Zikrayat: Eight Jewish Women Remember Egypt
- 176pages
- 7 heures de lecture
Nayra Atiya Livres
Nayra Atiya est une historienne orale, écrivaine et traductrice américaine. Son œuvre explore les vies et les récits de personnes ordinaires, se concentrant particulièrement sur les voix et les expériences égyptiennes. Par son approche distinctive, elle met en lumière des histoires personnelles captivantes qui éclairent des thèmes sociétaux plus larges et des perspectives culturelles. Son engagement à préserver et partager ces expériences humaines en fait une chroniqueuse importante de la vie contemporaine.
Between the late 1970s and the early 1980s, Nayra Atiya gathered the oral histories of five Egyptian men: a fisherman, an attorney, a scholar, a business- man, and a production manager. Through personal interviews over the course of several years, Atiya intimately captured the everyday triumphs and struggles of these young men in a rapidly changing Egyptian society. These tender stories of childhood experiences in the rural countryside, of the rigors of schooling, and of the many challenges in navigating adulthood shed light on both the rich diversity of Egyptian society and the values and traditions that are shared by all Egyptians. The concept of shahaama--a code of honor that demands loyalty, generosity, and a readiness to help others--is threaded throughout the narratives, reflecting its deeply rooted presence in Egyptian culture. Moving beyond leaden stereotypes of the oppressive Middle Eastern male, these candid self-portraits reveal the complexity of male identity in contemporary Egyptian society, highlighting the men's desires for economically viable lives, the same desires that fuel the many Egyptians today working toward revolutionary change.
