 days before Mubarak fell from power. In fact, he was one of the few prominent faces of the leaderless revolution. Following Mubarak's resignation, Alaa Al-Aswany confronted the Mubarak-appointed Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik on an Egyptian Channel. Shafik lost his temper under persistent grilling by the novelist and it was the first time for Egyptians to witness a ruler dressed down so severely by a civilian in public. Consequently, it is said that Shafik was fired by the SCAF.

"I wrote the words "the people" many times in my articles and in my novels. But the first time I felt I knew the meaning of "the people" was during the revolution.I had many prestigious awards in literature, but I would say that the biggest award I had was during the revolution. I met young protesters who said to me, "We are here because of what you wrote," and I was really honored by that." - Alaa Al Aswany (at one of many of the protests in Egypt) Works Cited "100 Top Global Thinkers." //Foreign Policy// 190 (2011): 34-108. //Academic Search Premier//. Web. 2 Mar. 2014.

Literary Criticism
This novel has been under heavy criticism since it was published in 2002. One of the main points that it has been criticized is the homosexuality in the novel. Along with the passion that is intertwined in the novel. Due to the intolerance of the behavior that Alaa Al Aswany has his characters go through. In which in the United States is not a problem and is widely accepted. Although in different country's behavior such as this is unacceptable and seen in great disgust. Which can be even punishable by death and other extreme punishments that are inhumane. These are the country's that this novel has been highly criticized and Egypt has especially criticized the novel. Due to the fact that they think that in there opinion the novel puts a negative light on Egypt. Which is not unnecessarily true but that is the point of novel to point out the injustices that groups of people are having to endure. Along with the country's that this novel could potentially represent. Ala Al Aswany fully well knew this in which he saw just the more reason to write this novel. With the full understanding that this novel would cause the uproar that it did.

Historical & Political Context


** Egyptian ant-government potestors celebrate at Cairo's Tahrir square **

Yacoubian Building can be considered a strategic move on behalf of a regime that is hard pressed to implement political reforms or open up windows for freedom of speech and expression, even cosmetically or through foreign pressure. The tactical calculation that the füm could provide a harmless safety valve for a frustrated populace, while proving the government's commitment to protecting and enhancing freedoms, has backfired. Ironically, the scenes of pohce brutality and excesses can be read as precursors of YouTube videos of torture that mobihzed people toward the January 25 uprising. Ir other words, these issues were being discussed in pubhc forums beforehand. This becomes particularly clear when one examines the YouTube video taken by a ceU-phone camera shov^dng the young Khaled Saeed being tortured by police (one of the videos that went viral on the Internet and became a raüying point for activism before and during the revolution). Such spectacles of violence are plainly reminiscent of the scenes of abuse and police excess that many Egyptian fums, including // The Yacoubian Buildmg, // have exposed.

Regarding the Egyptian society and the

political system, citizens do not enjoy the freedoms of a

democratic system, but live in a dictatorship. 2011

revolution that wanted a change of dictatorship occurred

against a background of social and political oppression

and yet failed to determine a major change. Massmedia

transmitted a false message that Egypt is living

an Arab spring, but instead of going through this

positive situation, it is passing through an Arab winter.

An element that can have a negative impact is

Egypt’s geography, eighty percent of Egypt’s population

being distributed in Cairo, Alexandria and along the

Nile. This thing facilitated Egypt’s revolution, but

could just as easily help the spread of undemocratic

forces.

Works Cited

TARTOUSSIEH, KARIM. "The Yacoubian Building: A Slice Of Pre-January 25 Egyptian Society?." // Cinema Journal // 52.1 (2012): 156-159. // Academic Search Premier //. Web. 2 Mar. 2014

Istrate, Ligia. "The Revolution Begun In Tahrir Square Was Not A Tahrir*. Egypt In The Xxith Century." // Scientific Journal Of Humanistic Studies // 4.6 (2012): 115-126. // Academic Search Premier //. Web. 2 Mar. 2014

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