Historicism. As formerly stated, the eminent New Historicist Cathrine
Gallagher is of the view that a critic should focus his attention on both the text and its historical context. As a matter of fact, The Yacoubian Building is a reflection of its historical context. In this literary text, Alaswany thoroughly probes the evils of the corrupt regime under Mubarak; he boldly discloses election forgery as well as the extortion and blackmail experienced by authorized people in order to shut their eyes to illegal and shady business. Being a member of the People's assembly and one of the regime supporters, Azzam abuses his power. He marries his second wife Soad in secret for his sensual pleasures. When Soad gets pregnant, he asks her …show more content…
The economic degeneration presented in the novel is, indeed, a reflection of the corruption that dominated Egypt in the few decades that preceded the January 2011 Revolution. This is actually an application of a principal tenet of New Historicism. As discussed before, New Historicism affirms that the social circumstances are indispensable for a thorough interpretation of a work of literature. As formerly mentioned, the eminent New Historicist Stephen Greenblatt, for example, is concerned with the reflection of the social conditions in the literary work. In fact, the Egyptian economy highly deteriorated during El Sadat's rule. As a result of neglecting the agricultural sector, Egypt began to import grains so as to cover local consumption. Additionally, since a great part of the budget had been spent on the armed forces, Egypt suffered from great fiscal problems. As a consequence, ''Sadat followed a policy of excessive borrowing from abroad'' which brought about a growing burden of loans (Amin54). Under the rule of Mubarak, the living conditions of the average Egyptians extremely deteriorated. The majority of Egyptians greatly suffered in order to meet their essential needs whereas the privileged ''minority accumulated unprecedented wealth'' (El- Mahdi 1). In his article, ''On Tahrir Square: An Introduction'', Alaa Alaswany
Gallagher is of the view that a critic should focus his attention on both the text and its historical context. As a matter of fact, The Yacoubian Building is a reflection of its historical context. In this literary text, Alaswany thoroughly probes the evils of the corrupt regime under Mubarak; he boldly discloses election forgery as well as the extortion and blackmail experienced by authorized people in order to shut their eyes to illegal and shady business. Being a member of the People's assembly and one of the regime supporters, Azzam abuses his power. He marries his second wife Soad in secret for his sensual pleasures. When Soad gets pregnant, he asks her …show more content…
The economic degeneration presented in the novel is, indeed, a reflection of the corruption that dominated Egypt in the few decades that preceded the January 2011 Revolution. This is actually an application of a principal tenet of New Historicism. As discussed before, New Historicism affirms that the social circumstances are indispensable for a thorough interpretation of a work of literature. As formerly mentioned, the eminent New Historicist Stephen Greenblatt, for example, is concerned with the reflection of the social conditions in the literary work. In fact, the Egyptian economy highly deteriorated during El Sadat's rule. As a result of neglecting the agricultural sector, Egypt began to import grains so as to cover local consumption. Additionally, since a great part of the budget had been spent on the armed forces, Egypt suffered from great fiscal problems. As a consequence, ''Sadat followed a policy of excessive borrowing from abroad'' which brought about a growing burden of loans (Amin54). Under the rule of Mubarak, the living conditions of the average Egyptians extremely deteriorated. The majority of Egyptians greatly suffered in order to meet their essential needs whereas the privileged ''minority accumulated unprecedented wealth'' (El- Mahdi 1). In his article, ''On Tahrir Square: An Introduction'', Alaa Alaswany