One of the icons of Arabic literature, and a wonderful wonderful Latifat Al-Zayat, despite the passage of nearly 60 years since its publication, is the novel "The Open Door", which was published in 1960, and was ranked 104th, among the list of the best hundred Arab novels from the Union of Arab Writers.
The story revolves around Laila, the smart, full of vitality girl, who lives in a traditional society that awaits women except submission and obedience, but Laila is not ready to surrender easily, so she fights for her freedom as a human being, and she also engages in the national movement for the liberation of her country as well. And while Egypt boils and erupts during the 1940s and 1950s facing obstacles and victories, we live with Laila her hopes, defeats, and victories in her personal life for the sake of sincere love that she aspires to, so will she find in herself the power to open the door and start?
The novel “Open Door” is one of the turning points in the history of the Arabic novel in Egypt since its inception by “Al-Muwailhi’s hand” and its development by “Tawfiq Al-Hakim” and then “Mahfouz”; where women were removed from the social margin in writing, and the women and narrators were made the center of the event The historical, after attention was focused on the group's tale and its quest for emancipation and renaissance.
This novel is the actual beginning that opened the way for the real novel of the Egyptian writers, and it largely represents the reality that was present in Egypt during the fifties in the twentieth century, as the novel clarified many of how the Egyptian people interconnected that time in front of the English occupation.
The director Henri Barakat turned her into a movie in 1963, starring Faten Hamama and Saleh Selim, so he met with great success and won two awards for the best movie and best actress for Faten Hamama at the Jakarta Film Festival, and she also had an English translation.
The late novelist Dr. Radwa Ashour wrote about the novel "The Open Door" a milestone in the writing of the Arab woman .. Latifa Al-Zayyat is an authentic writer .. She did not portray the endeavor for freedom as an easy and clear way, but rather embodied his misfortunes, difficulties, and pitfalls, but also with his splendor and serenity.
Tue, Apr. 14, 2020
