Traversing the historical and cross cultural boundaries in ahdaf souief's the map of love

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Philippine Normal University
College of Languages, Linguistics and Literature
Department of Languages, Bilingual Education and Literature

Subject: Litt 505 Literature of Emerging Countries
Professor: Dr. Ma. Antoinette C. Montealegre

Novel: The Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif

Discussants: Manuel, Jesullyna C.
Magbanua, Ma. Carmela B.
M. A. Ed Literature

September 25, 2010

TRAVERSING THE HISTORICAL AND CROSS CULTURAL BOUNDARIES IN AHDAF
SOUEIF’S THE MAP OF LOVE

I. Introduction
“It is very hard not to feel caught up in a terrible time of brutality
and we are helpless to do anything but wait for history to run its course.”
– Anna and Amal, The Map of Love p. 513

Love conquers all. Love is a wonderful feeling. Love heals all wounds. These are just some of the
clichés about love. But what can we say about love amidst the harshness and brutality of life? Can love really
conquer all? Does love really heal all wounds? What is so wonderful about love if one has to sacrifice to the
point of giving up one‟s self or personality?

In The Map of Love, Ahdaf Soueif weaves an account of the consequences of British imperialism
and the fierce political battles of the Egyptian Nationalists through the gorgeously romantic love story of
Anna Winterbourne and Sharif al-Baroudi. Told through the voice of Amal, Sharif‟s grandniece, Anna and
Sharif‟s story is echoed by the love affair between Isabel, their American great-granddaughter, and 'Omar,
Amal‟s brother, set against the continuing political turmoil of the Middle East.

II. The Author: Ahdaf Soueif

A. Life
Ahdaf Soueif was born in Egypt in 1950, but between the ages of four and
eight she lived in England while her mother studied for her PhD at London
University. She learned to read from Little Grey Rabbit and English comics. She has
taught at Cairo University and the University of King Seoud.

Traversing The Historical and Cross Cultural Boundaries in Ahdaf Soueif’s The Map of Love

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She returned to England in 1973 to study for a doctorate in linguistics at Lancaster University. She
has written for numerous newspapers and magazines, including the Sunday Telegraph, the TLS and
the Washington Post. Her first book Aisha was shortlisted for the Guardian Fiction Prize. Her most recent
novel is The Map of Love, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1999. Soueif writes primarily in
English, but her Arabic-speaking readers say they can hear the Arabic through the English. She
translated Mourid Barghouti's I Saw Ramallah (with a foreword by Edward Said) from Arabic into English.

In 2007, Soueif was one of more than 100 artists and writers who signed an open letter initiated
by Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism and the South West Asian, North African Bay Area Queers
(SWANABAQ) and calling on the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival "to honor calls for an
international boycott of Israeli political and cultural institutions, by discontinuing Israeli consulate
sponsorship of the LGBT film festival and not cosponsoring events with the Israeli consulate."

B. Works

Her debut novel, In the Eye of the Sun (1993), set in Egypt and England, recounts the maturing of
Asya, a beautiful Egyptian who, by her own admission, "feels more comfortable with art than with life." Her
second novel The Map of Love (1999) was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, has been translated into
21 languages and sold over a million copies. She has also published two works of short stories, Aisha (1983)
and Sandpiper (1996) - a selection from which was combined in the collection I Think Of You in 2007,
and 'Stories Of Ourselves' in 2010.

Along with in-depth and sensitive readings of Egyptian history and politics, Soueif also writes about
Palestinians in her fiction and non-fiction. A shorter version of "Under the Gun: A Palestinian Journey"
was originally published in The Guardian and then printed in full in Soueif's recent collection of
essays, Mezzaterra: Fragments from the Common Ground (2004) and she wrote the introduction to the
NYRB's reprint of Jean Genet's Prisoner of Love. In 2008 she initiated the first Palestine Festival of
Literature.

III. The Text: The Map of Love

A. Characters

Anna Winterbourne- The widow of Edward Winterbourne. She became fascinated with Egypt through the
stories narrated by her father-in-law, Sir Charles. She visited Egypt as a balm for her sadness when Edward
died. There she met and fell in love with Sharif Basha Al- Baroudi. When she married Sharif Basha, she
became outcast among English and the British in Egypt.


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Sharif Basha Al-Baroudi- Landowner and Notable and member of the Consultative Legislative Council
and a lawyer by profession. He fell in love and married Anna Winterbourne despite the Lord Cromer and
other Anna‟s kinsmen objection. He is active in Politics. He adheres education for women and education for
the common people by opening The School of Arts. He has no political allegiance. When he was offered a
position in the Cabinet he declines. He was assassinated and killed by an unknown group.

Sir Charles Winterbourne- Father in Law of Anna and father of Edward Winterbourne. He is a diplomat
active in public life. The letters of Anna that narrated the story were addressed to Sir Charles. He is also the
one who arranges the visit of Anna to Egypt.

Edward Winterbourne- husband of Anna. He went to war in Soudan and when he went home he was so
depressed. He died on March 20, 1899.

Caroline Bourke- Friend of Anna. Although her character is not fully developed in the story, some of the
letters to which the story is narrated were addressed to her. When Edward was sick and Anna is still in
England, she was the one who console Anna and gives her news about what is happening around them
(politically).

Emily- Anna‟s loyal attendant. She joined Anna in visiting Egypt. Emily is not fascinated with Egypt as
Anna was, she always wanted to go back to England. And when Anna married Sharif Basha Al- Baroudi, she
left Anna and went back to England. Despite being with Anna for so long, she cannot bear to stay in Egypt
and be with an Egyptian household and be an outcast in the English society.

Isabel Parkman- An American divorcee, who found the trunk load of letters of Anna Winterbourne. She
went to Omar Al-Ghamrawi for help in deciphering the letter, but Omar sent her to his sister Amal.
Unknowingly, Isabel Parkman is actually a descendant of Anna Winterbourne and Sharif Basha Al- Baroudi
and she was the cousin Amal and Omar. She fell in love with Omar.

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Jasmine Cabot- Mother of Isabel Parkman, also a descendant of Anna Winterbourne and Sharif Basha. She
is the daughter of Nur-Al-Haya. In the opening of the story, Jasmine is already old and is suffering from
Alzheimer. When she got sick, Isabel, found the trunk load full of letters in her house. For a short period of
time when she was younger she had a relationship with Omar. She died in the end of the story.

Amal – The sister of Omar, and a descendant of the sister of Sharif Basha, Layla. The story of Anna
Winterbourne is narrated through Amal. She was the one who deciphers and translate the letters. She lives
in Egypt. She an Isabel instantly became friends, a reminiscent of the friendship of Anna and Layla. She has
problem with keeping the School open in Minya.

Omar- Brother of Amal. He is a career pianist, conductor, and writer. He is also active in politics. He wrote
several books like The Politics of Culture 1992, A State of Terror 1994, Borders and Refuge in 1996. He fell in love,
first with Isabel‟s mother, Jasmine, then in the end of the story, he had a relationship with Isabel. He lives in
America.
Nur Al-Haya- The name literally means “Light of My Life.” The daughter of Sharif Basha and Anna. She
was still young when her father was murdered. She grew up in England.

Zeinab al-Ghamrawi- Mother of Sharif Basha Al-Baroudi. She accepted Anna as a part of the family.
Although at the beginning she was very hesitant in the prospect of Sharif Basha marrying an English
woman, because of the consequences it entails to both Sharif and Anna. She even reminded Sharif of what
Anna will lose in marrying him. But in the end, she also accepted and loved Anna as a true daughter.

Layla- The sister of Sharif Al-Baroudi. Her husband is Husni. At the instant she saw Anna, when she was
brought by her kidnapper in Sharif Basha‟s house, a deep friendship blossomed between them. A part of the
novel is written also based on her memoir. She narrated some incidents in the novel concerning her brother
and what happened to Anna when her brother was murdered.

Husni al-Ghamrawi- The husband of Anna. He studied law in Paris. He was arrested by the British during
a peaceful demonstration. Because of his arrest, some young radicals wanted to retaliate for the jailing of
Husni Al-Ghamrawi by kidnapping Anna.

Ahmad Al- Ghamrawi- son of Layla and Husni.

Tareq- Friend of Amal who pulled many strings to help her in many tight spots she is in. He uses his
connection in order to help Amal reopen the school. He also help her in asking for the release of some
Tawasi villagers who were imprisoned because they were suspected of having something to do with the
bombing incident in Luxor. In the end, he fell in love with Amal. He is very rich and he is an example of a
man who makes use of commercialism in order to prosper.


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Arwa Salih- Omar‟s friend who committed suicide because she thought that everything she is trying to fight
for is useless.

Mabrouka- The Ethiopian servant of Zeinab Al- Ghamrawi. She is a former slave, when slavery was
abolished, she opted to stay with the family of Zeinab because of the strong bond of friendship that forms
between them.

HISTORICAL FIGURES USED IN THE TEXT.

1. Lord Cromer- in the novel, Lord Cromer is the head of the British Agency. He
was described by Soueif in her novel as:
Lord Cromer, is a large commanding man, with sad hooded eyes and thinning white hair. He is a man
of very decided opinions, to which the conversation in his presence always defers. I suspect you would not
be able to work with him for long if you did not subscribe wholeheartedly to his views (p. 70).
Towards the end of the novel, he was replaced because of the situation that
happened in the village Denshwai. Some English officers went to go shooting pigeons in
the village. They broke the law by not awaiting for the permission of the Umdah. Sheik
Mafouz, one of the villagers ask the officers to do their shooting far from the villages
homes.They did not listen, then a fire started. The origin of the fire is said to be from the
officers shooting. Because of this two villagers attacked the officers and a riot ensued. A British officer died.
Some of the villagers were sentence to die a humiliating death. Because of this incident, the notables
complained and ask for the removal of Lord Cromer in Egypt.
Historically, Lord Cromer really is Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer, a British statesman, diplomat and
colonial administrator. He was British controller-general in Egypt during 1879, part of the international
Control which oversaw Egyptian finances after the khedives' mismanagement, and during the British
occupation prompted by the Urabi revolt, agent and consul-general in Egypt from 1883 to 1907. Far from
the centre of the Empire, Cromer ran the territory with great drive and his effective governance balked
British wishes to withdraw from Egypt.
“Lord Cromer is a patriot and he serves his country well. We understand that. Only he should not pretend that he is
serving Egypt.” (Layla, p. 248)
2. Mustafa Kamel- in the novel is a patriot, absolutely. He is rousing people against
Occupation. He is establishing schools. He is young, fiery and a good rhetorician. He is also
close to the Sultan. He does not wish the Turkish rule in Egypt to end. And he invests too
much trust in French. He thinks that because they are the traditional enemies of Britain, they
will stand by Egypt. Despite these characteristics, Sharif Basha is not comfortable with him.
In history, Mustafa Kamil is an Egyptian journalist and political figure. The son of an
Egyptian army officer, Mustafa Kamil was trained as a lawyer at the French law school in
Cairo and the Law Faculty at the University of Toulouse in France. He began his career as an
Egyptian nationalist by collaborating with the French, the Ottoman sultan, and
Khedive Abbas Hilmi II. As he matured, however, he gradually grew more independent of
outside backers and appealed mainly to the Egyptian people to demand the withdrawal of
the British army of occupation from Egypt. He also called on Khedive Abbas to grant constitutional


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government to his subjects. In 1900, Kamil founded the newspaper Al-Liwa' ("The Standard") as a
platform for his views and utilized his skill as both a journalist and lawyer. He also founded a boys'
school open to Egyptian Muslims, Christians, and Jews.
3. Sheik Muhammad Abdu- a friend of Sharif Basha. He is a deeply religious
man. He is the one who conducted the marriage between Anna and Sharif Basha. He is
also a great influence among the Egyptian intellectuals and notables.

In history, Muhammad Abdu was an Egyptian jurist, religious
scholar and liberal reformer, regarded as the founder of Islamic Modernism.
A recent book titled "Islam and Liberty" regarded Muhammad Abduh as the
founder of the so-called Neo-Mutazilism.

4. Hafiz Ibrahim- The famous poet. He is also a poet in the novel.
5. Qasim Amin- author of the controversial book The Liberation of Women, who argues his
case in the novel at a gathering of prominent Egyptian intellectuals at Sharif's house.

B. Settings

The novel happened in four different places.
Although the plot of the novel is divided into the
past and the present, most actions both in the
past and in the present happened in Egypt.

1. Cairo (present and past) - this is where
Amal lives and where she started to put together
the story of Anna though her journal.
- This is also where Anna and Shariff Pasha
live during their marriage. Many parts of the
novel especially in the story of Anna happen
here.
2. Tawasi -This is where the school of
Sharif Basha was established. In the present day,
Amal also had a problem in reopening the
school.
3. New York- A part of the story
happens here. This is where Isabel Parkman lives and where she met Omar Al-Ghamrawi. She also
found the trunk full of Anna‟s letter.
4. England- this is where Anna formerly lives together with her first husband Edward Winterbourne.
In the end of the novel, this is also the place where she takes refuge when Sharif Basha died.

The novel is narrated with the backdrop of political turmoil both in the past and in the present. Part
of the novel's point in juxtaposing early-twentieth-century British imperial rule with the corrupt Mubarak
regime is to underscore the untenable position in which Egyptian activist intellectuals find themselves:
caught between ineffective and increasingly reactionary nationalist movements and the devastating
interventions of wealthy Western powers.

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C. Plot

a. The Past
After ten months of grieving over the death of her husband, Anna Winterbourne decided to go
to Egypt and start anew in a place she fondly heard from Sir Charles, her late husband‟s father. Sir Charles
opened Anna‟s political mind especially when her husband died without a proper cause of being a soldier
sent in Soudan. Through the connection of Sir Charles, she was welcomed and easily accepted by her fellow
Englishmen settling in Egypt. During her stay in Alexandria and Cairo, she was able to meet a lot of
influential Englishmen that could either help in stopping the colonization of the British Empire or
strengthen and speed up the colonization.
When Anna, disguised as a young Englishman, decided to travel around the wondrous sight of
Egypt in Sinai, she was mistakenly abducted by two Arabs. Through this incident, Anna met the al-Baroudi
family with whom her political insights and sense of justice have been thoroughly developed and nourished.
With the strong political lineage of the al-Baroudi, Anna met a lot of influential Egyptians who wanted to
break free from the Imperial power, the Ottoman Turks, and the Zionists. She was greatly influenced on
“The Question of Women”, wherein the Egyptian women‟s rights about education and the crucial decision
of keeping or taking out the veil are really questioned.
As the political struggles happen, love also blooms between the two separate worlds of the
Egyptians and the Englishmen. It was a strong love-at-first-sight for Anna. She was greatly drawn to the
charisma and political air of Sharif al-Baroudi, the brother of Layla and a great patriotic lawyer. Albeit Sharif
Basha also felt the same towards her, their love couldn‟t be materialized for there were too many things to
consider, and too many things to sacrifice about their circumstances. When Anna was about to give up on
their love by going back home to London, Sharif Basha had mustered all his courage to confess and to
propose to her. Thus, they were married thrice by the end of 1901.
Through their relationship, Anna had to sacrifice a lot just to be with Sharif. She gave up almost
more than half of her life just to be with the Egyptian. She was an “outcast” from her motherland, most of
her English friends rejected her, even her most loyal attendant, Emily, deserted her, she could never go back
to England for she was afraid that her husband might be discriminated, and even the Egyptian community
could not even accept her totally for she still belongs to the Empire that they were against with. All in all,
Anna was placed in a situation wherein she could not be totally accepted as she is. Thus, Sharif, knowing
what Anna had to go through, tried his best to compensate everything. Whatever he thought that would
make Anna happy and contented; he would definitely do or give it.
As time moved on with the marriage of Anna and Sharif al-Baroudi, intense political turmoil also
surged throughout Egypt. A lot of political movements and organizations had been put up against the
colonizers and, at the same time, Egypt also had to face internal struggles within her own people. The
former united alliance of Notable Egyptians suddenly broke off and made their own movements and
organizations, making their solidified goal to drive out the colonizers into even helping them enter their
country easier since no one has been strong enough to guard Egypt.
When Mustafa Kamel and other Notable Egyptians formed their own propagandas, Sharif al-
Baroudi chose not to be involved in any propaganda. Hence, he worked alone - propagated his own
thoughts through the aide of Anna and Mr. Barrington by publishing his articles in different languages in

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different countries and continents. Sharif al-Baroudi also focused his time with his family especially with his
daughter, Nur al-Hayah, the light of his life. With this digression, Sharif Basha slowly lost his drive to
protect Egypt in the hands of the colonizers. In the end, when he decided to settle for a normal life with his
family, he was assassinated. His assassination was supposed to be a catalyst for a war between Egypt and her
colonizers but he gravely insisted upon his last words that no one should ever use his death to initiate a war.
After the death of Sharif al-Baroudi, Anna must go back to England, just like what they promised on their
marriage contracts. Although Anna didn‟t want to go back home, she knew that there was no proper place
for her and her daughter in Egypt. Anna left behind Layla and her family but they continued their
communication thru letters. And the woven cloth that Anna has been working on for several months was
torn into three pieces by Mabrouka, the attendant of Zeinab al-Ghamrawi. The first piece of cloth was given
to Ahmad, the other piece was to be given to Nur, and the last piece of cloth was kept by Mabrouka in
which nobody in the family knew what happened to it.
b. The Present
The story opens up with Amal al-Ghamrawi and her retelling of accounts on how she acquired an
old trunk that consists of several antiques, journals, newspaper clippings, and letters. By some struck of fate,
Amal learned that Isabel Parkman, the owner of the trunk, is her long lost cousin. Amal, being the grand-
niece of Sharif al-Baroudi, and Isabel, the great-granddaughter of Anna and Sharif al-Baroudi, decided to
work together to analyze and recount the history of their family.
Through „Omar al-Ghamrawi, Isabel learned about Amal‟s existence and how great help Amal
could be for her project. „Omar, Amal‟s brother, suggested to Isabel that she should go to Egypt and have
his sister analyze and find the missing links between their families. Isabel did what was suggested, thus, the
old wooden trunk was delivered to Amal‟s house in Cairo, Egypt.
During Isabel‟s stay in Egypt, Amal realized how similar their circumstances are. Thus, Amal
learned how to value the friendship they both share. When Amal had to go to Tawasi to fix the local issues
affecting the fallaheens in her own land, she brought Isabel with her. On their way to Tawasi, they saw three
very young men, bloodied and tied, being dragged to the police station. They never talked about the incident
until they reached Amal‟s house. In her house, Amal learned that the government had ordered to stop the
operation of the school for the teachers are suspected terrorists and they are teaching terrorism to the
children.
Amal couldn‟t do anything to resume the school‟s operation until she seeks the help of her friend,
Tareq, a very influential businessman. After issues are solved in Tawasi, Anna and Isabel went back to Cairo
and toured the beautiful places that Anna had once traversed. One night, they went to a pub and Amal
introduced Isabel to many politically influential people. The political problems in Egypt are discussed during
their stay in the pub. Isabel, being an American, is sometimes criticized but these criticisms helped Isabel to
be aware of what is really happening in the world.
On the last few days of Isabel‟s stay in Cairo, she went alone to tour an old museum. In the
museum, she discovered an abandoned room with a run-down door and there she went in. She found a
blind sheikh who weaves fabric and his assistant who smells a lot like orange. In this room, all her doubts
about her love for „Omar have been cast out and she realized that she must confront him and do whatever it
takes for her love to be reciprocated. Before she goes home, the sheikh‟s assistant hugged her and she is
very thankful for what they have done to her. The following day, after she retold the incident to Amal, both

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of them decided to go back to the old museum and talk to the old sheikh. But they are astonished to find
out that the sheikh and his assistant don‟t exist within the museum – that it has been almost a century since
the museum has its sheikh.
Dumbfounded, Isabel went back to America and tries her luck in pursuing her love for „Omar.
Meanwhile, Amal decided to go back to Tawasi as soon as she finishes her readings and analysis of Anna‟s
history. But she was accidentally summoned to go back to Tawasi for a group of fallaheens were arrested for
being suspects for the bombing incident in Luxor. She went immediately to the police station to talk to the
police officer. The police officer rejected Amal‟s order to release her village men despite her influential
lineage. Desperate and worried, Amal once again seek the help of her friend, Tareq. Tareq promised her that
her village men will be released immediately as soon as dawn breaks. The next morning, Amal was so
relieved that her village men came home alive even though they are bloodied and heavily bruised. The
Tawasi people are so grateful for what Amal and Tareq had done for them because if not, their fathers,
husbands, sons or brothers, might be included to the hundreds of caskets of suspects lined up at the
following morning.
Amidst the state of political turmoil, Amal has found a new love in the person of Tareq but she
could not materialize her love for him. Because of her previous failed relationship, Amal has lost a great deal
of her self-confidence; thus, she could not easily open her heart to Tareq. On the other hand, Isabel has
pursued her love to „Omar but gaining his love was also not an easy task. Before Isabel went to Egypt, she
visited her mother, Jasmine, at the asylum. Jasmine, in one of her delusional moments, blurted out her illicit
affair with a young activist. Isabel was taken aback with the sudden implicit confession of her mother but
before she can ask for more details, Jasmine returned to her solitude until her death. Grief-stricken on her
mother‟s death, Isabel seek the comfort of „Omar.
The following day, as Isabel recounts the events surrounding her family, „Omar realized that
Isabel‟s mother was his first true love – that he was the man whom Jasmine had an illicit affair with. More
importantly, „Omar doubts if there is any chance that he is the father of Isabel since the affair he had with
her mother is almost the same year she was conceived. Troubled by this realization, „Omar called up Amal
and told her everything. Amal suggested a DNA test to settle any doubts he has but „Omar refused to do so.
In the end, „Omar confessed everything to Isabel. Isabel also suggested the idea of taking a DNA test and
„Omar also strongly disagreed with this notion. After a few months, Isabel breaks the news to Amal that she
is carrying „Omar‟s child. By the year 1998, Isabel gave birth to Sharif and they are able to go back to Egypt.
In her return to Tawasi, Isabel brought with her one of the three pieces of Anna‟s woven cloth.
So, Amal and Isabel have tried to place back into one piece the two pieces of cloth but since the last piece
of cloth is still missing, they couldn‟t decipher the whole message of the woven cloth. Upon Isabel‟s return
to Egypt, she was able to examine her bag which was left in Amal‟s house in Cairo. When she looked inside
her bag, she surprisingly found the last missing piece of cloth. And the cloth smells like oranges – the
fragrance she smelled on the mysterious lady she met in the old museum. Amal and Isabel argued how the
last piece of cloth was placed in her bag. Amal thought that Isabel is delusional or might be playing around
with her but Isabel knew that she is not crazy – that she really met the old sheikh and the orange-smelling
lady in the old museum. Finally, Amal and Isabel successfully piece together the three pieces of cloth and
they were able to decipher the message, “He brings forth the living from the death”.


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Towards the end of the novel, Amal is expecting that „Omar, Isabel, baby Sharif and she will lead
a common and peaceful life together in Tawasi. But as days passed, Amal didn‟t hear any news from her
brother. Amal is so worried about her brother because it is not „Omar‟s attitude to make her worry – that
„Omar always find time to call her and update her on his status. Specially that „Omar is just somewhere in
Egypt conducting concerts and talks about the current political issues of Egypt, so he should be with them
in Tawasi sooner. Then, Amal had a sudden vision of Anna and Sharif al-Baroudi in the house, their families
happy together, until her vision shifted to Mabrouka who is weeping but also murmuring something. Amal
was able to understand what she was uttering, “from the dead come the living”, “the branch is cut but the tree remains”,
“the precious one goes and the precious one comes”, “the Nile divides and meets again”, and “He brings forth the living from
the dead”. With these utterances, Amal suddenly realized that life means death – that is, if one is born into the
world, then one should die and be taken out of the world.

IV. Analysis: The Aftermaths of Colonialism

A. Colonialism is a continuous cycle from the past to the present

a. The Importance of Education

The issues faced by the people during Anna‟s time are the same issues being faced by the people
in Amal‟s time. One of these is the right for education to all people which is still questioned or hindered by
the government – i.e. education that can help people free their selves from slavery; education that can
strengthen their moralities; education that can provide them greater opportunities rather than being
stagnant.
During Anna‟s time, education is a way to elevate the status of women in their society for one of
the women‟s role is to educate their children, but they could not educate their children properly if they
themselves are not educated in the first place. Moreover, education is a way to help the Egyptians be open
to the things that are happening in their country. Because they are not properly educated, Egyptians are seen
gullible to be colonized by other countries. They are ignorant of the things that the colonizers are doing to
them because they are not educated.
Education is also one of the things needed by the Egyptians to be free from their colonizers
especially from the British Empire. Egypt was said to be colonized by the British Empire because the
Egyptians were not educated enough to govern their own country. Thus, the Empire took this belief that
Egypt has to be supervised by other countries who are more reliable in governing rather than an ignorant
and pantheist Egyptian to rule his own country.
Meanwhile, in Amal‟s time, education is hindered by the government because the government
sees education as a threat to the country. If the teachers are suspected terrorists, the schools should be
closed for operation. In order for the school to resume its operation, a list of names of possible/qualified
teachers should be given to the government. But no one would like their names to be listed for they know
that if their names are listed, the lives of their families and friends are also in grave danger. Thus, the
education of the Egyptians is jeopardized.

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Because of this, Egyptians, from the past up to the present, are still ignorant of what is really
happening to their country. They could not rationalize their actions, thus, they can only act in a more
barbaric way. Only those selected Egyptians can properly educate themselves because they have money and
power but the education for the poor is greatly discarded by the government.

b. The Power of Money

Every colonization starts with money. The reasons for colonization are either the colonizer is
greedy to get more money or the colonized is in debt of money to the colonizer or both reasons are present.
In the situation of Egypt, colonization started when the ruler of the Ottoman Empire borrowed money
from Europe (i.e. Britain, Rothschild and France) to support his whims. During this time, colonization is the
spirit of the age. Thus, Europe used the debt of the old dying Ottoman Empire to expand their territories in
Egypt. And as Dr. Ramzi stated it in the novel, the rest is history.
Moreover, the Egyptians‟ hope for democracy is brutally crushed when they hoped and thought
that America will help them achieve their democracy since the Americans believe also in democracy but,
unfortunately and ironically, due to economic progress and political stability, the Americans denied the
Egyptians the help they need to have their freedom from the colonizers.
Lastly, Amal‟s friend, Tareq, a former activist and patriot, has to hire Israelites to work for his
company. Upon learning this, Amal was greatly disappointed that her friend‟s principles about protecting
their country were corrupted because of money. Amal believes that Israelites are spies and they are slowly
infiltrating their country to colonize. And by hiring them to work for her friend‟s company is a way of
betraying the protection and security of the country.

B. Colonialism is a corrupt and destructive enemy

a. The Corruption of Ideals

Colonialism corrupts the ideals of people. There are many strong politically-inclined characters in
the novel but they are slowly weakened because of the colonial mentality. „Urabi, the excommunicated
political leader of Egypt, firmly believed then that Egyptians are owned by no one and they shall not be
enslaved beyond the day he swore to office. But his movements and propagandas against the colonizers
were too weak that he was excommunicated and estranged from his own country. Most of his compatriots
were executed in public while some went to hiding and others were severely punished. Two of his
compatriots were Sharif al-Baroudi‟s father and uncle. His uncle was blinded and punished to translate a
huge collection of poems while his father went to hiding in his house and swore to himself that he would
never go out of the room, in which he abide faithfully until his death. After several decades, „Urabi changed
his stance on Egypt‟s freedom – that he finally acknowledges the colonial power of Britain over Egypt.
Thus, he was granted political amnesty by the Empire and was given permission to return to his motherland.
Even Sharif al-Baroudi‟s ideals on protecting Egypt were corrupted by the limitless colonizing power of the
Empire. After involving almost all his life in achieving the democracy of Egypt from her colonizers, Sharif

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Basha lost his drive to continue - it is as if all of their actions against the colonizers were futile; resistance is
futile. Thus, Sharif decided that he wanted to lead a normal life with his family since nothing is happening to
their country and nothing will change for a very long period of time.
Finally, Arwa Salih, Amal‟s friend and a former feminist-activist, killed herself by jumping off the
roof top of a building. Before she killed herself, she wrote a book about how hopeless everything was. She
led militant protests against the government but it only ended into nothing. All of them were defeated or
diffused so she opted out. She worked at a press agency by translating the financial news and she helped at a
small gallery during evenings. Because of the futility of the movements and propagandas against the
government, she lost her will to fight and eventually lost her will to live.

b. The Destructions of Life

Aside from the corruption of ideals, colonialism also destroys life. In the first few chapters of the
novel, the destruction of life is already very evident. Edward Winterbourne was a soldier sent to Soudan to
support the colonial power. But upon his return, Edward slowly lost his will to live; it is as if what he
experienced while in Soudan was enough to drive him out of his wits. Edward‟s happy and contented life
was shattered and was replaced by his aloofness to the world. He slowly withdrew from the world and
slowly separated himself from any attachment/relationship he had in the world. Up to his death, Edward
never successfully recovered or brought back his self before he went to Soudan. And when Anna went to
Egypt, she told herself that if only Edward went to Egypt as a pilgrim rather than a soldier, then he should
be alive by then and that he should have been happy and satisfied with his life. Anna firmly believed that
being a pilgrim is better for it brings peace and life rather than being a soldier who brings forth war and
death.
Colonialism does not only destroy human life but also destroys the beauty of nature and the
prestige of history. As Amal stated in the novel, since the British Empire‟s colonization to Egypt, all of their
prestigious and ancestral landmarks were brutally destroyed and replaced by „modern civilization‟ that the
Empire brought to Egypt. The beauty of nature they inherited from their forefathers is destroyed by simply
because of proper civilization. Thus, slowly, the Egyptians are losing their strong attachment to their history;
their characters/identities are slowly questioned because they do not have roots to attach with.

c. The Separation of Races

Colonialism basically divides different races in the world. In general, the white men hate black
men and vice versa; the West thinks lowly of the East. But in specific situations, colonialism also separates
or destroys relationship because of the difference in race. For instance, „Omar‟s first marriage failed because
he and his wife both discovered that “he is Arab”. Because of their difference in race, his wife is American
while he just discovered “he is Arab”. It is not totally true that he doesn‟t know he is Arab, but what he
meant by discovering his race is when he stood up against the political issues affecting his motherland,
Egypt. Thus, their difference in political stance separated them from each other.
More important evidence of colonialism separating different races is the expulsion of Anna from
the British Empire because she married an Egyptian. Anna lost almost all of her English friends because of

P a g e | 13

the marriage; she lost her most loyal attendant, Emily; she couldn‟t visit her motherland although she misses
it greatly; and her English friends couldn‟t visit her in Egypt.

d. The Loss of Identity

Colonialism‟s greatest effect, not only for an individual but also of the country, is the loss of
identity – i.e. personal identity and national identity. For personal identity, „Omar al-Ghamrawi lost his
identity when he was sent to study in America. Because of this, „Omar rarely goes home to Egypt and finally
settled his life in America. His father, Ahmad, regretted sending his son to America but there is nothing
more he could do about it. „Omar had lost not only his nationality but also his identity. He couldn‟t even
decide what his real nationality is when Isabel asked him if he consider himself Egyptian. He answered that
he is Egyptian but also American and Palestinian, and that he has no problem with identity but he never
consider himself lucky about this situation.
Another evidence for the loss of personal identity is greatly seen in Anna‟s situation. She greatly
lost a major part of her life and her identity when she married Sharif al-Baroudi. There were many things she
sacrificed just to be with her husband. One of these sacrifices is the use of language. Since Sharif couldn‟t
speak in English and she couldn‟t speak in Arabic, they converse using the French language. For a native to
discard his native tongue, he might as well discard his own nationality. And this is what Anna did for the
sake of her marriage to Sharif. Moreover, since their traditional practices are totally different, Anna had to
cope with the Egyptian tradition. She greatly missed celebrating Christmas because the Ramadan was
celebrated at the same time with the Christmas season. And the couple fought when Anna went to a bank
to withdraw money without knowing that it would greatly offend the ego of her husband. Anna really lost
her identity of being English when Layla stated that Anna acted as if she belongs to the native Egyptians –
that Anna had totally adapted to their culture and tradition.
On the other hand, the loss of national identity is greatly shown in the novel through the dialogues of
the Englishmen when they were talking about Egypt being colonized, thus, losing or degrading the incipient
character of all the Egyptians. Mrs. Butcher, Anna‟s English friend, remonstrated that the Ancient Egyptians
were so definite, so vivid a character that traces of that character could not be completely lost to the
Egyptians today. But Mr. Sladen cut her across by saying that the character was not lost but degraded –
completely degraded. That is the term that Anna often heard used to describe the Egyptian character. The
strong and definite incipient character of the Egyptians is degraded too low that they see themselves as
“pets” of the colonizers. Even their existence to the world is being denied by the British Empire. They are
pets to the colonizers because of their inability to govern their own country. They are pets because the
colonizers have to “take care” of them; to “supervise” their growth; and to “guide” and “teach” them how
to properly govern their own selves and their own country. Their strong characters are totally diminished to
the point that their self-value and self-confidence have been trashed out.
No more traces of their proud ancestral lineage, their strong beliefs on themselves, and their
strong uphold of democracy but was left to them are never ending problems on how they should act after
the “revolution” has ended. Everything has changed. The Egyptians now are seen cowards. They believe
that they belong only to the “talking intellectuals” and they only live by the slogans they make and take

P a g e | 14

comfort from these slogans. Even the common Egyptian people don‟t know the existence of these “talking
intellectuals” for when they talk, they only talk with each other; when they write, they only write for each
other. The common Egyptians are not connected with the “talking intellectuals”, thus, the people has no
voice over any political matter regarding Egypt. These people don‟t even know the existence of the “talking
intellectuals”.

C. Colonialism stagnates the progress of the nation

Egypt was colonized by the British Empire during her crucial point in history. The Empire took
advantage of her debt to Europe and her unstable ruler from the old and dying Ottoman Empire. Through
the Empire‟s colonization, it froze the development of Egypt – i.e. their move towards democracy, towards
education and industrialization, and towards modernity. Even though Egypt has stood for almost 60 years
of her own national government, nothing has been done to elevate Egypt from her status in the past up to
the present. The political issues that had risen during Anna‟s time are still the same political issues arising in
Amal‟s time.
These stagnated political issues are shown through the following excerpt on page 227 of the
novel:

“Do you realize when you speak of political programme, that your programme now is the same that
Mahmoud Sami al-Baroudi’s government tried to establish more than a hundred years ago?... The
ending of foreign influence; the payment of the Egyptian debt; an elected parliament; a national
industry; equality of all men before the law; reform of education; and allowing a free press to reflect
all shades of opinion. Those were the seven points of their programme. These young people, they still
ask for this.”

Through this excerpt, it clearly shows that whatever happened in the past is still happening in the present
and there were no actions done to alleviate the political conflicts present in the colonizing power and the
country‟s own government. There may be actions, protests, propagandas, or movements done but they were
not enough. Nothing still had changed; nothing was solved. This strong stagnating power of Colonialism is
really ironic in Egypt‟s situation. Egypt, the mother of civilization, was totally left behind. While her
neighboring countries are flourishing, Egypt quietly observes when the colonizing power will leave her.
Therefore, Egypt during the colonization of the British Empire is still the same Egypt being
governed by her own people in the present. The only thing that Egypt can do is to absorb all of these things
and to hope that maybe someday, she will really be free.

D. Postcolonial Feminism

a. The voice of the women

The novel The Map of Love gives voice to the untold story of women--both colonizers and
colonized--during British imperialism and their ability to transcend the differences of language, culture, and
religion that the "spirit of the age" forbade. This is a truly post-colonial novel in that it reshapes, rethinks,

P a g e | 15

and re-evaluates the colonial period in the Middle East. Amal finds herself sympathizing with Anna
Winterbourne, who rejected her country's orientalist and racist notions of the Arabs and tried to understand
Egypt on its own terms one hundred years ago. Anna says, upon first entering the harem (the women's
quarters) in Sharif's house, "It seemed so odd to just sit there--in one of my beloved paintings, as it were, or one of the
Nights of Edward Lane." Anna's reference to the paintings and to the British translation of The Arabian
Nights indicates how deeply England was drowning in its culture of orientalism--a culture that allowed the
English to imagine the Arabs as exotic "other," and thus as people who lacked morals and dignity. However,
Anna has penetrated the stereotype; now she is in the paintings, she is in the tale, and she can bear witness
to its accuracy. In the beginning of the novel, while Edward Winterbourne is sick, the argument between Sir
Charles and his friends was also colored with oriental biased.

“The question of whether savage nations has the right to exist came up, George arguing – from
Charles Darwin’s survival of the fittest- that they had none, and the rest of the company being of the
same mind”- (p. 13).

Perhaps the most telling example of Anna's dismantling of the orientalist stereotype of Arabs comes
in a conversation with her husband:
"Weren't you afraid of me? The wicked Pasha who would lock you up in his harem and do terrible things to
you?"
"What terrible things?"
"You should know. They're in your English stories." (p. 153).
Sharif's last comment stresses the idea that Egyptians under the colonial rule of England were aware of their
portrayal to the average British citizen. In both examples, Soueif speaks back to the colonialist vision of the
Arab in order to correct it, and the fact that she does so in the voice of a British woman testifies to the
novel's feminist undertones.

b. Role of women

Unlike in other countries colonized by British, like India, where many white women are allowed
to go, to shore up the white hierarchies, in Egypt there are few white women. White women in Egypt
served mainly as a symbol of the freedoms enjoyed by the West but denied to Muslim women by a
supposedly monolithic and oppressive Muslim culture.

E. Art as a symbol for transnational union

Amal's new family echoes and resignifies the tapestry that Anna wove a hundred years before to
represent her own transnational union. After her marriage, Anna had produced a three-paneled tapestry of
the Goddess Isis, her husband/brother Osiris, and their baby son Horus, with the Qur'anic verse “He
brings forth the living from the dead” stretching across all three panels. Uniting Pharonic iconography with
Islamic text in a composition inflected by her own tradition of Christian hagiography, Anna's artwork
commented on the complexity of the modern Egypt her husband's nationalist movement‟s goal. After
Sharif's death, Mabrouka had divided up the tapestry, giving the panel with Osiris to Anna and the one with

P a g e | 16

Isis to Amal's father. The panel of the baby Horus was lost, but magically reappears in Isabel's bag at the
end of the novel after her son's birth. The tapestry's trinity of the nuclear family gets mapped onto the
contemporary trinity of Amal, Isabel, and baby Sharif. Similarly, when Amal and Isabel travel back to Cairo
from Tawasi, they stop along the roadside to let the car cool down. To shade the baby from the sun, they
use the family's old flag of national unity, a symbol of Muslim-Christian coalition against the British that had
been wielded in women's street protests in the early twentieth century. Amal describes the scene: “I rooted in
the car and found the flag and we pushed three sticks into the earth and spread the flag over them, and the baby lay on the rug
with his mother on one side of him and me on the other and above his head the green and white flag of national unity” (481).
Here, as in Anna's tapestry, a national symbol is reconfigured by an atypical transnational family.

V. Conclusion

The novel is, on one level, a classic romance - the story of two great romances separated - and
brought together - by a hundred years of history. Soueif creates, quite unashamedly, an undeniably dashing
Egyptian hero: Sharif Al- Baroudi. At the same time, however, the book is also a hard-hitting and critical
account of a century of Egypt's troubled history and politics, taking in feminism, nationalism, colonialism
and post-colonial discourse as well as the Arab-Israeli dispute and the question of normalization.

The Egypt of 1900 has shaped the Egypt of today: Dr. Ramzi, when questioned by Isabel about
Egypt's future in the new millennium, answers "It will be the same." And what role does Fate play in all of
this? Anna's first entry in her journal reads: "My name is Anna Winterbourne. I do not hold (much) with
those who talk of the Stars governing our Fate." This voice, cautiously allowing the possibility of the
inexplicable into people's lives, could also be Soueif's. In the novel, it is in this mystical force of continuity,
ironically comforting and unchanging in its fluidity, that Soueif ultimately finds beauty and solace. Across
time and space, the eternal light of love shines again for Isabel and Omar, and no less brightly and with no
fewer complications than it did for Anna and Sharif.

VI. References

Ahmed, Jamal Mohammed. The Intellectual Origins of Egyptian Nationalism. London: Oxford University
Press, 1960.

Fayad, Mona. “Reinscribing Identity: Nation and Community in Arab Women's Writing.” College
Literature 22.1: 147-60. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO Host. UNR Library, Reno, NV. <http://0-
web.ebscohost.com>

Soueif, Ahdaf, The Map of Love. New York: Anchor Books, 2000.

Soueif, Ahdaf, “Talking About The Map of Love.” Interview with Paula Burnett. EnterText1.3. 28 Feb.
2000. www.brunel.ac.uk/faculty/arts/EnterText/1_3_pdfs/soueif_1.pdf

www. wikipedia.com


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