{"id":8796,"date":"2025-01-30T11:00:42","date_gmt":"2025-01-30T11:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/?post_type=article&p=8796"},"modified":"2025-02-12T23:16:24","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T23:16:24","slug":"review-the-dissenters-by-youssef-rakha","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/review-the-dissenters-by-youssef-rakha\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: The Dissenters<\/em> by Youssef Rakha"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Review of:<\/em> The Dissenters, by Youssef Rakha; Graywolf; $17.00; 272 pages; February 4, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n

Review by<\/em> Alex Ramirez-Amaya<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI sought permission to beg forgiveness for my mother; but He did not grant it to me. I sought permission from Him to visit her grave, and He granted it to me.\u201d This epigraph, taken from Book Four of the Sahih Muslim, a collection of hadith, details two appeals: one of forgiveness, and one of remembrance\u2014only the latter of which is granted. This aptly chosen epigraph encapsulates what readers will find in Youssef Rakha\u2019s latest novel. Instead of forgiveness and black-and-white morality, we find the memories of a woman living through a tumultuous time in Egyptian history.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Dissenters<\/em> is Youssef Rakha\u2019s first novel written in English. For the better part of twenty-five years, Rakha has written fiction and poetry in Arabic. In an essay on \u201cThe Slow and Satisfying Discovery of Arabic,\u201d Rakha recounts that, as a young man, Arabic represented two things: \u201cthe practical, and the religious,\u201d two things which, in his mind, alienated Arabic from the possibility of literature. On the other hand, his lively and polyglot mother tongue, Egyptian Arabic, was a spoken dialect that proved difficult when it was time to get complicated. It wasn\u2019t until after earning a BA in English at Hull University that Rakha realized both the potential of the Arabic language as a medium for creation and that his world was Arabic-speaking. If he wanted to explore this world, he needed to do it in Arabic, to capture the \u201cintellectual and psychological kicks specific to that world.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Rakha\u2019s publisher aptly describes The Dissenters <\/em>as \u201ctransgressive.\u201d Transgressive works break with the moral and social conventions of their day or historical setting which, in this case, is Egypt in the twentieth century. Such transgressive works seek more than just hedonism and the erosion of archaic social\u00a0norms; instead, they move us toward a radically new way of seeing and being in the world. Rakha pushes these transgressions further through his use of language.\u00a0By blending vernacular Arabic with the standard and the religious, Rakha initiates us into a world where change can be enacted through the words we choose to utter. Rakha blurs the lines of language, dialect, life, family, memory, and desire\u2014not only in content but in form and style.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The novel is framed as a series of letters written by Nour to his sister discussing the \u201csecret\u201d life of their mother, a woman who went by three names: Amna, Nimo, and Mouna. The opening page contains a jarring admission from Nour, who marvels at his desire for \u201cMouna, a Mouna that is and is not [his] mother.\u201d In the pages that follow, Nour recounts to his sister, Shimo, their mother\u2019s past, and, along the way, multiple decades of Egyptian history, spanning from the Egyptian Revolution of the 1950s up to the Arab Spring of the 2010s. Nour begins Amna\u2019s (Nimo\u2019s? Mouna\u2019s?) story as a panicked Baccalaur\u00e9at student on the morning after her wedding night because she cannot present a bloodied white bedsheet as proof of her virginity\u2014though this is through no fault of her own: her husband, a much older man with a case of erectile dysfunction, cannot consummate their marriage. Amna worries about her absence from school and about what may be perceived as her questionable virginity.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What follows is a work of art unafraid of peeling back the layers of history to find the often ugly and complicated truth beneath. The novel\u2019s short, nonlinear chapters and interjections read more like prose poetry than anything else. As I made my way through the novel, I could not help but think of Virginia Woolf\u2019s The Waves, <\/em>another magnificent display of living language reminiscing on the dead. Yet, Rakha\u2019s novel cannot be defined as simply continuing a tradition that began with European modernists. In The Dissenters<\/em>, Rakha has successfully created a novel that is wholly his own.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mirroring Rakha\u2019s mother tongue, Egyptian Arabic, The Dissenters<\/em> reflects a similar \u201cpolyglotism\u201d in the way Rakha weaves globalization and imperialism past into a meditation on culture, revolution, and memory. One of the protagonists memorizes Jacques Brel\u2019s \u201cNe me Quitte Pas\u201d to the point that she can play it \u201cin her head.\u201d Others drive Cadillac DeVilles. Polyglotism is evident even at the sentence level: the narration and dialogue are often interjected with Arabic and French phrases\u2014sometimes, there are three languages in one sentence. For the characters of the novel, Arabic, English, and French are not multiple streams of thought; rather, they are a single river of communication and existence. I\u2019m often critical of multilingualism in English literature because it risks caricaturing what life in multiple languages is actually like. In Rakha, I find someone who understands the experience<\/em> of multilingualism, which is not just a string of code-switching, but fluid movement and thought across many languages.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In an interview with afikra<\/em>, an organization dedicated to a better understanding of the Arab world, Youssef Rakha opined that what makes a particular text different\u2014and therefore important\u2014is the writer\u2019s \u201ccapacity to make themself vulnerable.\u201d This goes beyond objectivity and intellectual curiosity; a writer must have felt the \u201chorror, pain, and grief of being human, of being mortal, of being on Earth.\u201d I would only add that being vulnerable and open to our worst experiences also requires courage\u2014a kind of courage that is not easily found. We should consider ourselves grateful, however, that we can find such courage in the works of Youssef Rakha.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI sought permission to beg forgiveness for my mother; but He did not grant it to me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":8799,"template":"","categories":[9,139,49,1569],"tags":[1998,1999,1997],"class_list":["post-8796","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aquifer","category-book-review","category-literary-features","category-reviews","tag-alex-ramirez-amaya","tag-the-dissenters","tag-youssef-rakha"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nReview: The Dissenters by Youssef Rakha - The Florida Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/review-the-dissenters-by-youssef-rakha\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Review: The Dissenters by Youssef Rakha - The Florida Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cI sought permission to beg forgiveness for my mother; but He did not grant it to me.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/review-the-dissenters-by-youssef-rakha\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Florida Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-02-12T23:16:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/01\/cover-Graywolf-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"703\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1054\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/article\\\/review-the-dissenters-by-youssef-rakha\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/article\\\/review-the-dissenters-by-youssef-rakha\\\/\",\"name\":\"Review: The Dissenters by Youssef Rakha - The Florida Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/article\\\/review-the-dissenters-by-youssef-rakha\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/article\\\/review-the-dissenters-by-youssef-rakha\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/43\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/cover-Graywolf-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-30T11:00:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-12T23:16:24+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/article\\\/review-the-dissenters-by-youssef-rakha\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/article\\\/review-the-dissenters-by-youssef-rakha\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/article\\\/review-the-dissenters-by-youssef-rakha\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/43\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/cover-Graywolf-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/43\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/cover-Graywolf-1.jpg\",\"width\":703,\"height\":1054},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/article\\\/review-the-dissenters-by-youssef-rakha\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Review: The Dissenters by Youssef Rakha\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Florida Review\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Review: The Dissenters by Youssef Rakha - The Florida Review","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/review-the-dissenters-by-youssef-rakha\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Review: The Dissenters by Youssef Rakha - The Florida Review","og_description":"\u201cI sought permission to beg forgiveness for my mother; but He did not grant it to me.","og_url":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/review-the-dissenters-by-youssef-rakha\/","og_site_name":"The Florida Review","article_modified_time":"2025-02-12T23:16:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":703,"height":1054,"url":"http:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/01\/cover-Graywolf-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/review-the-dissenters-by-youssef-rakha\/","url":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/review-the-dissenters-by-youssef-rakha\/","name":"Review: The Dissenters by Youssef Rakha - The Florida Review","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/review-the-dissenters-by-youssef-rakha\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/review-the-dissenters-by-youssef-rakha\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/01\/cover-Graywolf-1.jpg","datePublished":"2025-01-30T11:00:42+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-12T23:16:24+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/review-the-dissenters-by-youssef-rakha\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/review-the-dissenters-by-youssef-rakha\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/review-the-dissenters-by-youssef-rakha\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/01\/cover-Graywolf-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/01\/cover-Graywolf-1.jpg","width":703,"height":1054},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/review-the-dissenters-by-youssef-rakha\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Review: The Dissenters by Youssef Rakha"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/","name":"The Florida Review","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/8796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/8796\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8851,"href":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/8796\/revisions\/8851"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}