Abstract

The sub-genre of the campus novel is relatively new, only starting in its recent form in the mid-fifties in England and the United States. There have been attempts for writing campus novels in Arabic modern fiction, but none of them were consciously categorized under this sub-genre; the term is fairly new to the Arabic literary scene. This thesis is a comparative study of Atyaf (Specters) (1999), an Egyptian modern campus novel by writer and professor Radwa Ashour (1946-2014), which ushers this sub-genre in Arabic literature, and Disgrace, by South African writer and Professor J. M. Coetzee (1940- ). Atyaf is semi-autobiographical, with an intersection of the life of a fictional character into the narrator’s own. Creating a double corresponding to the main character is indicative, of double trajectories that could have been undertaken. Disgrace, though fictional, overlaps with Coetzee’s professional career as a professor at Cape Town University. As an academic, Ashour firmly believed in institutional autonomy and academic freedom and struggled against authoritarian surveillance in the university. Coetzee wrote intensively on the importance of establishing institutional autonomy and defending academic freedom. He also had expressed concerns about intellectuals and their role inside the walls of the university. By exposing corruption, revealing issues of lack of intellectual integrity, hypocrisy, abuse, academic life in the so-called ‘Ivory-Tower,’ I attempt to explore how both Ashour and Coetzee expose the reality of the university against its idealistic, utopian picture as woven in the consciousness of the public. The thesis addresses the image, role, function, and social position of the intellectual and the University as presented in theoretical works of Edward Said, touching on definitions by Martin Heidegger, Cardinal Newman, Michel Foucault, Paul Baran, and Taha Hussein.

Department

English & Comparative Literature Department

Degree Name

MA in English & Comparative Literature

Graduation Date

6-1-2016

Submission Date

May 2016

First Advisor

Ghazoul, Ferial J.

Committee Member 1

Abdelnasser, Tahia

Committee Member 2

Mattawa, Khaled

Extent

62 p.

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Rights

The author retains all rights with regard to copyright. The author certifies that written permission from the owner(s) of third-party copyrighted matter included in the thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study has been obtained. The author further certifies that IRB approval has been obtained for this thesis, or that IRB approval is not necessary for this thesis. Insofar as this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study is an educational record as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 USC 1232g), the author has granted consent to disclosure of it to anyone who requests a copy.

Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval

Not necessary for this item

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