Date of Award

1999

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

First Advisor

Gregory B. Stone

Abstract

This dissertation explores the Franco-Egyptian cultural and literary interactions in the mid-20th century, and examines the importance of these exchanges in the writings and intellectual journey of poet Georges Henein (1914--1973). This study is divided into three chapters. In a first chapter, I define the origins and stakes of a francophone Egyptian movement born from a small group of intellectuals of various cultures, who embraced French as their lingua franca. I explore this movement from a socio-historical and literary point of view, and through an overview of the period (1910--1962), lay the ground to a study of Egyptian-born writer Georges Henein. The second chapter of this dissertation consists of a biographical account of francophone Egyptian writer Georges Henein, who began his literary apprenticeship in Europe, and later contributed to the creation and development of a surrealist movement in Egypt. My third chapter consists in a detailed study of some of Georges Henein's major texts, in an attempt at defining the author's poetics. In a critical journey through his texts, I expose the polemical nature of his thought. By revealing a nietzschean nihilistic orientation in Henein's writings, I demonstrate how and why, rejecting metaphysics or any type of system smothering the human being, the poet proclaims the right and duty of man to express himself in every possible way.

ISBN

9780599474321

Pages

242

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_disstheses.6976

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