Francophone Egyptian Nationalists, Anti-British Discourse, and European Public Opinion, 1885-1910: The Case of Mustafa Kamil and Ya'qub Sannu'

Abstract

This article analyzes how Egyptian nationalists utilized a European propaganda campaign aimed at combating and delegitimizing British colonial rule. In particular, it focuses on Ya'qub Sannu”s (1839-1912) and Mustafa Kamil's (1874-1908) political activities in late-nineteenth- to early-twentieth-century France. Aside from writing dozens of newspaper articles and letters appearing in the French press, both men conducted interviews, made countless speeches, and held many conferences and presentations throughout France and Europe in their continuing attempts at externally forcing a resolution to the Egyptian question. In examining many of these discourses, this article takes into account Sannu”s and Kamil's manipulations of European colonial rivalries, their repeated Francophile appeals, and their frequent exploitation of Anglophobic discourse. Through examining some of the “foreign policy” resistance strategies of colonized intellectuals, the article expands the geographic playing field of colonial-colonized encounters and contestations from the colonies to the heart of the metropole.

A generation of resistance

“…He vehemently criticized colonial influence in Egypt, and was subsequently exiled to France. Sannu’ continued his work there, where his discourse interfaced with that of Mustafa Kamal (1874–1908), a nationalist leader (Fahmy, 2008). Yet, after this brief surge in Egypt (1880–1910), satirical publication declined due to the application of a restrictive press law and British censorship during the First World War (Fahmy, 2011: 75–6).…”

Arabic Theater in Early Khedivial Culture, 1868–72: James Sanua Revisited

“…Because of the "exaggerated sense of self-importance" in his writings, his journalism is a challenging case of anti-British propaganda in the name of the Egyptian nation. 3 Sanua's first two significant biographers fell, to some extent, into this trap. In the 1950s and 1960s, press historian Ibrahim Abduh described him as a "Muslim Jew" (al-yahūdī al-muslim), 4 while political scientist Irene L. Gendzier invoked him as a "reminder that past generations witnessed a more amicable and constructive relationship between those two peoples."…”

H "Eλληνική" Αίγυπτος Ως Τόπος Ιστορίας Και Μνήμης

“…Για το δηµόσιο πολιτικό λόγο των εφέντηδων βλ. Kelidar 1993, Fahmy 2008 Χαρακτηριστικά, οι εφέντηδες διεκδίκησαν εκ µέρους των γυναικών το ρόλο τους ως «µητέρων του έθνους», προορισµένων να αναθρέψουν τις µεταγενέστερες, ανεξάρτητες γενιές πολιτών. Παράδειγµα του νέου πολιτικού λόγου σχετικά µε τις γυναίκες αποτελούν τα βιβλία του Qasim Amin The Liberation of Women και New Woman.…”