تصدير
FOREWORD
سمير سرحان
When in 1988 Naguib Mahfouz won the Nobel
Prize, we paid tribute to his genius by publishing
a collection of essays (contributed by eminent Egyptian
scholars) entitled Egyptian
Perspectives. Thirteen years on, the man,
at 90, continues to play an active role in our cultural
life and to represent a permanent source of inspiration
for Arab writers, both young and old. His works continue
to be read, some being regarded as Arabic classics, and
many of his novels, short stories and plays have been
translated into European languages mainly into English.
His work has been the subject of academic dissertations;
and books (critical, biographical … etc) continue to be
written about him. Most importantly, he has acquired
world fame and scholars worldwide concur on regarding
him as a master of fiction ‘by any standard’. In the
recent Encyclopaedia of Literary
Translation into English, edited by Olive
Classe (London 2000) Professor Roger Allen, the eminent
Arabic scholar and critic, pays tribute to Mahfouz’s
genius and provides a useful, though short, bibliography
on his work. As interest in the great man’s work
increases, with more critical works being produced on
him every day, a fuller bibliography, we feel, is
needed. Previous bibliographies have been consulted and
updated (cf. M.S. Farid’s earlier bibliography in
The Comparative
Tone, ed. M.M. Enani, Cairo, 1995). Apart
from the bibliography, Professor Farid contributes
weighty chapters to this volume on the global image of
Mahfouz, and Professor Enani contributes a useful study
of the development of the novelist’s language, and the
rise of Modern Standard Arabic, the literary medium
perfected by Mahfouz. This book is addressed therefore
to both foreign and Arab scholars, besides its obvious
use for the general reader.
There is no better accolade to present to
the grand man of Arabic letters than to show how much
his work is appreciated worldwide and how much more
scholarly work is needed to do justice to his
genius.
Samir
Sarhan
Professor of English, Cairo
University,
Chairman of the Egyptian State
Publishing House
(GEBO)
