The invention of ancient Egyptian literature has generally been attributed to the Middle Kingdom and was perceived as the result of the expansion of the intellectual class, the memory of the individuality established in the First Intermediate Period, and the availability of written materials (Parkinson, 2010: 45-46, 49-50, 55-56, 64–66; Morenz, 2003: 102). The production and dissemination of written discourse in the early Middle Kingdom has been associated with the contemporaneous process of state regeneration of the period. Interpretations of the role of Middle Kingdom literature in its respective social and political spheres often adhere to Posener’s (1956) theory, which construes all genres of Middle Kingdom literature as political persuasion created to facilitate the re-centralization of the state after the political fragmentation of the First Intermediate Period. However, the Middle Kingdom's retrospective portrayal of the First Intermediate Period as chaotic in literature to accentuate the legitimacy and virtues of the current regime was also used as a literary device. Thus, although it recognizes the political element of Middle Kingdom literature, the application of this modern label to an ancient construct fails to fully appreciate the value of this intellectual development. Rather, it is more appropriate to perceive the corpus as a mode of communication between and within literate members of the society and a proclamation of the superiority of literacy.
Demonstrative the recognition of the significant of literacy, at least within the small literate class.
Posener (1956) developed his thesis that Middle Kingdom literature is politically motivated by juxtaposing didactic, romantic, and poetic compositions and the political ...
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...g the political aspect of Middle Kingdom literature assists comprehension, perceiving Middle Kingdom literature as a whole in terms of its political function is problematic in that it neglects the literary aspect of the texts and imposes values that may not have existed in the context of their composition. The manner of literary consumption in ancient Egypt is very different from that of modern society in that the former placed social restrictions upon education, which greatly limits the scope of the intended and actual audience. The low literacy rate dissolves the perceived gap between the elite and the members of society interested in belles lettres. Thus, while it could be argued that certain works encompass political elements, Middle Kingdom literary compositions could be better appreciated as dialogues of the elite and declarations of the supremacy of literacy.
Assmann, Jan. The Mind of Egypt: History and Meaning in the Time of the Pharaohs.
The most basic premise of this chapter is that works that are categorized within the adaptation and/or appropriation genre are inherently political, simply by the nature of their production. In other words, it might be simpler to say that original works of literature, in the case of this discussion particularly those from the literary canon, are often products of the culture they are written within. The author cannot help but to exert their own ideological agenda upon the text, though it is a job left to the reader to locate and interpret the clues to the agenda that are left in between the lines. The development of an adaptation is an extension of that process. By reinterpreting a text, for the sake of making significant alteration to the
Joyce, James. "Araby." Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. Eds. John Clifford and John Schilb. Boston: Bedford, 1999. 728-32.
Throughout the novels of Naguib Mahfouz' Cairo Trilogy, the most noticeable element is the progression of time. In tracing the lives of three generations of the Abd al-Jawad family, Mahfouz manages to structure a chronicle of Egypt during his lifetime that describes not only the lives of the family but the social, political and philosophical change of the entire nation. While it is dangerous to read only for social analysis in Mahfouz' essentially artistic work, the changes in Egypt during the novel make its characters' relationships to a shifting Egypt clear. The character of Kamal is a very intriguing part of this depiction because of his similarity to Mahfouz and the consequent illustration of the changes which seem to have impacted Mahfouz most personally. Kamal can be seen as an essentially autobiographical character as well as a type representing Egyptian philosophical involvement and change between the two World Wars.
Amarna Letters, c.1390, j. Breasted, date of translation is unknown, The Zenith of Egyptian power and the region of Amenhotep III, Tushratta, N.P
to 2650 B.C., changed his name to the more commonly known Zoser. It was Zoser
Pinault, David. "The Thousand and One Nights in Arabic Literature and Society." Journal of the American Oriental Society 119 (1999):536-537.
The life of ancient Egypt is not as complex as you may think, but there are still many extremely fascinating stories that you may not have know before. The Egyptians were pioneers in a vast amount of areas, like socialization and political forms. They were more into the luxuries in life than many other Empires, yet, still maintained the unification aspect as a nation. They were very privileged in many ways, and this is what set them apart from all the other nations. This book makes a clear significant expression of the Egyptians and how great and prosperous they really were.
Over thousands of years, the ancient Egyptian civilization been closely associated with religion, mythologists have considered itself one of the most important fundamentals of the Egyptian civilization, more than five thousand years, and the pillars of the establishment of the Egyptian state and standardization. However, I was always fascinated about the myths in the middle east, not because I was born in Iraq and grew up in an Assyrian family, it’s because the ancient Egyptians have contributed in adding many civilizational achievements to the world through the knowledge of their agriculture, stability, creating the first major central country in the region, and may be accompanied by the presence of major achievements in various fields in
The overall point of this investigation is to determine the influence of feminine stature in the Egyptian culture. I explored in deeper into this topic because the Egyptian culture had a lot of facets in their own culture that had disappeared for some time, only to be assimilated into modern day culture. Their culture was before their time. The period of the Egyptians was from 3500 - 525 B.C., where in 525 B.C. the Persians conquered the Egyptians (more on that later). The method that I am using that determine the feminine importance is through various articles that are displaying the role of the women in the daily society, articles about the role of goddesses in the Egyptian people’s lives, and the crusade that the Egyptian people lost
Silverman, David P. Language and Writing in Ancient Egypt. Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania: The Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 1990.
The structure of Egyptian politics and state administration was also redefined during Ali’s rule. As the go...
‘Return of the Pharaoh’ is the English version of the prison memoir of Zainab al-Ghazali. The book aims to expose to the world the cruelties and savagery she had to suffer at the hands of the Nasir regime. Zainab al-Ghazali was one of the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood and the founder of the Muslim Ladies Group. While the Brotherhood held a pan-Islamic view and worked towards incorporating Islam as a way of life rather than a religion, the Muslim Ladies Group trained women for the same purpose and also participated in welfare and relief activities. The title of the book is extremely interesting; it reflects the utter contempt the author holds Nasir in, and vice versa. Her hatred is so strong that she calls him a “Pharaoh”, an ancient Egyptian king who declared he was God and persecuted people who believed otherwise. The title is not only attractive and intriguing, but also appropriate, for the book demonstrates many of Nasir’s qualities that bring him on par with Pharaoh himself. For instance, instead of swearing by Allah’s name as most Muslims do, Nasir’s associates swear “by (the might of) Nasir”, as if HE were their god. Nasir also believes in eliminating all opposition just like Pharaoh did. He imprisons, persecutes and eventually kills many Brotherhood members and their sympathizers. Although Muslim by name, Nasir was opposed to all those who carry the message of Islam and seek to establish it in their lives. The title could not be more appropriate, as the reader gradually finds out.
Women were often subjects of intense focus in ancient literary works. In Sarah Pomeroy’s introduction of her text Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves, she writes, “Women pervade nearly every genre of classical literature, yet often the bias of the author distorts the information” (x). It is evident in literature that the social roles of women were more restricted than the roles of men. And since the majority of early literature was written by men, misogyny tends to taint much of it. The female characters are usually given negative traits of deception, temptation, selfishness, and seduction. Women were controlled, contained, and exploited. In early literature, women are seen as objects of possession, forces deadly to men, cunning, passive, shameful, and often less honorable than men. Literature reflects the societal beliefs and attitudes of an era and the consistency of these beliefs and attitudes toward women and the roles women play has endured through the centuries in literature. Women begin at a disadvantage according to these societal definitions. In a world run by competing men, women were viewed as property—prizes of contests, booty of battle and the more power men had over these possessions the more prestigious the man. When reading ancient literature one finds that women are often not only prizes, but they were responsible for luring or seducing men into damnation by using their feminine traits.
Metz, H. C. (1990). Egypt: A Country Study. (Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, Ed.) Retrieved from Country Studies: http://countrystudies.us/egypt/15.htm