A Study of the Literary Discourse in the Novels of Naguib Mahfouz: The Dynamics of Gender and Religion

Likewise, the study has shown that Mahfouz's own stance of religion and the way he perceives it affect his portrayal of gender in general and the religious gender in particular. It has also illustrated that it is characteristic of Mahfouz to juxtapose and parallel his characters. When Mahfouz favors a certain type of gender, such as the secular or atheistic character, he portrays this gender as amiable, sound, effective, flawless, and positive. Likewise, when he has a negative attitude towards a certain gender, such as the religious characters, he portrays them as distorted, ineffective, derelict, flawed and abnormal. The discourse analysis has also shown that Mahfouz's works teem with examples of this latter type, and that while he is always glorifying the non-religious, deviated, secular and pagan characters, he is always deriding and sneering at religion and religious characters. Thus, Mahfouz's portrayal of gender stems from his doubt and/or denial of Islam as a religion that can achieve justice, welfare, progress and good in general for all people, male and female, in modern times. Mahfouz's such portrayal has been proved to go against the pure Islamic conventions and constructs about God, gender, and the relationship between men and women in society.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Linguistics

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Elsaadany, Kamel Abdelbadie

Contributors dc:contributor

• Pandharipande, Rajeshwari

• Religion, General

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI9944844

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/82685