Eversince I knew how to move a pen... : Sources idealizing the successful writing journies of Nahdawi intellectuals

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F68378009%3A_____%2F25%3A00646589" target="_blank" >RIV/68378009:_____/25:00646589 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

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DOI - Digital Object Identifier

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Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Eversince I knew how to move a pen... : Sources idealizing the successful writing journies of Nahdawi intellectuals

Original language description

In his autobiography, the famous Egyptian critic and writer Abbas al-Aqqad (1889–1964) points out three things that made him a writer: encouragement from his teachers, favourable circumstances and his inherent desire to write. Other autobiographical narratives of several canonical personalities from the formative period of modern Arabic literature (Nahda) confirm the importance of these factors: while Jurji Zaidan paints his own image as a self-made man despite his humble beginnings, Salama Mousa and Taha Hussein emphasise the influence of teachers and books in their formation. In the cases of less prominent writers who did not publish reflections on their writing journeys, what sources do we rely on to tell their stories and affirm their position as writers and intellectuals? Tracing the creative paths of Labiba Hashim and Nasib al-Mash’alani, Syrian translators, journalists and writers of the late Nahda period active in Cairo, this paper will propose a range of sources available to assess the role of privilege, connection, individual genius and trends in literary criticism in establishing the figure of a successful writer of the period. Making use of incidental personal introductions to their writings, contemporary literary critiques, encyclopedic entries, short mentions in literary histories and critical articles, it attempts to show that the importance of the „urge to write“ needs to be counterbalanced with taking into account the personal, material, professional and historical outside support they benefitted from.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

O - Miscellaneous

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

60206 - Specific literatures

Project

<a href="/en/project/GA23-07353S" target="_blank" >GA23-07353S: Pathways of Literary Professionalization in Twenty-first-century Egypt</a><br>

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2025

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů