The Suez Canal In the Egyptian novel : a postcolonial review

Abstract EN

The main aim of this paper is to present a postcolonial review of the symbolic literary references of the Suez Canal in selected Egyptian novels and to historically trace how the symbolic significance of the Suez Canal changed many times throughout a number of significant historical phases – the Suez Company's concession, the Suez Crisis, the ArabIsraeli wars and post-war era.

To achieve its purpose, this paper makes use of the concepts and ideas of Postcolonialism to discuss the relationship between history and literature and to examine how the Egyptian novel attempted, since the 1960s, to act as a counter discourse to the Western literary canon about the Suez Canal that served to reinforce colonialist ideology since its construction in the mid-nineteenth century.

I conclude the paper by pointing out that the symbolic significance of the Suez Canal in the modern Egyptian novel has changed considerably throughout a number of significant historical phases from being a symbol of domination and exploitation of the East to become a symbol of anti-colonial and anti-subjugation resistance.