Table of contents
Foreword
Chapter 1.Introduction
1.1Topic of research
1.2Approach
1.3Aims and research questions
1.4Organization of the study
Chapter 2.Al Aswany’s call for democracy in the Al Shorouk columns
2.1Introduction
2.2The political situation in Egypt before 2011
2.3Al Aswany’s public stature
2.3.1Fifteen years of anti-regime writing
2.3.2The impact of The Yacoubian Building
: A revival of the political novel
2.4Al Aswany’s political columns in Al Shorouk from a stock issues perspective
2.5The topics discussed in the columns addressing the feasibility issue
2.6Al Aswany’s audience and its frame of reference
2.6.1The Al Shorouk audience: Supporters of an alternative political path
2.6.2Al Aswany’s followers: Respondents to a second wave of committed literature
2.7Conclusion
Chapter 3.An argumentative characterization of Egyptian political columns
3.1Introduction
3.2Opinions in printed newspapers
3.3The pragma-dialectical approach to the contextualization of argumentative practices
3.4The institutional point of political columns
3.5Political columns as an argumentative activity type
3.5.1The argumentativeness of a political column
3.5.2The initial situation
3.5.3Procedural starting points
3.5.4Material starting points
3.5.5Means of argumentation and criticisms
3.5.6Possible outcomes
3.6Conclusion
Chapter 4.Strategic maneuvering with arguments from example: The “active people” topic
4.1Introduction
4.2The circulated image of the Egyptian people in Mubarak’s era
4.3Al Aswany’s discussion of the “active people” topic
4.4The argumentative predicament of evaluating a political group by means of examples
4.5The “Egypt awakened” case
4.6“The coming civil disobedience on April 6th.” case
4.7Conclusions
Chapter 5.Strategic maneuvering by means of a narrative perspective: The “defeatable police” topic
5.1Introduction
5.2The public image of the Egyptian police before 2011
5.3The argumentative functions of a narrative perspective
5.4The “An unfortunate incident befalling a state security officer” case
5.5The “Why was the general screaming?” case
5.6Conclusions
Chapter 6.Strategic maneuvering by means of an allegorical fable: The “victorious protesters” topic
6.1Introduction
6.2Beast fable, allegory, and allegorical beast fable
6.3Speech-act-based approaches to fiction
6.4Justifying an allegorical interpretation of a beast fable
6.5The conceptual aspects of an allegorical beast fable
6.6Reconstructing an allegorical beast fable as a critical discussion
6.7Strategic maneuvering in the “A story for children and adults” case
6.8Conclusions
Chapter 7.Conclusion
References
Appendices
Appendix AEgypt awakened
Appendix BThe coming civil disobedience on April 6th.
Appendix CAn unfortunate incident befalling a state security officer
Appendix DWhy was the general screaming
Appendix EA story for children and adults
Index of Names
Index of Terms
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