- Miramar (novel)
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Miramar Author(s) Naguib Mahfouz Original title ميرامار Translator Fatma Moussa Mahmoud, 1978 Country Egypt Language Arabic Genre(s) Novel Publisher Doubleday Publication date 1967 in Arabic (English translation 1978) Media type Print (Paperback) Pages 181 ISBN 0-385-26478-X OCLC Number 26262582 Dewey Decimal 892/.736 20 LC Classification PJ7846.A46 M513 1993 Miramar is a novel authored by Naguib Mahfouz, an Egyptian Nobel Prize-winning author. It was written in 1967 and translated into English in 1978.
Plot summary
The novel is set in 1960s Alexandria at the pension Miramar. The novel follows the interactions of the residents of the pension, its Greek mistress Mariana, and her servant. The interactions of all the residents is based around the servant girl Zohra, a beautiful peasant girl from the Beheira Governorate who has abandoned her village life.
As each character in turn fights for Zohra's affections or allegiance tensions and jealousies arise. In a style reminiscent of Akira Kurosawa's 1950 film Rashomon, the story is retold four times from the perspective of a different resident each time, allowing the reader to understand the intricacies of post-revolutionary Egyptian life.
Symbolism
As with many Naguib Mahfouz novels, Miramar is rife with symbolism. The character Zohra has been proposed to symbolize the ideal modern Egyptian/Egypt. She is hard working and honest but uneducated, and constantly being pulled by different forces. Among those pulling her and Egypt are Europeans, Egyptian nationalists (Wafd party), the wealthy upper-class, the Abdel Nasser regime and its followers, and the Muslim Brotherhood.
External links
Works of Naguib Mahfouz Old Egypt • Whisper of Madness • Mockery of the Fates • Rhadopis of Nubia • The Struggle of Tyba • Modern Cairo • Khan al-Khalili • Midaq Alley • The Mirage • The Beginning and the End • Cairo Trilogy • Palace Walk • Palace of Desire • Sugar Street • Children of Gebelawi • The Thief and the Dogs • Quail and Autumn • God's World • Zaabalawi • The Search • The Beggar • Adrift on the Nile • Miramar • The Pub of the Black Cat • Chitchat on the nile • A story without a beginning or an ending • The Honeymoon • Mirrors • Love under the rain • The Crime • al-Karnak • Respected Sir • The Harafish • Love above the Pyramid Plateau • The Devil Preaches • Love and the Veil • Arabian Nights and Days • Wedding Song • One hour remains • The Journey of Ibn Fattouma • Akhenaten, Dweller in Truth • The Day the Leader was Killed • Fountain and Tomb • Dreams of the Rehabilitation Period • The Seventh Heaven
Categories:- 1964 novels
- Novels by Naguib Mahfouz
- Alexandria in popular culture
- Novels set in Egypt
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