Journal | Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie orientale
Journal issue | 56 | 2020
Research Article | Literary Trajectories of Sulaymān al-Ḥalabī, a Hero Who Was Born a Criminal
Abstract
On 14 June 1800, Sulaymān al-Ḥalabī, a Syrian student, stabbed to death General Kléber, leader of the French occupation forces in Egypt. A few days later, the first account of the event – the trial documents – was written, translated into the main languages spoken in Cairo and distributed by the French military. Since then, accounts of this fact have multiplied, each presenting Sulaymān al-Ḥalabī in a different manner, ranging from fanatic, to victim, hero, then back to the fanatic and the hero. Comparing the different stories about Sulaymān al-Ḥalabī and relating them to their context of production, this paper explores their possible motives and effects, showing how the character’s literary trajectories depend more on the circumstances in which the stories were written, rather than on a search for truth. Until now, three main tendencies have decided Sulaymān al-Ḥalabī’s destiny: legitimation, mirroring reality and responding to the regime’s propaganda.
Submitted: Feb. 6, 2020 | Accepted: May 29, 2020 | Published June 30, 2020 | Language: en
Keywords Zakariyyā Tāmir • ‘Abd al-Raḥmān al-Ǧabartī • Sulaymān al-Ḥalabī • Alfred Faraǧ • Historiography • Narrativity • Ṣun‘allāh Ibrāhīm
Copyright © 2020 Daniela Potenza. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/AnnOr/2385-3042/2020/56/003
Articles
Reviews
DC Field | Value |
---|---|
dc.identifier |
ECF_article_2989 |
dc.title |
Literary Trajectories of Sulaymān al-Ḥalabī, a Hero Who Was Born a Criminal |
dc.contributor.author |
Potenza Daniela |
dc.publisher |
Edizioni Ca’ Foscari - Digital Publishing, Fondazione Università Ca’ Foscari |
dc.type |
Research Article |
dc.language.iso |
en |
dc.identifier.uri |
http://edizionicafoscari.it/en/edizioni4/riviste/annali-di-ca-foscari-serie-orientale/2020/56/literary-trajectories-of-sulayman-al-halabi-a-hero/ |
dc.description.abstract |
On 14 June 1800, Sulaymān al-Ḥalabī, a Syrian student, stabbed to death General Kléber, leader of the French occupation forces in Egypt. A few days later, the first account of the event – the trial documents – was written, translated into the main languages spoken in Cairo and distributed by the French military. Since then, accounts of this fact have multiplied, each presenting Sulaymān al-Ḥalabī in a different manner, ranging from fanatic, to victim, hero, then back to the fanatic and the hero. Comparing the different stories about Sulaymān al-Ḥalabī and relating them to their context of production, this paper explores their possible motives and effects, showing how the character’s literary trajectories depend more on the circumstances in which the stories were written, rather than on a search for truth. Until now, three main tendencies have decided Sulaymān al-Ḥalabī’s destiny: legitimation, mirroring reality and responding to the regime’s propaganda. |
dc.relation.ispartof |
Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie orientale |
dc.relation.ispartof |
Vol. 56 | June 2020 |
dc.issued |
2020-06-30 |
dc.dateAccepted |
2020-05-29 |
dc.dateSubmitted |
2020-02-06 |
dc.identifier.issn |
|
dc.identifier.eissn |
2385-3042 |
dc.rights |
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License |
dc.rights.uri |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
dc.identifier.doi |
10.30687/AnnOr/2385-3042/2020/56/003 |
dc.peer-review |
yes |
dc.subject |
Alfred Faraǧ |
dc.subject |
Alfred Faraǧ |
dc.subject |
Historiography |
dc.subject |
Historiography |
dc.subject |
Narrativity |
dc.subject |
Narrativity |
dc.subject |
Sulaymān al-Ḥalabī |
dc.subject |
Sulaymān al-Ḥalabī |
dc.subject |
Zakariyyā Tāmir |
dc.subject |
Zakariyyā Tāmir |
dc.subject |
Ṣun‘allāh Ibrāhīm |
dc.subject |
Ṣun‘allāh Ibrāhīm |
dc.subject |
‘Abd al-Raḥmān al-Ǧabartī |
dc.subject |
‘Abd al-Raḥmān al-Ǧabartī |
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