Fawzia ASSAAD, born in Cairo under the maiden name Mikhail, currently
lives in Geneva. Her novels portray Egyptian society in all its complexity,
describing all social classes, the Muslims and the Christian Copts, the
customs, beliefs, humour, superstitions and politics. In each of her works,
a thread ties ancient Egypt to modern day life.
It is only since 1975 that Fawzia Assaad has been a novelist.
Indeed, she obtained a PhD from the Sorbonne in Philosophy and taught
Philosophy at the University of Cairo.
She resigned from her position as
university professor to follow and support her husband , a Doctor working
at the World Health Organisation, in his missions. She now has three
children and six grandchildren.
She initially continued to publish a large number of philosophical essays
in prestigious journals, but her interest gradually turned away from philosophy
towards mythology and the novel. Her first novel was published in
1975 and she was twice awarded prizes by the city of Geneva
for her novels.
In addition to her writings, Fawzia Assaad is very active in both
political and literary circles. She defends writers in prison by representing
the international PEN at the United Nations Commission for Human
Rights and she coorganizes a writer's retreat at the Chateau de Lavigny
near Lausanne.
* Sِren Kierkegaard,
Father of Existentialism
Cairo, Dar-el-Maaref, 1960.
On the absence of an absolute truth and the role of faith in
religious experiences.
In French:
Philosophical Essays in the Revue de Métaphysique
et de Morale from 1962 to 1973
Focusing on the different interpretations of Nietzsche's Philosophy.
The author emphasises the role of intertextuality and interpretation
which are shown to bring out different philosophies from a single text.
Novel sources such as the Iranian Zarathoustra and Kierkegaard's background
are considered. This new approach to Philosophy was presented at the Sorbonne
under the title:
Nietzsche et ses Interprètes: le Jeu des Formes
en Philosophie. (Nietzsche and his interpreters: the Game of Forms
in Philosophy.) Bulletin de la Société Française de Philosophie: Séance
du 22 mars 1969
Les Préfigurations Egyptiennes de la Pensée de
Nietzsche ( Egyptian Prefigurations of Nietzsche's Philosophy)
L'Age d'Homme Lausanne,Switzerland, December
1986.
In this work, the imagery of Nietzsche's works and of Ancient
Egyptian mythology are shown to be remarkably similar.
Through her different readings of Nietzsche Fawzia Assaad was drawn
to an imagery she found akin to that of Ancient Egyptian. She studied hieroglyphics
to go to the source of its meaning. Ironically, it was Heidegger,
though he denies the existence of Philosophy before the time of the
Greeks, who gave her , in his work on Nietzsche, the key to a double interpretation:
Nietzsche
interpreting Ancient Egypt thought, Ancient Egyptians interpreting Nietzsche.
Photo: Fakhry Assaad
Freud et les Mythes Egyptiens ( Freud and
the Egyptian Myths) Mythes et Psychanalyse, In-Press, Paris 1997, Actes
du Colloque de Cerisy-la-Salle.
Freud applied to his interpretation of Akhenaton's cultural revolution
a patriarchal structure stemming from Biblical roots.
NOVELS
* L'Egyptienne:
Mercure de France, Paris:1975.
Misriyya The Arabic translation was published in Cairo at Dar-el-Maaref in January
1997.
Layla the
English version shown right was published by Red Sea Press in 2004.
A somewhat autobiographical novel
about a Christian Coptic girl growing up in Cairo and her family
spanning the British occupation to the Arab Israeli War.
This novel features several women characters from different backgrounds
and portrays their traditions and their urge for change.The images
of the past are caught in everyday's life, the ancient myth of the Enemy
brothers perpetuates itself throughout the dramatic events of the Arab
Israeli war narrated with that Egyptian brand of humour that
heals the wounds of repeated occupations.
* Des Enfants
et des Chats (Of Kids and Cats)
P.M. Favre: Lausanne, Switzerland, February 1987.
The story of the war between twins whose souls are transformed into
cats at night in their sleep and the story of the war between Egypt
and Israel.
Photo: Fakhry Assaad
A Sultan is in search of a vizir. He informs the people of his vast
empire that whoever is able to carry a bag full of mice from Basra to Bagdad
will become his vizir. On the road, the mice rapidly gnawed their
way out of the bag. All those who tried failed with one exception and to
that man the Sultan said: "You are brave and you will become my vizir,
but just tell me how you managed".
"Trivial", said the man. "I go on my way until I feel the mice are
trying their way out, then I shake the bag hard, the mice accuse each other
of felony, bite, fight each other; when I feel peace and calm, I
shake again the bag, the mice, busy fighting, stay in the darkness,
and I repeat the shaking all along the way, every time it is necessary."
The Arab Israeli war is paralleled to the story of the vizir and the
bag of mice in this Muslim family saga. Written 10 years after L'Egyptienne,
it shows the same behavioural structure as the Christian family saga
of the former novel. Its youngest children are twins. A folk belief
says that the souls of twins become cats during their sleep and roam
around. Hurting them would hurt the twins themselves. In Ancient Egypt
cats were worshipped for their capacity of catching the lights in the dark
. Will these twin
brother and sister be more clairvoyant than the mice in the bag? Will
they perpetuate that other myth of Enemy Brothers?
* La Grande
Maison de Louxor ( The Great House of Luxor) L'Harmattan, Paris:
April 1992.
Photo: Francis Haller
In their mansion close to the temple of Luxor, an elderly Pacha and
his daughter host a beautiful collection of ancient art and bleed to see
their cultural inheritance threatened by dams, mass tourism, thefts, wars,
terrorism, and last but not least, sheer ignorance.
The Great House is in modern times a translation of the Ancient
Egyptian word Pharaoh Per Aa.This Great House next to the temple
of Luxor shelters in fact a famous Coptic Christian family whose descendant,
a pacha of the time of King Farouk, became very fond of Egyptian
art.
On the other side of the Nile the temple of Hatshepsout, the woman
Pharaoh, can be seen. The pacha loves his youngest daughter and indulges
in the belief that she would be a new Hatshepsout. Her name is Sawsan,
the Arabic for Susan and for the ancient Egyptian Seshen: the lotus that
was worshipped and deified because it opens up with the day as if to give
birth to the sun god. The author identifies herself with Sawsan and follows
her life path from the time of the early glory of her family
through the Revolution and the Arab-Israeli war. Because of
his notoriety, the pacha of Luxor had been treated as an enemy of the people. He
had collected beautiful works of ancient art. No one knows what became
of them.
HUTSHEPSOUT
Femme Pharaon Autumn 2000
Geuthner's Librairie Orientaliste,
12 rue Vavin 75006 Paris.
HATSHEPSUT
A WOMAN PHARAOH Arabic version published in 2003
A hybrid of legend and biography
"Ahlam et les Eboueurs du Caire"
editions de l'Hèbe (Ahlam and the Garbage Collectors of Cairo)
In her latest book, Fawzia Assaad documents with
great accuracy, detail
and precision the true story of the garbage collectors of Cairo. They gather and
sort the garbage, and
raise pigs. The reality of these marginal existences is portrayed in all its
brutality. Soeur Emmanuelle discovers these poor people and rapidly
perceives the industrial potential of introducing a compost plant. This
initiates a highly successful developmental effort, sustained by the
World Bank, governmental and non-governmental organizations, the
National church, and the Egyptian and foreign bourgeoisie. The garbage
collectors come to enjoy the benefits of education, water, electricity
and proper accommodations. In a city stifling under an exploding population, the
garbage collectors become aware of the ecological importance of their
activities. Under the pretext of modernization, foreign contractors are brought
in and threaten to deprive this tenuous community of the wealth it has forged
from trash.
At the center of the book is the story of a woman called Ahlam. Her name means
dreams. It expresses the aptitude these poor people have of blending a faith in
miracles with an acceptance of the harsh reality.
Ahlam receives lavish attention from a dedicated group of women from the
Egyptian Bourgeoisie, whose goal is to empower women through education and
financial independence. Yet her life is a constant struggle against poverty and
tradition.
Contributions to Collective Works:
Butor l'Egyptien ( Butor the Egyptian).
In Butor aux Quatre Vents: Jose Corti, Paris, 1997,
A fantasy literary Critique of Michel Butor who happened to teach
French in Minieh, Egypt before he became a well known writer whose seventieth
birthday was celebrated with this collective work.
Dreams, Rêves in Edge of Awareness for
the 50th Anniversary of World Health Organisation, Art for the World,
1998, published in French and English or in English and Spanish, it portrays
the destiny of a young woman living in a developing scavenger community.
Photo: Francis Haller
HUTSHEPSOUT
Femme Pharaon