Composing Egypt: reading, writing, and the emergence of a modern nation, 1870-1930

264 Pages·2017·20.09 MB·English

by  Yousef, Hoda A

COM POSI NG EGY P T

C O M P O S I N G
E G Y P T
Reading, Writing, and the Emergence
of a Modern Nation, 1870–1930
HODA A. YOUSEF
STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
STANFORD, CALIFORNIA
Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
©2016 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
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information storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission of
Stanford University Press.
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, archival-quality paper
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from
the Library of Congress
ISBN 978-0-8047-9711-5 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-8047-9921-8 (electronic)
Typeset by Bruce Lundquist in 10/14 Minion Pro
In Memory of Nina Tahiyya

CON T EN TS
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Note on Transliterations and Translations xv
Prologue 1
Introduction: Literacies, Publics, and Gender 3
1 The Discourse and Practice of Everyday Literacies 25
2 Literacies of Exclusion: Mistresses of the Pen 49
3 Writing for the Public: Schooled Literacies 77
4 Writing to Be Seen and Heard: Petitions and Protests 103
5 Literacy for All: Ummiyya, Arabic, and the Public Good 129
Conclusion: Literacy and Literacies 157
Notes 165
Bibliography 217
Index 237

I L LUST R AT IONS
Figures
1.1 Domestic Postal Service for Egypt, 1880–1930 45
4.1 Handwritten Group Petition from Fāqūs, 1915 106
4.2 Domestic Telegrams Sent in Egypt, 1880–1930 109
4.3 Article-Petition, 1909 113
4.4 Group Petition, 1915 117
4.5 Group Petition with Nationalist Crest, 1917 118
4.6 “Form” Petition, 1919 119
4.7 Pamphlet Petition, 1925 127
C.1 “Reading Is for Everyone, 2007–2008,” Cairo, Egypt 158
Tables
I.1 Official Literacy Rates, 1897–1927 19
3.1 Schools and Students, 1875 versus 1915 82
5.1 Kuttāb Inspections and Subsidies, 1895–1905 151