Cover not available
Article published In:
Pragmatics and Society
Vol. 13:1 (2022) ► pp.45–66

A sociopragmatic account of religiosity and secularity in fictional narratives

| Gulf University for Science and Technology

This paper investigates the religiosity/secularity dichotomy in Naguib Mahfouz’s novels, which is shaped by cultural narratives that convey his ideas. It analyzes a defined corpus of Mahfouz’s narratives that articulate his notions of religiosity/secularity. Through an interdisciplinary methodology combining the application of pragmatics, interactional sociolinguistics, and contextual analysis, it aims to determine Mahfouz’s potentiality for perceiving and narrativizing religiosity and secularity in twentieth-century Egypt. It discusses how Mahfouz adopts sociopragmatic techniques to give a bright picture of the secularist discourse but a negative one for the Islamist one presented as inevitably incapable, crude, schizophrenic and idiosyncratic. Mahfouz openly destabilizes the religious/secular dichotomy by juxtaposing religious and secular discourses in his early and later narratives, where he scrutinizes secularity, advocating it as the only way out of and uprooting, religiosity. The adoption of an interdisciplinary framework proves to be theoretically and empirically motivated in order to show how Mahfouz’s narratives reflect their originator’s own beliefs and those of the narrated society, including its value systems.

Keywords: religiosity, secularity, narrative discourse, sociopragmatics, interactional sociolinguistics, twentieth-century Egypt, Naguib Mahfouz
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction and background
  • 2.Rationale and study questions
  • 3.Theoretical framework
    • 3.1Interactional sociolinguistics
    • 3.2The pragmatics framework
  • 4.The dichotomy of religiosity and secularity in Mahfouz’s narratives
    • 4.1Religiosity and secularity in Mahfouz’s early narratives
    • 4.2Religiosity and Secularity in Mahfouz’s later narratives
  • 5.Discussion and conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 21 March 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ps.19070.els
References
Abdullah, Mohammad H.
1978 Al-Islamiyya wa al-Ruhiyya fi Adab Naguib Mahfouz (The Islamic and Spiritual Elements in the Literature of Naguib Mahfouz). Cairo: Maktabat Misr.Google Scholar
Afridi, Mehnuz M.
2008 Naguib Mahfouz and Modern Islamic Identity. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Department of Religious Studies, University of South Africa. Retrieved from: [URL]
Al-Ghitani, Jamal
1987  Naguib Mahfouz yatadhakkar ‘Naguib Mahfouz remembers’, 3rd edition. Cairo: Muassast Akhbar al-Yawm. [First published by Dar Al-Masira, Beirut 1980 The 1st edition did not contain the 44-page introduction by Al-Ghitani added to it in the later edition].Google Scholar
Al-Shaykh, Ibrahim
1987 Mawaqif Ijtima’iyya wa Siyasiyya fi Adab Naguib Mahfouz 3rd (Social and Political Standings in Naguib Mahfouz’s Writings). Cairo.Google Scholar
Al-Sharuni, Yusuf
1967 Diraasaat fi al-Riwayah wa al-Qissah al-Qasirah (Studies in the novel and short stories). Cairo: Anglu Bookstore.Google Scholar
Atiyya, Ahmed M.
1977 Ma’a Naguib Mahfouz ‘With Naguib Mahfouz’. Beirut: Dar al-Jil.Google Scholar
El-Enany, Rashid
1993 Naguib Mahfouz: The pursuit of meaning. London & New York: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
1995 Naguib Mahfouz: qiraat ma bayna al-soTur ‘Naguib Mahfouz: Reading between the Lines’. Cairo: Dar Al-Talia wa-al-Nashr.Google Scholar
1998 The Dichotomy of Islam and Modernity in the Fiction of Naguib Mahfouz. In John C. Hawley (ed.), The Postcolonial Crescent: Islam’s Impact on Contemporary Literature. New York: Peter Lang, 71–83.Google Scholar
2006 Arab Representation of Occident: East-West Encounters in Arabic Fiction. London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Enani, Mohammed M.
1989 Novel Rhetoric: Notes on the New Language of Fiction in Naguib Mahfouz. In M. M. Enani (ed.) Naguib Mahfouz Nobel 1988 Egyptian Perspectives: A collection of critical essays. Cairo: General Egyptian Book Organization, 97–144.Google Scholar
(ed.) 1989a Naguib Mahfouz Nobel 1988 Egyptian Perspectives: A collection of critical essays. Cairo: General Egyptian Book Organization.Google Scholar
Farag, Al-Sayyed A.
1990 Adab Naguib Mahfouz wa Ishkaliyat al-Sira’ Bayna al-Islam wa al-Taghrib (The Writings of Naguib Mahfouz and the Problem of the Struggle between Islam and Westernization). Mansoura, Egypt: Dar al-Wafa Lil-Tibaa wa al-Nashr wa al- Tawzi’.Google Scholar
Geer, Benjamin
2009 Prophets and Priests of the Nation: Naguib Mahfouz’s Karnak Café and the 1967 Crisis in Egypt. International Journal of Middle East Studies, 41 1, 653–669. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ghorab, Mohammed I.
2013 One Text, Two Receptions: Mahfouz’s Children of the Alley. Unpublished Master Thesis. The American University of Sharjah, College of Arts and Sciences.
Goffman, Erving
1967 Interaction ritual. New York: Anchor Books.Google Scholar
1971 Relations in public. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
1974 Frame analysis. New York: Harper and Row.Google Scholar
1981 Forms of talk. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar
Greenberg, Nathaniel
2013 Naguib Mahfouz’s Children of the Alley and the Coming Revolution. The Comparatist 371: 200–218. Retrieved from: [URL]
Grice, Herbert P.
1957 Meaning. Philosophical Review 671: 377–88. Retrieved from: [URL]. DOI logo
1975 Logic and conversation. In P. Cole and J. Morgan (eds), Speech Acts (Syntax and Semantics), Vol. 3. New York: Academic Press, 41–58.Google Scholar
Gumperz, John J.
1982 Discourse Strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mahfouz, Naguib
1939 Abath al-Aqdaar ‘The Absurdity of Fates’. Cairo: Maktabat Misr.Google Scholar
1943 Radubis ‘Rhadopis’. Cairo: Maktabat Misr.Google Scholar
1944 Kifah Tiba ‘The Struggle of Thebes’. Cairo: Maktabat Misr.Google Scholar
1947 Zuqaq al-Midaq ‘Midaq Alley’. Cairo: Maktabat Misr.Google Scholar
1949 Bidaya wa Nihaya ‘The Beginning and the End’. Beirut: Dar, al-Qalam.Google Scholar
1961 Al-Liss wa al-Kilaab ‘The Thief and the Dogs’. Cairo: Maktabat Misr.Google Scholar
1972 Al-Sukariyyah ‘Sugar Street’. Beirut: Dar al-Qalam.Google Scholar
1972 Khan al-Khalili. Beirut: Dar al-Qalam.Google Scholar
1972 Qasr al-Shawq ‘Palace of Desire’. Beirut: Dar al-Qalam.Google Scholar
1972 Tharthara fawq al-Nil ‘Chatter on the Nile’. Beirut: Dar al-Qalam.Google Scholar
1974 Al-Qahira al-Jadida ‘New Cairo’. Cairo: Maktabat Misr.Google Scholar
1975 Hikayaat Haritna ‘Tales of Our Alley’. Cairo: Maktabat Misr.Google Scholar
1975 Qalb al-Layl ‘Heart of the Night’. Cairo: Maktabat Misr.Google Scholar
1977 Atahadath Ilaykum ‘I Converse with You’. Beirut: Dar al-Awda.Google Scholar
1977 Malhamat al-Harafish ‘Epic of Harafish’. Cairo: Maktabat Misr.Google Scholar
1982 Al-Baqi min al-Zaman Sa’a ‘There Only Remains One Hour’. Cairo: Maktabat Misr.Google Scholar
1982 Layali alf Layla ‘Nights of the Thousand Nights’. Cairo: Maktabat Misr.Google Scholar
1983 Rihlat ibn Fattouma ‘The Journey of Ibn Fattouma’. Cairo: Maktabat Misr.Google Scholar
1959/1986 Awlad Haritna ‘Children of Our Alley’ (6th ed.) Beirut: Dar al-Adab.Google Scholar
1987 Hadith al-Sabah wa al-Masaa ‘Tales of Mornings and Evenings’. Cairo: Maktabat Misr.Google Scholar
1989 Bayn al-Qasrayn ‘Palace Walk’. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press.Google Scholar
1997 Echoes of an Autobiography. New York: Doubleday. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Milson, Menahem
1977 Religion and Revolution in an Allegory by Naguib Mahfouz: A Study of “Ruh Tabib al-Qulub”. In Mariam Rosen-Ayalon (ed.) Studies in Memory of Gaston Wiet. Jerusalem: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Institute of African Studies.Google Scholar
Moqbel, Rashad M.
2013 Arabic narrative and secularism/secularization. International Journal of English and Literature, 4 (8), 388–397.Google Scholar
Najjar, Fauzi M.
1998 Islamic Fundamentalism and the Intellectuals: The Case of Naguib Mahfouz. British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 25 1, 139–68. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nijland, C.
1984 Naguib Mahfouz and Islam. An Analysis of Some Novels. Die Welt des Islams, New Series, 23/241, 136–155. Retrieved from [URL]. DOI logo
Peled, Mattityahu
1983 Religion my Own: The Literary Works of Naguib Mahfouz. New Brunswick, N.J.: Translation Books.Google Scholar
Qutub, Mohammed
1992  Al-Ramz wa al-Mithal Qira’a Hawl Awlad Haratina Bayna al-Ibda’ al-Adabi wa al-Nass al-Dini (About the Symbol and the Parable, A Reading on: Children of our Alley between Literary Creativity and the Religious Text). In Fusul 11(2): 342–50.Google Scholar
Sabra, Ahmed
1992  Awlad Haratina wa Mushkilat Sua’ al-Fahm (Children of Our Alley and the Problem of Misunderstanding). In Fusul 11(2): 355–61.Google Scholar
Saeid, Fatima al-Zahra M.
1981  Al-Ramziyya fi Adab Naguib Mahfouz (Symbolism in the writings of Naguib Mahfouz). Beirut: al-Muassasa al-Adabiyya Lil-dirasal wa al- Nashr.Google Scholar
Schiffrin, Deborah
1994 Approaches to discourse. Oxford & Cambridge, Mass.: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Shukri, Ghali
1969 Al-Muntami, Dirasat fi adab Naguib Mahfouz ‘The Belonged: Studies in the Literature of Naguib Mahfouz’. Cairo.Google Scholar
Tarabishi, George
1988 Allah fi Rihlat Naguib Mahfouz al-Ramziyya, 3rd ed. (God in the Symbolic Journey of Naguib Mahfouz). Beirut: Dar al-Talia Lil-Tibaa wa al-Nashr.Google Scholar
Yahya, Mohammed & Moataz Shukri
1989 At-tariq ila Nobel 1988 abr Haraat Naguib Mahfouz ‘The Road to Nobel 1988 through the Quarters of Naguib Mahfouz’. Cairo: Ummah Press for Printing and Publication.Google Scholar