“Just as a man would not cherish living in a body other than his own, so do nations not like to live under other nations, no matter noble and great the latter may be Mohandas K. Gandhi
In his latest novel, prominent Egyptian novelist, Sonalla Ibrahim, is addressing a question that has constantly struck us in school; why the “French expedition has been branded in history books as such instead of being identified as an “occupation?
The novel, “Al-Kanoun Al-Ferensy (French Law), is, in many ways, an attempt to answer this question. The story takes place in two French cities, Poitiers and Paris, during two imaginary conferences. The main character, Shoukry – who happens to be the same protagonist of Sonallah’s previous novel, “Amricanly (Americanized) – is a professor of comparative history who has been invited to attend a conference entitled “Bonaparte in Egypt that reexamines the aftermath of French colonialism on their former colonies.
Through the different sessions of the conference, we follow different speakers giving thorough and well-rounded presentations of the “expedition.
In the first half of the novel that focuses on the Napoleonic campaign in Egypt (1798-1801), Ibrahim tackles the concept of “colonialism in a boarder, even modern, sense. Swinging back and forth between arguments and counter-arguments, we observe how historians were diverted away from the real objectives and the outcomes of the expedition.
One question incessantly confronts the readers throughout the novel: Did Bonaparte’s expedition start as a cultural campaign then evolve into a military invasion, or was it initially an invasion inlaid with cultural validations? If it was indeed a cultural campaign; why did Egypt witness three public uprisings against the French, forcing Bonaparte to resort to heavy artillery to suppress them, and costing the sphinx his nose, according to the urban legend?
Several accomplishments of the campaign are rebuked. Although the campaign did introduce the first Arabic printing machine to Egypt, modern researches discovered that the French carried the machine off when they were eventually made to leave Egypt.
Another argument centers on the multi-volume publication “Description de l’Égypte (Description of Egypt), widely regarded as the chef-d’oeuvre of the French campaign.
The publication was produced by the Commission des Sciences et Arts d’Égypte (Commission of Science and Arts of Egypt), an informal institute composed of 160 civilian scholars and scientists. Although the group has long been regarded in a favorable light for their accomplishments, Ibrahim points out that this was the same body responsible for producing the flame-throwers used by Kléber, Bonapart’s successor, to suppress the second Cairo uprising.
While researching the publication, modern historians found out that this manuscript catered primarily to French readers, carrying a French colonialist uni-perspective. Even the maps section was designed to serve strategic and military purposes.
The first section of the novel, entitled “Poitiers, ends with a fascinating lecture about Bonaparte’s paintings that were conceived during the campaign.
The lecturer analyzes five portraits of the French leader, as imagined by a group of French artists, that show him in his full glory. The paintings were not only historically deceptive; they intentionally misrepresented Egyptians, depicting them as inferior beings relegated in the background.
Ibrahim also delves into the famous civil unrest that took place in 2005 in France, drawing parallels between the recent rampages and the Cairo uprising. The series of violent riots – triggered by the death of two immigrants electrocuted in a power station while hiding from the police – marked an epic clash between the French government and the immigrants.
In the second part of the novel, “Paris, Ibrahim begins to unveil the connotation behind the “French Law of the title. Said law – n° 2005-158 of February 23, 2005 – was passed by the center-right Union for a Popular Movement to oblige high schools to teach the “positive values of colonialism. The law contained articles that stressed the “positive role of French repatriates and war criminals alike in former French colonies. It was subsequently repealed by president Jacques Chirac in 2006.
In later parts of the book, Ibrahim makes an analogy between French colonialism with that of the British, American and the Israeli. The question Ibrahim proposes is this: Can colonialism have a good face?
“French Law contains minimal narrative and almost no plot. The novel represents a continuation of a method Ibrahim has adopted in his latest novels which leans towards the examination of history and the assimilation of various sources while undermining the narrative.
The characters of the novel carry a glimpse of symbolism that explains the relations between different sides of the main arguments. The brief push and pull between Prof. Shoukry (the occupied) and Céline (the occupier), the French lady who works in an association for the rehabilitation of immigrants, says it all. Realizing how Shoukry was expecting her to end up in bed with him, Céline slips him a note under his door that reads “you are such a naïve and retarded person.
“The French Law, published by Dar Al-Mustaqubal Al-Arabi, is now available in local bookstores.
