The representation of Egypt in Ahdaf Soueif's The map of love

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis studies the way in which Ahdaf Soueif portrays her country, Egypt, in her second novel, The Map of Love (1999). The Map of Love is a historical novel with a bifurcated plotline set at the beginning and end of the Twentieth Century. Soueif is the author of non-fiction too, especially a book of essays called Mezzaterra: Fragments from the Common Ground, 'Mezzaterra being a word she coined herself to denote the 'common ground. As a romance, The Map of Love traces two love stories between female Western protagonists and male Egyptian protagonists. It is through the love stories and the protagonists' integrated family that Soueif's representation of Egypt comes to the fore. In this thesis, I use three theoretical lenses through which to study Soueif's portrayal of Egypt: the use of myth and ritual, history and cultural translation. Because of Soueif's regard for and personal relationship with Edward Said, it is no surprise that The Map of Love follows an anti-Orientalist angle. Through the use of ritual and myth Soueif incorporates the sacred realm. This allows her to position Mezzaterra as an Egyptian Philosophy at the origin of its civilization. Soueif portrays little-known historical Egyptian political and social figures and facts, and renders well-known events from a new perspective. This allows her to reveal parts of Egyptian culture and history that shed light on a different aspect of its character, revealing how Egypt's modern history provided the ideal conditions conducive to the formation and nurturing of the Mezzaterra. The study of cultural translation in The Map of Love affords me the opportunity to trace how Soueif leads the reader to an appreciation of the Egyptian culture and the Arabic language. Egypt, having such a unique geographical position, is presented as a space where Middle Eastern, Western and African can meet and co-exist.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University