Travel Narratives of Celebi, Cesaire, Basho and Mahfouz:Individual and social landscapes of culture - Research Paper Example

Download file to see previous pages But soon the protagonist is seen setting out on a journey in which he hopes to find an eternal remedy. Thus travel became a metaphor of life and human quest. For the narrator in this text, the mythical figure of Zaabalawi, was an elusive, yet very powerful destiny, in search of whom, he set out on a journey through the Cairo streets. What he encountered throughout his travel, were glimpses of the common destiny of human history itself. So when the narrator met the musician, he mused, “I went to the musician’s house in Tabakshiyya, where I found him in a room tastefully furnished in the old style, its walls redolent with history” (Mahfouz, 2534-5). The narrator was always attentive to the details of his surroundings and to the images he saw throughout the journey. Thus, “the lushness of the cosy carpet” that he has seen amidst his travel (Mahfouz, 2532), “the sheep skin rug” of old Hassenein (Mahfouz, 2534) and “the silk galabeya and a carefully wound turban” of the drunkard (Mahfouz, 2536) got entry into the narrative.
Throughout the journey, what the narrator has seen is the loss of memory regarding traditional and spiritual values in the face of modernity (Mahfouz, 2537). Thus this short story has relocated itself as a travel through the inner recesses of human culture. The narrator was drunk and asleep (which is another form of memory loss) when finally Zaabalawi came to him. When he woke up, he knew that Zaabalawi had come. ...Download file to see next pagesRead More