Prophets and Priests of the Nation
Naguib Mahfouz's Karnak Café and the 1967 Crisis in Egypt
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8965558 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Benjamin Geer (0000-0002-2449-8558, University of London, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2009 |
| Volume | 41 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 669b-669b |
| Publication date | 2009-11-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal Middle East Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0020-7438 • E-ISSN: 1471-6380 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0020743809990444 |
| OpenAlex | W4240371403 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 42 |
Similarities between religion and nationalism are well known but not well understood. They can be explained by drawing on Pierre Bourdieu's sociological theory in order to consider symbolic interests and the strategies employed to advance them. In both religion and nationalism, the “strategy of the prophets” relies on charisma while the “strategy of the priests” relies on cultural capital. In 20th-century Egypt, nationalism permitted intellectuals whose cultural capital was mainly secular, such as Naguib Mahfouz, to become “priests of the nation” in order to compete with the ʿulamaʾ for prestige and influence. However, it severely limited their autonomy, particularly after Nasser took power and became a successful nationalist prophet. Mahfouz's novel Al-Karnak , which explores the fate of the Nasser regime's political prisoners and the effects of Egypt's 1967 military defeat, reflects this limitation. Under a nationalist regime, the film adaptation of the novel contributed to Mahfouz's heteronomy
Ancient history · Autonomy · Capital (architecture · Charisma · Heteronomy · Independence (probability theory · Nationalism · Order (exchange · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Prestige · Sociology · Spanish Civil War · Theology · African history and culture studies · Classics · History · Islamic Studies and History · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Law · Middle East Politics and Society · Philosophy · Religious studies · Turkey's Politics and Society
Old societies and new states
Egypt, Islam, and the Arabs
Workers on the Nile
Nasser and His Generation
Nations and Nationalism since 1780
The field of cultural production
Critical Perspectives on Naguib Mahfouz
Egypt as a Woman
Contemporary Arab Thought
Nations and Nationalism
Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought
Cairo University and the Making of Modern Egypt
Culture and Power
The Egypt of Nasser and Sadat
Political Religion
Political Religion
Politics of Piety
Islamic fundamentalism and the intellectuals
Some Recent Works of Najîb Maḥfûẓ
Enlightenment by Fiat
Imagined communities
Memory, Legend and Politics
The field of cultural production, or
Emile Durkheim and the Philosophy of Nationalism
Une interprétation de la théorie de la religion selon Max Weber
Egypt
La production de la croyance
Imagined Communities. Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism
Le champ scientifique
Le sens pratique
Bridging the Study of Culture and Religion
La distinction, critique sociale du jugement
Religion and Politics in the Modern World
Spiritual Capital
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,13 |
| Citation span | 2011 - 2022 (12) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |