Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie orientale

Journal | Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie orientale
Journal issue | 58 | 2022
Research Article | The Other al-Ḥusayn: The Hero of Karbalāʾ in Contemporary Egyptian Literature

The Other al-Ḥusayn: The Hero of Karbalāʾ in Contemporary Egyptian Literature

Abstract

Al-Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī is a hero of the Islamic history who stands against the oppressor for the sake of justice. His tragic death has been a major theme in Shiʿi literature, but he is highly esteemed also in Sunni Islam, especially in Egypt. This paper aims to present the other – less known – al-Ḥusayn through the literary representations made by Egyptian writers of the 20th and 21st centuries, who have read this transhistorical figure according to the political and social environment that they lived in. The martyr has become eternal symbol of resistance and struggle and a narrative lens to talk freely about the political events that upset Republican Egypt.


Open access | Peer reviewed

Submitted: Feb. 14, 2022 | Accepted: March 25, 2022 | Published June 30, 2022 | Language: it

Keywords Ahl al-baytRevolutionary martyrKarbalāʾʿAlīal-Ḥusayn bEgyptian contemporary literature


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