Date
1-2016
Department
English and Modern Languages
Degree
Master of Arts (MA)
Chair
Yaw Adu-Gyamfi
Keywords
Michel Foucault, Naguib Mahfouz, Quotidian, The Cairo Trilogy
Disciplines
African American Studies | English Language and Literature | Other English Language and Literature | Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies
Recommended Citation
Strickland, Kenneth, "The Quotidian in Naguib Mahfouz’s The Cairo Trilogy" (2016). Masters Theses. 385.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/masters/385
Abstract
Naguib Mahfouz said that his primary concern in writing was freedom. This study defines the Quotidian as Naguib Mahfouz uses the concept in his seminal work, The Cairo Trilogy to reveal changes in characters’ subjectivities as they gain access to freedom. Using a Foucauldian theory of power and Homi Bhabha’s Third Space illuminate how freedom emerged as the daily rhythms and accouterments of life changed during the early twentieth century in Cairo. In the novel, characters, whose subjectivities were delimited by imposed strictures, find new opportunities to define reality with some sense of autonomy. The thesis examines the changes in the Quotidian, the forces of change, and the correspondent opportunities to explore alternative subjectivities.
