Revolution Is My Name: An Egyptian Woman's Diary from Eighteen Days in Tahrir

by Mona Prince, Samia Mehrez (Translator)

Overview

What it was like and how it felt to be an Egyptian woman revolutionary during the eighteen days that changed Egypt forever

Mona Prince’s humorous and insightful memoir tells of one woman’s journey as a hesitant revolutionary through the eighteen days of the Egyptian uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

Alongside the brutal violence of the security forces, the daily battles of resistance, and the author’s own abduction and beating at the hands of the police, this is a story of exceptional solidarity, perseverance, and humanity. Juggling humor and horror, hope and fear, certitude and anxiety, Prince immerses us in the details of each unpredictable and fateful day. She mixes the political and the personal, the public and the private to expose and confront divisions within her family, as well as her own social prejudices, which she discovers through encounters with diverse sectors of society, from police conscripts to street children.

Revolution Is My Name is a testimony not only of women’s participation in the Egyptian uprising and their courage in confronting constrictive gender divides at home and on the street, but equally of their important contribution as chroniclers of the momentous events of January and February 2011.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781617976179
Publisher:	American University in Cairo Press, The
Publication date:	01/21/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	200
File size:	882 KB

About the Author

Mona Prince was born in Cairo in 1970. She is associate professor of English Literature at Suez Canal University in Egypt. She has published novels (including So You May See, AUC Press, 2011) and short stories in Arabic, and has translated both poetry and short stories. In 2012, she nominated herself for the Egyptian presidency in the run-up to the country’s first ever democratic presidential elections.

Samia Mehrez is professor of Arabic literature in the Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations and director of the Center for Translation Studies at the American University in Cairo. She is the author of The Literary Atlas of Cairo (AUC Press, 2010) and The Literary Life of Cairo (AUC Press, 2011), and editor of Translating Egypt’s Revolution: The Language of Tahrir (AUC Press, 2012).

Mona Prince was born in Cairo in 1970. She is associate professor of English Literature at Suez Canal University in Egypt. She has published novels (including So You May See, AUC Press, 2011) and short stories in Arabic, and has translated both poetry and short stories. In 2012, she nominated herself for the Egyptian presidency in the run-up to the country’s first ever democratic presidential elections.
Samia Mehrez is professor emerita of Arabic literature in the Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations and founder of the Center for Translation Studies at the American University in Cairo (2009–2021). She is the author of Egyptian Writers between History and Fiction (AUC Press, 1994) and Egypt's Culture Wars (2008), and the editor of The Literary Atlas of Cairo, The Literary Life of Cairo, and Translating Egypt’s Revolution: The Language of Tahrir (AUC Press, 2010, 2011, 2012).

Table of Contents

1. Tuesday, January 25, 2011
2. Wednesday, January 26, 2011
3. Suez
4. Thursday, January 27, 2011
5. Friday of Rage, January 28, 2011
6. Saturday January 29
7. Sunday, January 30: Afternoon
8. The First Million-Protestor March: Tuesday, February 1
9. Wednesday, February 2: The Battle of the Camel
10. Thursday, February 3
11. Friday of Departure
12. The Week of Perseverance
13. Friday of Deliverance: February 11

Editorial Reviews

"For thinking about how the collective memory of revolution is being created right now, even as the revolution regains its steam, there is no better place to start than with Mona Prince's remarkable memoir of the 25 January Uprising. Revolution is My Name (Ismi Thawra) tells the story of revolution as it unfolds over eighteen days. It is a literary memoir in the best sense of the word. By this, I mean that it expresses and reflects on, rather than documents a set of lived experiences. Moreover, it is not merely a story about the unfolding of a revolution as told by a participant who was there. Arguably, the more important story is about the character of the narrator developing as an evolving, complicated revolutionary."—Elliott Colla, Jadaliyya

"Prince's prose is experientially unsettling and yet irrationally jovial, much like the iconic eighteen days she so vividly helps us relive. As revolution drifts further into individual and communal memory, Prince's retelling will remain a stubborn testament to the moments of hopeful triumph over the status quo."—Adel Iskandar, scholar of Arab Studies, Georgetown University, Washington DC

"This book offers a first rate discussion of all the important issues with which Egypt and Egyptians of different classes, genders, generations, ethnic groups, and political orientations continue to struggle. It encourages its readers to stay tuned to see what the Egyptian revolution, and those funny and unpredictable Egyptians, will eventually deliver."—Mervat F. Hatem, Professor of Political Science, Howard University, Washington DC

"Revolution is My Name is a beautifully written, detailed text, bringing together Facebook statuses, discussions on the streets, at home, and with friends, life on a daily basis in Tahrir, conversations with military and police soldiers, and much more. A must read for anyone interested in the experiential level of the revolution."—Atef Said, Visiting scholar and lecturer in Sociology, the University of Illinois at Chicago

"A unique contribution . . . by an observant and intelligent woman writer with an understanding of ordinary people."—Banipal

From the Publisher