Original language | English |
---|---|
Title of host publication | Routledge Handbook on Cairo: Histories, Representations and Discourses |
Editors | Nezar AlSayyad |
Place of Publication | New York, NY, United States |
Publisher | Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group |
Volume | 1 |
Edition | 1st |
ISBN (Print) | 9780367895938 |
Publication status | Published - 2022 |
Abstract
This chapter examines the observations made by Egyptian intellectuals who visited Paris, in nineteenth-century literature, as this was a time when the two cities of Paris and Cairo were often presented as icons of urban modernity. While most previous studies explore the colonial nature of the Western influence in the area, this chapter analyzes Egyptian intellectual reactions to European advancement. Moreover, it examines “tamaddun”, a newly developed term at the forefront of this wave of intellectual and urban progress which did not simply refer to a city’s infrastructure and technology, rather it was a broader understanding of intellectual ideas and legislative regulations.