Cairo | The announcement by the publishing house “Divan” about the launch of the first project to reprint the works of Naguib Mahfouz has caused many questions and question marks in the Egyptian cultural community. Controversy erupted amid the publication of book covers, which came as a surprise to many awaiting new editions, after the publishing rights of Mahfouz’s works were transferred from Dar al-Shoruk to Diwan initially. in early May. The first group of the “Sofa” project included novels: “Joys of the Dome”, “Gossip on the Nile”, “The Thief and the Dogs”, which, as it turned out, received the most outrageous comments. as the literal embodiment of the novel’s title, while some intellectuals consider these covers to be an expression. It is clear how the House handles the works of the Dean of the Arabic Novel. Some of them even sided with the Hendawi Foundation’s electronic covers, which usually only included Mahfouz’s image and the novel’s title on a white background, because it didn’t distort the work, as Divan did.

Egyptian writer Ibrahim Fargali tells us about the controversy that erupted against the backdrop of new publications: “Personally, I believe that the publishing house is responsible for the design, and the publishing industry is not a world that emerged yesterday, and therefore traditions. developed in them, according to which a series of classic works must be subordinated to the design placed in context. Thus, in the case of the classic book series of the Nobel laureate, who is considered the founder of the modern Egyptian novel, a direct visual translation of the novel’s titles should be omitted. For example, the idea of ​​depicting dogs on the cover of The Thief and Dogs, which has nothing to do with dogs, has a negative connotation with understanding home texts. But does this mean that new visions and visual interactions are missing in Mahfouz’s work? Farghali explains: “There is something called the spirit of the text that creates the visual sign of a good cover, especially in the case of Naguib Mahfouz’s books, and the difference between an experiment and an attempt to reinvent . For example, Naguib Mahfouz’s deep awareness created magical realism in the body of a realistic novel like Gossip Over the Nile. Measure it in the design of the cases. It is the magic created by original, altered and revolutionary beauty, and it is the artist’s consciousness that distinguishes between the false beauty embedded in the skin of culture and the beauty embedded in deep culture.

The covers of the new edition caused great controversy in Egypt.

For his part, the artist Muhammad Mustafa (1985) believed that what his cover paintings of Naguib Mahfouz’s controversial novels painted should be expected in front of him “presenting an update or a different perspective of Naguib Mahfouz’s literature. Naguib Mahfouz ”, saying,“ Certainly, everyone has the right to freely express their opinion, and this is the value of art in the original, but I have not found exact artistic notes and most of the comments express personal taste and perspective. And what about the title page of the new edition of The Thief and the Dogs, which some of them took as evidence that whoever drew it hadn’t read the novel yet? Mustafa replied: “Painting is not a literal translation of the title, and as an expressive artist, it is important to read every word in the novel before painting the cover, and a brief reading of the novel will not be satisfied because the image may be in the last word. of text. After interacting with the novel as a whole, I began to present my ideas and my visual perspective. Regarding the ideas he came up with in the novel and wanted to show on the cover, he explained, “I wanted to include the struggle and fate of the main character, Saeed Mahran. So he faces the cover with his back turned and holding a weapon for revenge, a scene that expresses the intense struggle he is going through. I chose dogs because that’s the image the writer used in his novel, and I thought it would yield a question on the visual level, consistent with the novel’s meaning and its rivalry, as well as the interweaving of the relationship with between heroes. and her daughter, praise and nostalgia for home. , where he grew up and carries his memories with his father and his Sufi sheikh… All these elements are a mistake. in the symbolism I love. ”

The essence of the text creates a visual sign of a good cover (Ibrahim Fargali)

Divan novelist publishing director Ahmed Al-Karmlavi also commented on the controversy, saying, “We are working on every detail related to the project to do it in such a way that it matches the title of the international writer who Naguib Mahfouz, be it at the level of comparison of different publications or at the level of design and visual expression. Of course, this will not satisfy everyone, and everyone has the right to disagree and freely express their views. ”
Regarding the work of Naguib Mahfouz’s writing review committee, Al-Karmlavi said: “The committee has already completed its review of all Naguib Mahfouz’s novels and is currently working on the final stage, which includes comparing various edition of the trilogy and analysis of variance in its text, ”considering that this is the most important stage of the project for what constitutes a trilogy of great importance to Mahfouz’s novel project.