Critical Perspectives on Yusuf Idris.

Boullata, Issa J.

The most recent volume in the Critical Perspectives series published by Three Continents Press deals with the Egyptian writer Yusuf Idris (1927-91), one of the most illustrious authors of the modern Arab world. With over thirty-five titles to his name, he is an acknowledged master of the Arabic short story, who has also written socially committed novels, innovative plays, and thought-provoking essays.

The volume contains a collection of seventeen previously published critical studies on Idris written by different hands. It does not include studies on Idris's essays but does offer nine on his short stories, four on his novels, and four on his plays. Of these studies, seven are translated from the Arabic; the remaining ten are taken from books and articles originally published in English.

A compiler of a book on such a famous and frequently studied author as Idris faces l'embarras du choix, or, as Roger Allen states in the preface, is confronted with an embarras de richesses. From the large number of critical studies on Idris in English and Arabic, Allen has made a judicious and balanced selection by choosing three pieces published in the 1960s, seven in the 1970s, and seven in the 1980s. All written by well-known scholars and critics, the selected studies analyze a representative number of Idris's works and make available in one handy book an intelligent introduction to his fictional and dramatic universe and a good evaluation of his literary legacy.

The volume is divided into three sections: one on Idris's short stories, another on his novels, and a third on his plays. At the beginning of each section the editor has included critical studies that have a more general perspective and help assess Idris's contribution to the genre dealt with in that section. These critical studies are followed in each section by others that focus on particular works and offer in-depth analytic considerations of theme or technique.

The most creative period of Idris's life was the 1950s and 1960s. He had just graduated from medical school in 1951 and had begun practicing medicine in some of the poorest sections of Cairo as Egypt was undergoing national transformation after the 1952 revolution. He gradually moved from social realism in his writing to a surrealist mode that helped him discuss deeper philosophical ideas and social issues. He quit medical practice in 1967 but continued to write, devoting less of his time to fiction and drama and more to essays as a columnist for Al-Jumhuriyya and, later, for the prestigious Al-Ahram. In 1988 he was awarded the Saddam Husayn Prize in Literature.

A unique autobiographical piece written in English by Idris himself in 1983 is published for the first time at the beginning of the book. Originally intended for World Literature Today as a preliminary to Idris's serving on the jury for the Neustadt Prize in Literature (a service he declined), it is a valuable addition to the volume. So is the bibliography of works by and about Idris at the end of the book.

Issa J. Boullata McGill University, Montreal