January 29th, 2009
Culture of Egypt. The Traditions of Egypt. Cuisine of Egypt
For most Egyptians, the pace and way of life have changed slightly for many centuries. But 20 century has made its adjustments in the form of soft drinks, jeans and television. But for many fellahs (farmers) lifestyle remains the same. Among the Egyptians believe ‘it will happen what should happen’ is strong. Local people are fatalists, accustomed for thousand floods, famines, epidemics and incursions. The life of most Egyptians dependes on the same circumstances as the lives of their ancestors.
Painting is part of Egyptian life since the first Unas’s Pyramid in Sakkare dated 24 century BC. But the development of this art was during the life of Pharaohes the New Kingdom, who wanted that their graves were painted with scenes of life and the afterlife resurrection. Modern Paintings of Egypt submit to the influence of the West, but in recent Egyptian artists are increasingly returning to the distinctive culture of its people. The most famous artists of the country are Gazbiya Seri, Indzhi Eflatoun, Abdel Wahab Morse, Adel al-Sivi and Wahib Nasser.
Om Koltum was the embodiment of the national music for the whole Egypt - “the mother of Egypt.” She died in 1975, but her music and image are popular to this day. Her songs, based on poetry and operettas, are the best of Egyptian music for a Western man. Other well-known performers are Abdel Halim al-Hafez and Mohammed al-DAS Vahaad. In modern Egyptian music, there are elements of the west, and a new wave of performers are Iheb Tavflik, Mohammed Fouad and Hakim.
While Egypt is famous for belly dance, but the free movement of the body in public places are vulgar signs of promiscuity. Most belly dance performers in tourist hotels and resorts are Americans or Europeans because Muslim indecent behavior in humans so defiantly. Those dancers, who are Egyptian, as Fifi Abdou, have a personal protection to protect against Islamic fanatics. However, the big festivals, such as weddings and private parties, belly dancing is part of the general merriment.
Najib Makfuz won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988. His work is called “The Cairo Trilogy”. Makfuz wrote more 40 novels and plays. His novel “Children of the Alley” is still banned in Egypt, and many people believe that it is unreasonable (in 1994 an attempt was on the life of 83-year-old author, and many think that the book was the cause of that). Other well-known authors are Tevfik Hakim, Yahya Hakki and Yusuf Idris. Nawal al-Saadawi is the most famous writer after Makfuz, although she is known abroad than at home. Her well-known novels - “Woman at Point Zero”; “The Hidden Face of Eve”, banned in Egypt; “Death of an ex-Minister”. The writer Ahdav Sueyf is living in London and writes her books there. Her most recent book “The Map of Love” was nominated for the competition of Booker.
February 25th, 2009
Hammett Says :
Hello Guru, what entice you to post an article. This article was extremely interesting, especially since I was searching for thoughts on this subject last Thursday.