The Authority Figures

The Authority figures in the above-mentioned novels fall into two main categories: civilian officials and security officials. Civilian officials have license to decide the fate of the populace under their jurisdiction. They are on the top of a pyramid of power, be it the State or a small neighborhood that serves as microcosm of Egypt (such as the al-Zaʿfarani neighborhood). Senior officials are a sub-group of civilian authority figures whose power is derived from those above them on the pyramid. In certain cases, the division between civilian and security officials is blurred − civilians may fill security functions and security officials may fill civilian functions. This blurring is especially prominent in Ibrahim’s The Committee, where the committee is made up of military and civilian figures whom the hero cannot distinguish from each other. In his first meetings with the Committee, he thinks that this is a combined committee – “civlitary” (madanʿascariyya, a combination of the words madaniyya – civilian – and ʿaskariyya – military) (Ibrahim 2004: 86) – since most of its members wear civilian clothes. However, in the last meeting, he sees that most of them are wearing uniforms and therefore raises two other possibilities: the members of the Committee are military personnel, some of whom wear civilian clothes, or they are civilians who sometimes wear uniforms. The hero has the impression that there is meaning to the change in clothing, with the dress of the officials revealing the intention of the Committee to take either a soft civilian line or a hard military one. ¹