Mikhail, a historian, spent years in the Egyptian National Archives in the first decade of this century, conducting research for what would be his doctoral dissertation on Ottoman Egypt. This book documents his experience in those archives, navigating the bureaucracy that governs Egypt’s national patrimony and coming to know the people who inhabit this tiny corner of the country’s vast officialdom. From the invisible director to the imperious reading room manager, the hapless gofers who retrieve documents from the dank basement storerooms, the family members who squat in the rundown café brewing tea all day, and the security guards sitting behind their old wooden desks, the people of the archives played their roles unquestioningly. The prospect of a visit by Suzanne Mubarak, then the first lady, occasions the installation of desktop computers, a fresh coat of paint, new flooring in the reading room, and an inspection visit by the minister of culture. Mubarak never does make it to the archives, but the mere promise of her appearance galvanized otherwise neglected maintenance. An elegant and provocative account, this slim volume captures the system of arbitrary rules and capricious exemptions on which tyranny, large and small, relies.
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Source link : https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/my-egypt-archive
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Publish date : 2023-12-12 03:00:00
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