Dr H Bastawy | University of Leeds (original) (raw)
Papers by Dr H Bastawy
Nile Magazine , 2020
SHIPPING HERITAGE: The Colossal Missions of Transporting Ramesses’ head and Cleopatra’s Needle to... more SHIPPING HERITAGE:
The Colossal Missions of Transporting Ramesses’ head and Cleopatra’s Needle to Victorian England.
‘Adam Bede: An Ancient Egyptian Book of Genesis’ in Victorian Literary Culture and Ancient Egypt, ed. by Eleanor Dobson (Manchester: Manchester University Press, August 20). , 2020
Victorian Days and the Arabian Nights’, Coleção Hespérides. Literatura, Centro de Estudos Humanísticos, Universidad de Minho – Portugal., 2020
The present paper assesses some aspects of the influence of The Arabian Nights on nineteenth-cent... more The present paper assesses some aspects of the influence of The Arabian Nights on nineteenth-century English literature and how this in turn impacted on British Imperial policy, leading to the invasion of Egypt in 1882. Antoine Galland's Grub-Street translation (1706-21) and Edward William Lane's annotated translation (1838-40) are examined for their misrepresentations of Eastern Mediterranean cultures. Burton's and Payne's are not relevant to the purposes of this research as they were published after 1882. The misrepresentations examined in Galland's and Lane's translations are traced in nineteenth-century English literature to highlight how such misconceptions about Eastern Mediterranean cultures became instilled and widely accepted in Victorian culture. Due to wordage limitations only three key texts by three different authors have been closely analysed, with references to other works where relevant. These texts are William Beckford's Vathek (1786), Charles Dickens' Hard Times (1854) and Benjamin Disraeli's Tancred (1847). Through analysing historical accounts of events and examining several political sources, the paper ends by establishing two points: the Nights-Orientalist course influenced politicians to think of the Near East as a potential region for Imperial expansion; and politicians and statesmen manipulated the misconceptions, which developed through the Nights-Orientalist course, to justify to the British public the British occupation of Egypt in 1882.
Tradition(s )- Innovation(s) en Angleterre au XIXe siecle, 2017
Abstract attached!
From their initiation as an art movement in the mid-1840s, the Pre-Raphaelites rooted themselves ... more From their initiation as an art movement in the mid-1840s, the Pre-Raphaelites rooted
themselves within the notion of rebelling against Victorian art traditions by drawing upon the
stylistic tools of pre-Renaissance art. Similarly, Aubrey Beardsley’s short career in the fin de
siècle was oriented within his departure from Victorian-accepted artistic norms and framed
his work within Japanese- as well as Gothic-inspired style. This movement, bearing apparent
similarity between rebellious art in mid-Victorian era and its counterpart in the Victorian fin
de siècle, makes it all the more surprising that it has not been the subject of a thorough
analysis, if discussed previously at all. I argue in the present paper that, in spite of their
different styles, Pre-Raphaelite John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti on one hand,
and Aubrey Beardsley on the other, were similar in their rebelliousness by attempting to
break away from Victorian art traditions. Furthermore, by drawing on Carol Jacobi’s ‘Salt,
Sugar and Curdled Milk’, I argue that there is an added element to the comparison which
goes beyond the apparent rebellious transgression and further assimilates two stylistically
different but similarly rebellious modes of art.
Imagining the Victorians
Christina Rossetti’s poem, Goblin Market, has been the subject of critical debate since its first... more Christina Rossetti’s poem, Goblin Market, has been the subject of critical debate since its first publication in 1862. Any interpretation of Goblin Market appears to be plausible, but no one single reading successfully becomes the ‘one right total meaning’ of the text. For instance, Gilbert and Gubar combine feminist and psycho-analytical readings of the text, alluding briefly to the sexual and religious meanings, but completely overlooking its Marxist and queer implications. In an authoritative tone they state, ‘Obviously the conscious or semi-conscious allegorical intention of this narrative poem is sexual/religious.’ Helsinger, on the other hand, mainly concentrates on ‘women’s relation’ to the ‘male marketplace’ without being drawn to any of the religious references in Laura’s temptation, the sexual and queer imagery used in depicting the sisters’ solidarity, or the uncanny nature of the goblins. Even Campbell’s ambitious attempt at a feminist, Marxist, psychoanalytic reading falls short of recognizing any religious or sexual value to the poem. I argue in the present paper that a psycho-analytic reading of Rossetti’s Goblin Market could successfully sustain itself, combining elements of Marxist, feminist, religious, sexual and queer readings under the banner of the unconscious.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms: a. Authors retain copyright a... more Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms: a. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal. b. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access). antae is an international refereed postgraduate journal aimed at exploring current issues and debates within English Studies, with a particular interest in literature, criticism and their various contemporary interfaces. Set up in 2013 by postgraduate students in the Department of English at the University of Malta, it welcomes submissions situated across the interdisciplinary spaces provided by diverse forms and expressions within narrative, poetry, theatre, literary theory, cultural criticism, media studies, digital cultures, philosophy and language studies. Creative writing is also accepted.
Nile Magazine , 2020
SHIPPING HERITAGE: The Colossal Missions of Transporting Ramesses’ head and Cleopatra’s Needle to... more SHIPPING HERITAGE:
The Colossal Missions of Transporting Ramesses’ head and Cleopatra’s Needle to Victorian England.
‘Adam Bede: An Ancient Egyptian Book of Genesis’ in Victorian Literary Culture and Ancient Egypt, ed. by Eleanor Dobson (Manchester: Manchester University Press, August 20). , 2020
Victorian Days and the Arabian Nights’, Coleção Hespérides. Literatura, Centro de Estudos Humanísticos, Universidad de Minho – Portugal., 2020
The present paper assesses some aspects of the influence of The Arabian Nights on nineteenth-cent... more The present paper assesses some aspects of the influence of The Arabian Nights on nineteenth-century English literature and how this in turn impacted on British Imperial policy, leading to the invasion of Egypt in 1882. Antoine Galland's Grub-Street translation (1706-21) and Edward William Lane's annotated translation (1838-40) are examined for their misrepresentations of Eastern Mediterranean cultures. Burton's and Payne's are not relevant to the purposes of this research as they were published after 1882. The misrepresentations examined in Galland's and Lane's translations are traced in nineteenth-century English literature to highlight how such misconceptions about Eastern Mediterranean cultures became instilled and widely accepted in Victorian culture. Due to wordage limitations only three key texts by three different authors have been closely analysed, with references to other works where relevant. These texts are William Beckford's Vathek (1786), Charles Dickens' Hard Times (1854) and Benjamin Disraeli's Tancred (1847). Through analysing historical accounts of events and examining several political sources, the paper ends by establishing two points: the Nights-Orientalist course influenced politicians to think of the Near East as a potential region for Imperial expansion; and politicians and statesmen manipulated the misconceptions, which developed through the Nights-Orientalist course, to justify to the British public the British occupation of Egypt in 1882.
Tradition(s )- Innovation(s) en Angleterre au XIXe siecle, 2017
Abstract attached!
From their initiation as an art movement in the mid-1840s, the Pre-Raphaelites rooted themselves ... more From their initiation as an art movement in the mid-1840s, the Pre-Raphaelites rooted
themselves within the notion of rebelling against Victorian art traditions by drawing upon the
stylistic tools of pre-Renaissance art. Similarly, Aubrey Beardsley’s short career in the fin de
siècle was oriented within his departure from Victorian-accepted artistic norms and framed
his work within Japanese- as well as Gothic-inspired style. This movement, bearing apparent
similarity between rebellious art in mid-Victorian era and its counterpart in the Victorian fin
de siècle, makes it all the more surprising that it has not been the subject of a thorough
analysis, if discussed previously at all. I argue in the present paper that, in spite of their
different styles, Pre-Raphaelite John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti on one hand,
and Aubrey Beardsley on the other, were similar in their rebelliousness by attempting to
break away from Victorian art traditions. Furthermore, by drawing on Carol Jacobi’s ‘Salt,
Sugar and Curdled Milk’, I argue that there is an added element to the comparison which
goes beyond the apparent rebellious transgression and further assimilates two stylistically
different but similarly rebellious modes of art.
Imagining the Victorians
Christina Rossetti’s poem, Goblin Market, has been the subject of critical debate since its first... more Christina Rossetti’s poem, Goblin Market, has been the subject of critical debate since its first publication in 1862. Any interpretation of Goblin Market appears to be plausible, but no one single reading successfully becomes the ‘one right total meaning’ of the text. For instance, Gilbert and Gubar combine feminist and psycho-analytical readings of the text, alluding briefly to the sexual and religious meanings, but completely overlooking its Marxist and queer implications. In an authoritative tone they state, ‘Obviously the conscious or semi-conscious allegorical intention of this narrative poem is sexual/religious.’ Helsinger, on the other hand, mainly concentrates on ‘women’s relation’ to the ‘male marketplace’ without being drawn to any of the religious references in Laura’s temptation, the sexual and queer imagery used in depicting the sisters’ solidarity, or the uncanny nature of the goblins. Even Campbell’s ambitious attempt at a feminist, Marxist, psychoanalytic reading falls short of recognizing any religious or sexual value to the poem. I argue in the present paper that a psycho-analytic reading of Rossetti’s Goblin Market could successfully sustain itself, combining elements of Marxist, feminist, religious, sexual and queer readings under the banner of the unconscious.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms: a. Authors retain copyright a... more Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms: a. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal. b. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access). antae is an international refereed postgraduate journal aimed at exploring current issues and debates within English Studies, with a particular interest in literature, criticism and their various contemporary interfaces. Set up in 2013 by postgraduate students in the Department of English at the University of Malta, it welcomes submissions situated across the interdisciplinary spaces provided by diverse forms and expressions within narrative, poetry, theatre, literary theory, cultural criticism, media studies, digital cultures, philosophy and language studies. Creative writing is also accepted.