Leaving Egypt: Scenes and Fields from an Autobiography

Author's name: Eihab Hassandar Publisher: Al-Ain for Publishing and Distribution Year of publication: 2018 Literary classification: Biographies and Memoirs Brief about the book: Leaving Egypt An unconventional autobiography that addresses the story of the escape of the famous Egyptian-American thinker and critic Eihab Hassan from Egypt, in the mid-1940s. This complex biography reveals the social, political, and cultural conditions that prompted Eihab Hassan to make this decision, as the book covers one of the most dangerous periods in modern Egyptian history. Moreover, it uncovers many human aspects of this enigmatic man’s personality, who has not seen his parents since emigrating to the United States except once, and has never felt the desire to see them since that time. Eihab Hassan fled Egypt never to return, but it remained a haunting obsession until he died at the age of ninety. Egypt continued to pursue him like an incurable and inescapable ailment until, during a visit to Munich, he decided to write a torn narrative similar in structure to suit one of the greatest postmodern theorists and critics. It was “Leaving Egypt,” with all its biblical allusions that are never forgotten, where the land is cursed and pursues both the resident and the fugitive alike. Mr. Imam is a prominent Egyptian critic and translator, and one of the most important figures who introduced modern critical theory to the Arab reader. Born in 1945, he studied English literature at Alexandria University. Over more than thirty years, and still ongoing, he has produced a remarkable body of work translating modern critical theory and presenting its distinctive and foundational texts.