Mahfouz between Lukácsian and Brechtian Approaches to Realism

Abstract

In his article between Lukacsian and Brechtian Approaches to Realism David F. DiMeo compares the interpretations of realism by the leading Arabic author of socially committed fiction to the theories of Bertolt Brecht and Gyorgy Lukacs. The early works of novelist Najib Mahfouz feature a Lukacsian approach, embracing critical realism to present a totalizing view of the social system, as experienced by credible, sympathetic characters. By the 1960s, disillusioned with this method, Mahfouz turned to a more Brechtian approach, seeking to highlight social injustices by alienating the audience from identification with the characters or particular situations through ambiguous narratives and unsympathetic characters. While Mahfouz did not overtly claim allegiance to these European Marxist theorists, the similarity in his experiments with realism stems from two possible, but opposing interpretations of realism, the same interpretations which had divided Lukacs and Brecht. David F. DiMeo, between Lukacsian and Brechtian Approaches to Realism page 2 of 8 CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 12.3 (2010):