Code Choice, Place and Identity in Egypt: Evidence from Two Novels

This article, written by Reem Bassiouney, examines the relationship between place, identity and language in two Egyptian novels: Qindīl Umm Hāshim (The Saint’s Lamp) by Yaḥyā Ḥaqqī (1944) and Awrāq al-narjis (Leaves of Narcissus) by Sumayyah Ramaḍān (2001). Both novels address questions of identity in Egypt, during and following the British occupation of the country. In the first novel, the protagonist studied in the UK and returned to Egypt during the British occupation, while in the second the protagonist studied in Ireland and returned to Egypt some fifty years after the period of British colonisation ended. Perceptively and convincingly, Bassiouney analyses the role of code choice – between Modern Standard Arabic and Egyptian Colloquial Arabic – in the two novels. Corresponding with Suleiman’s extensive work on code-switching in Middle Eastern communities, Bassiouney argues that the authors use code-switching in order to reflect the protagonists’ stance towards the self, towards others and towards place. She highlights that in matter of fact, code-switching in the two novels does not reflect real patterns of language use, rather redefines and reconstructs different stances held by the authors towards their protagonists.