Blindness and Autobiography: Al-Ayyam of Taha Husayn

Fedwa Malti-Douglas

Published by Princeton University Press 1988

Blindness and Autobiography

Al-Ayyam of Taha Husayn

Fedwa Malti-Douglas

Volume 899 in the series Princeton Legacy Library

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400859375

Overview
Contents

About this book

The three-volume life-story of the Egyptian intellectual Tahah Husayn (1889-1973) is a landmark in modern autobiography, in Arabic letters, and in the literature of blindness. This justly celebrated text, however, has never been subjected to the sustained literary analysis here presented by Fedwa Malti-Douglas. Born into a modest family and blinded in childhood, Husayn nevertheless conquered first his own and then a European educational system to become one of his country's leading modernizers. Professor Malti-Douglas shows that the personal, social, and literary reality of the hero's blindness gives the autobiography its unity and force. Blindness and Autobiography is not only a rich explication of al-Ayyam but a pioneering study of the interaction between a severe physical handicap and the autobiographical process. It adds a new perspective to the contemporary discussion of the cultural uses of the body.

The first part of the book explores blindness and society, from the evolving conflict between personal and social conceptions of the handicap to the way blindness redefines the more familiar issues of traditional versus modern, East versus West. The second section examines the relationship of blindness to the autobiography's ecriture, rhetoric, and narration.

Originally published in 1988.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
PART I. BLINDNESS AND SOCIETY
Chapter One. Blindness I: Recognition Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	19
Chapter Two. Blindness II: Conflict Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	32
Chapter Three. Blindness III: Resolution Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	41
Chapter Four. Power Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	66
Chapter Five. Traditional/Modern, East/West Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	75
PART II. BLINDNESS AND WRITING
Chapter Six. Narration Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	93
Chapter Seven. Blind Writing, Blind Rhetoric Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	113
Chapter Eight. Humor Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	124
Chapter Nine. Narrative Techniques Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	144
Chapter Ten. Time Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	173
Works Cited Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	185
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	193
Backmatter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	202

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