Tales of Our Alley by Naguib Mahfouz -1975

Tales of Our Alley by Naguib Mahfouz

The Story of an Egyptian Alley Through a Child’s Eyes

Distinctiveness and Literary Context

Published in 1975, Tales of Our Alley (Hikayat Haratina) is a unique work in Naguib Mahfouz’s career, often overshadowed by his more controversial novel Children of Our Alley. However, the two works differ profoundly: while Children of Our Alley offers a symbolic retelling of the history of prophets, Tales of Our Alley is a literary autobiography, chronicling the life of a Cairo alley through 78 interlinked tales narrated by a child observing its details.

In 2023, the novel was released freely by Hindawi Foundation under a legal agreement with Mahfouz’s family, aiding its wide dissemination.

Narrative Structure: Interwoven Tales Forming a Human Mosaic

The novel comprises 78 short stories that appear independent at first glance, yet collectively weave a complete tapestry of the alley’s history and its characters. The narrator, a child using the first-person perspective, recounts events with a sense of innocent wonder, blending memory with imagination:

Unity and Interconnection: Each tale introduces a character or event (such as “Umm Zaki,” “The Magistrate’s Wife,” “The Daughters of Al-Qairawani,” or “The Solar Eclipse Scene”), but places and characters recur, gradually forming a comprehensive map of the alley.
Childlike Perspective: The narrator describes the world with naive amazement, as in:

“I wake up to find myself alone in the courtyard... the spring breeze descending, heavy with the scent of twilight.”
This perspective transforms ordinary details into small myths.

Storytelling Frame: The narrator claims these tales are oral stories heard in the alley’s cafés, linking the work to the tradition of popular folktales.

Geography of the Alley: Places as Living Characters

In Mahfouz’s world, place is not merely a backdrop but an active participant shaping destinies. Key locations include:

The Tekkeya (Sufi Lodge): Symbol of Mystery and Sanctity
- Description: A secluded structure like a “small fortress,” surrounded by mulberry trees whose fruits are out of the children’s reach.
- Narrator’s view:
“The tekkeya is steeped in remoteness and seclusion... our hands reach for its wall as they reach for the moon.”
- Symbolism: Represents spirituality and higher realms, drawing the children’s curiosity while adults forbid them from approaching, adding to its sacred aura.
The Cemetery (Qarafa): Realm of Secrets and Death
- Despite being a place for the dead, it is a stage for life: lovers’ meetings, thieves’ hideouts, and community celebrations.
- The narrator states:
“Our hands reach for its wall as for the tekkeya’s,”
emphasizing the merging of the sacred and the profane.
The Cellar: World of Darkness and Fear
- Symbolizes the dark aspects of human nature and the alley itself, appearing as a hiding place for smuggling goods or escaping local gangsters.

Characters: A Microcosm of Egyptian Society

The novel’s characters span various social classes, depicted through the child-narrator’s eyes:

The Tekkeya’s Inhabitants: Represent asceticism and spirituality yet remain detached from the alley’s daily struggles.
Strong Women: Figures like “Umm Zaki” and “The Magistrate’s Wife” who defy social restrictions with wit and resolve.
The Toughs (Futuwwat): Local gangsters enforcing their will through violence, yet occasionally displaying unexpected compassion.
The Marginalized: Madmen, beggars, and street children whose stories reveal the harshness of the social system.

Core Themes: Philosophy Wrapped in Simplicity

Innocence vs. Corruption
The narrator documents the alley’s transformation from a place of innocence to one infiltrated by vice. In the first tale, the tekkeya is a center of hope, but by the last, the alley has become a realm of betrayal and organized crime.
Memory and Forgetfulness as Twin Afflictions
The novel repeatedly asks:

“Why was forgetfulness the ailment of our alley?”
Forgetfulness here signifies society’s abandonment of its original values, while memory becomes a tool to resist decline.
Social Justice and Revolution
In tales like “The Solar Eclipse Scene,” Mahfouz critiques class injustice. The 1919 Egyptian Revolution, which Mahfouz witnessed as an eight-year-old, is alluded to as a transformative event for the alley’s consciousness, albeit without achieving true justice.
Religion as a Double-Edged Sword
While the tekkeya symbolizes positive spirituality, the novel also critiques using religion to suppress questioning. One tale depicts a sheikh using “curses” to threaten those challenging his authority.

Controversy: Why Was It Less Provocative Than Children of Our Alley?

Unlike Children of Our Alley, which sparked fierce religious and political debates, Tales of Our Alley did not face bans or major backlash because:

It lacks direct religious symbolism (no characters representing prophets or divine entities).
It leans into autobiographical realism, grounded in Mahfouz’s memories of Cairo’s al-Jamaliyya district, giving it human authenticity rather than abstract philosophical controversy.

Artistic Techniques: From Realism to Folk Symbolism

Language: Blends classical Arabic with Egyptian colloquial speech, reflecting social diversity.
Nonlinear Time: Tales shift between past and present, mirroring the nature of human memory.
Myth as Narrative Tool: Tales like the madman “Nu’nu’” meeting his beloved at the tekkeya’s wall blend reality with folklore, illustrating how the poor construct parallel worlds of dreams.

Cultural Legacy: From Novel to Stage

In 1990, Tales of Our Alley was adapted into a stage play, demonstrating its narrative flexibility and its ability to portray a miniature Egyptian world vividly. The novel also stands as an anthropological document of popular Cairo life in the early 20th century, reflecting:

The impact of revolutions (like 1919) on collective consciousness.
The evolution of Egyptian families from patriarchal structures toward aspirations for liberation.
The role of cafés and alleys as cultural incubators.

Why Does Tales of Our Alley Remain Necessary?

This novel is both an elegy for the simplicity of childhood and a critique of society’s moral decline. In its final scene, the narrator returns to the tekkeya after his journey through the tales, finding its gates still closed, yet it remains a symbol of undying hope. As Mahfouz wrote:

“Childhood granted me a vast imagination and the beauty of vision... so I began with the tekkeya as the alley’s heart, and I ended with it as the heart of the world.”

Thus, the novel proves itself not merely a recounting of personal history but a universal metaphor for humanity’s struggle between spiritual light and material darkness, between the memory of innocence and the forgetfulness of betrayal.