Islam and the Culture of Modern Egypt

- Reviews -

'This is a scholarly achievement of the highest caliber. Salama goes to great lengths to offer a compelling (re)reading of Egypt's cultural history through the lens of literary theory in a project intent on deciphering the codes connecting Islam, culture, and modernity. He boldly identifies vital intersections between the formative tenets of modernity and conventions of Islamic thought ... Salama's book is bound to provoke vital debate that will enrich knowledge and elevate consciousness of a moment of history in Egypt's culture which current generations are in dire need of revisiting and contemplating, as Salama does, armed with tools of contemporary literary theory. It shows us that we must not be content with reading our history using only the tools of the past. Modernity does not have a definitive endpoint and therefore readings and re-readings can only yield positive epistemologies and fresh understandings of both Islam and modernity.' Gaber Asfour, Cairo University and Former Minister of Culture, Egypt
'Professor Mohammad Salama raises the perennial question of identity in modern times, in this case Egyptian identity ... [he] has written an outstanding book not just for literary scholars and historians in Arabic studies but for all those reflecting on first world and third world culture.' Peter Gran, Temple University, Pennsylvania
'This is a critically self-assured, excitingly competent, and beautifully written book. It is nothing less than a most formative treatment of a precisely delineated, historical slice of literary - but also broadly cultural - time that made Modern Egypt ... This book may very well become the recommended - if not obligatory - reading for the present Egyptian generation: old and young.' Jaroslav Stetkevych, University of Chicago
'This is a groundbreaking book. Salama's goal is to address 'the relationship between Islam, culture and history' (p. 216) in twentieth-century Egypt, and he does an outstanding job of presenting relevant examples to his readers, from the first novel (Zaynab) to the films of Youssef Chahine. He personalizes and makes engaging his journey along the way, but never loses sight of important theoretical insights by both Arab and Western critics, and how they can illuminate the course of events he treats. No student of modern Arabic literature and culture can afford to be unacquainted with this work.' Terri DeYoung, University of Washington
'Islam and the Culture of Modern Egypt is another insightful discussion of a field that has been inviting heated and also rigorous debates. In his effort to tackle issues of culture, modernity, and Islam, Salama offers a significant contribution to the intellectual history of Egypt.' Muhsin al-Musawi, Columbia University
'Islam and the Culture of Modern Egypt is a tour de force treating the reader to a unique behind the scenes glimpse into the heart of Egyptian history and politics in the last century. In a highly original, lucid, and comparatively sophisticated diction, Mohammad Salama proves that despite Islam's contested and celebrated reiterations in Egypt's philosophical, literary, and cinematic production, it continues to shape our understanding of a precarious national identity during colonial, Islamist, Nasserist, Pan-Arabism, and revolutionary times. A vital contribution to the fields of Arab cultural and Islamic studies.' Hanadi Al-Samman, University of Virginia
'This is a scholarly achievement of the highest caliber. Salama goes to great lengths to offer a compelling (re)reading of Egypt's cultural history through the lens of literary theory in a project intent on deciphering the codes connecting Islam, culture, and modernity. He boldly identifies vital intersections between the formative tenets of modernity and conventions of Islamic thought ... Salama's book is bound to provoke vital debate that will enrich knowledge and elevate consciousness of a moment of history in Egypt's culture which current generations are in dire need of revisiting and contemplating, as Salama does, armed with tools of contemporary literary theory. It shows us that we must not be content with reading our history using only the tools of the past. Modernity does not have a definitive endpoint and therefore readings and re-readings can only yield positive epistemologies and fresh understandings of both Islam and modernity.' Gaber Asfour, Cairo University and Former Minister of Culture, Egypt
'Professor Mohammad Salama raises the perennial question of identity in modern times, in this case Egyptian identity ... [he] has written an outstanding book not just for literary scholars and historians in Arabic studies but for all those reflecting on first world and third world culture.' Peter Gran, Temple University, Pennsylvania
'This is a critically self-assured, excitingly competent, and beautifully written book. It is nothing less than a most formative treatment of a precisely delineated, historical slice of literary - but also broadly cultural - time that made Modern Egypt ... This book may very well become the recommended - if not obligatory - reading for the present Egyptian generation: old and young.' Jaroslav Stetkevych, University of Chicago
'This is a groundbreaking book. Salama's goal is to address 'the relationship between Islam, culture and history' (p. 216) in twentieth-century Egypt, and he does an outstanding job of presenting relevant examples to his readers, from the first novel (Zaynab) to the films of Youssef Chahine. He personalizes and makes engaging his journey along the way, but never loses sight of important theoretical insights by both Arab and Western critics, and how they can illuminate the course of events he treats. No student of modern Arabic literature and culture can afford to be unacquainted with this work.' Terri DeYoung, University of Washington
'Islam and the Culture of Modern Egypt is another insightful discussion of a field that has been inviting heated and also rigorous debates. In his effort to tackle issues of culture, modernity, and Islam, Salama offers a significant contribution to the intellectual history of Egypt.' Muhsin al-Musawi, Columbia University
'Islam and the Culture of Modern Egypt is a tour de force treating the reader to a unique behind the scenes glimpse into the heart of Egyptian history and politics in the last century. In a highly original, lucid, and comparatively sophisticated diction, Mohammad Salama proves that despite Islam's contested and celebrated reiterations in Egypt's philosophical, literary, and cinematic production, it continues to shape our understanding of a precarious national identity during colonial, Islamist, Nasserist, Pan-Arabism, and revolutionary times. A vital contribution to the fields of Arab cultural and Islamic studies.' Hanadi Al-Samman, University of Virginia

- Author Bio -

Mohammad Salama is Professor and Director of the Arabic Program at San Francisco State University. He has published numerous articles on comparative literature and Arabic literature and film and is author of The Qur'an and Modern Arabic Literary Criticism (forthcoming), Islam, Orientalism, and Intellectual History (2011), and co-editor of German Colonialism: Race, the Holocaust, and Post-War Germany (2011). He is the recipient of two Fulbright Scholar Awards.

- Full Details -

Status:	Active
ISBN-13:	9781108404679
Published:	18 Jun 2020
Published In:	United Kingdom
Imprint:	Cambridge University Press
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Format:	Paperback
Pages:	238

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