Using Life (novel): Difference between revisions
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{{Display censorship incident | {{Display censorship incident | ||
|ongoing=yes | |ongoing=yes | ||
|year= | |year=2014 | ||
|region=Middle East | |region=Middle East | ||
|artist=Ahmed Naji, | |artist=Ahmed Naji, | ||
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|location=Cairo, Egypt | |location=Cairo, Egypt | ||
|description_of_content=Ahmed Naji's novel, ''Using Life'', anticipates a dystopian end for Cairo at the hands of a secretive group of architects. Naji wrote the experimental novel in collaboration with illustrator Ayman al-Zorqani. The novel is an experiment on the themes of sex and drugs in a context of censorship and persecution. Naji is recognized for his writings on contemporary art and indie music. Using Life is. Naji’s second novel; it has been curated into exhibitions, an animated film, and a multimedia performance. | |description_of_content=Ahmed Naji's novel, ''Using Life'', anticipates a dystopian end for Cairo at the hands of a secretive group of architects. Naji wrote the experimental novel in collaboration with illustrator Ayman al-Zorqani. The novel is an experiment on the themes of sex and drugs in a context of censorship and persecution. Naji is recognized for his writings on contemporary art and indie music. Using Life is. Naji’s second novel; it has been curated into exhibitions, an animated film, and a multimedia performance. | ||
|description_of_incident= | |description_of_incident=From Mada Masr: | ||
"Naji, a 31-year-old journalist, blogger and novelist, was imprisoned for “violating public modesty” in relation to a chapter of his hybrid graphic novel Istakhdem al-Haya (Using Life, 2014), after a reader filed a case against him, arguing that its sexually explicit content made him feel ill. | |||
"A court acquitted Naji in December 2015, but on the prosecution’s appeal in February 2016 he was sentenced to the maximum term of two years and imprisoned immediately. Tarek al-Taher, chief editor of the state-affiliated Akhbar al-Adab magazine in which the novel was serialized, was sentenced to a LE10,000 fine in the same case. | |||
"The move caused widespread outrage, from Egypt’s culture minister and fellow novelists to the international press, as a step further in a barrage of censorship, closures and imprisonment sweeping the political sphere. Many works of Arabic literature contain content of a sexual nature. | |||
"Naji was awarded the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award in May this year." | |||
|description_of_result=The novelist and journalist Ahmed Naji — along with his editor, Tarek al-Taher — was tried, and upon appeal, re-tried for the publication of an excerpt of his novel ''Using Life'' in Akhbar al-Adab. As of December 4, 2016, Naji remains in jail but is on the 2nd presidential pardon list. | |description_of_result=The novelist and journalist Ahmed Naji — along with his editor, Tarek al-Taher — was tried, and upon appeal, re-tried for the publication of an excerpt of his novel ''Using Life'' in Akhbar al-Adab. As of December 4, 2016, Naji remains in jail but is on the 2nd presidential pardon list. | ||
UPDATE Dec 18: "The two-year prison sentence against writer Ahmed Naji, who has been jailed since February on charges of public indecency, was suspended on Sunday pending review on January 1, 2017." (Mada Masr) | UPDATE Dec 18: "The two-year prison sentence against writer Ahmed Naji, who has been jailed since February on charges of public indecency, was suspended on Sunday pending review on January 1, 2017." (Mada Masr) | ||
|image=Useoflife.jpg | |image=Useoflife.jpg | ||
|source=The Guide for "Use of Life" - دليل استخدام الحياة | |||
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3Q7KbkxNnM | |||
}} | }} | ||
[http://www.madamasr.com/en/2016/12/18/news/culture/court-suspends-sentence-against-writer-ahmed-naji-release-imminent-lawyer/ Court suspends sentence against writer Ahmed Naji, release imminent: Lawyer], Mada Masr, Dec 18, 2016 | [http://www.madamasr.com/en/2016/12/18/news/culture/court-suspends-sentence-against-writer-ahmed-naji-release-imminent-lawyer/ Court suspends sentence against writer Ahmed Naji, release imminent: Lawyer], Mada Masr, Dec 18, 2016 |