SOURCE: Sakkout, Hamdi. “Najib Mahfuz's Short Stories.” In Studies in Modern Arabic Literature, edited by R. C. Ostle, pp. 114-25. Warminster, Wilts, England: Aris & Phillips Ltd., 1975.

In the following essay, Sakkout offers a thematic and stylistic analysis of Mahfouz's short fiction.

Although Najīb Maḥfūz is known above all as a novelist, he began his literary career by writing short stories and articles while in his first year at university, in 1930. At this time, the popularity of the short story as a genre was at its height, and it is not surprising therefore that the young writer should make his first efforts in this form, especially considering the difficulty of publishing during this period. Indeed, almost the only way of seeing one's writings in print was to persuade a periodical to publish them, in serial form if necessary. This method of publication naturally favoured short stories...