Egypt: Revolution 2011/2025. Dystopia, Utopia, and Political Fiction in Mustafa Al-Husayni’s Novel "2025 An-Nida Al-Akhir"

Marek M. Dziekan

doi:10.18778/1641-4233.21.07

Authors

Marek M. Dziekan University of Lodz, Department of Middle East and North Africa

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1641-4233.21.07

Keywords:

Mustafa al-Husayni, Egypt, Arab Spring, revolution, utopia, dystopia, political fiction, politics, literature

Abstract

The article discusses the novel 2025. An-Nida al-Akhir [2025. The Last Call] written by a young Egyptian journalist and writer born in 1982 – Mustafa al-Husayni. The novel was published in early 2011, between the fall of Zayn al-Abidin Ibn Ali in Tunisia and of Husni Mubarak in Egypt. It describes a revolution against the regime of Jamal al-Mubarak, son of Husni, spurred by a group of young Egyptians. The story takes place in 2025 and anticipates the development of the political situation in Egypt and the Middle East between 2011 and 2025 in a utopian/dystopian manner. Alongside Utopia by Ahmad Khalid Tawfik and the poetry of Usama al-Abnubi and Abd ar-Rahman al-Abnudi, al-Husayni’s book is considered to be a forecast of the Arab Spring in Egypt.

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Author Biography

Marek M. Dziekan, University of Lodz, Department of Middle East and North Africa

Professor, Head of the Department of Middle East and North Africa, University of Lodz, Poland and Professor at the University of Warsaw. His main interests include history of Islam, contemporary Islam in political context, Islam-West relations, ideologies of Arabic World, anthropology of Arabic World, history of Arabic culture and literature. He is an author of several books, among them Arabia Magica. Wiedza tajemna u Arabów przed islamem (Arabia Magica. The Recondite Wisdom among the Arabs in pre-Islamic Times), 1993; Historia Iraku (The History of Iraq), 2002; Irak. Religia i polityka (Iraq. Religion and Politics), 2005; Dzieje kultury arabskiej (A History of Arabic Culture), 2008; Złote stolice Arabów. Szkice o współczesnej myśli arabskiej (Golden Capitals of the Arabs. Arab. Sketches on Contemporary Arab Thought), 2011.

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