•  
  •  
 

Abstract

Although the interconnectedness of Russian and Arabic literatures has been demonstrated by Soviet/Russian and, to a limited extent, Western Arabists, this research remains limited to a few names. However, the role that the Russian/Soviet literary tradition had in shaping contemporary genres of Arabic literature is complex and diverse. This is, for instance, the case with prison literature—Russian/Soviet literature has a long tradition of turning to the topic of imprisonment. It was Dostoyevsky, who turned to the genre of katorzhnaya proza (prison literature) and popularized it. Later, Tolstoy, Chekhov, and Gorky dedicated a number of their influential literary works to further developing and redefining the questions related to imprisonment raised by Dostoyevsky. These four writers, whose works were translated into Arabic, were and still remain popular in the Arab world.One of the Arab writers, whose style was shaped to a large degree by the famous four Russians, was the renowned Egyptian writer Khairy Shalaby (1938-2011). In this paper, I cover the following points: 1. Provide a brief critical review of literary works of Khairy Shalaby and the role Russian/Soviet literature had in them; 2. Present The City of the Enslaved (2007), the only political novel by this prolific writer, dedicated to the topic of imprisonment and prison tortures of Egyptian political activists in the Sadat era; 3. Focus on particular themes in the novel that bear clear connotations of the themes raised in Russian/Soviet prison literature (the executioner-victim relationship, belief in transformation, and compassion for victim).

Share

COinS