Ceride

Öz

Egyptian people who got well acquainted with the West through Napolion Bonapart's occupation of Egypt in 1798 deepened their acquaintanceship with the West via the students sent to France and in a sense attempted to find their own self by getting to know the other. One of the important witnesses to this process is Ali Mubarak. Ali Mubarak who was sent to France to recieve education in the beginning of the 19th century along with the childeren of amirs and pashas learnt French and became acquainted with the dominant culture of knowledge.
Subsequently Ali Mubarak compiled a book in which he narrated the adventures of Alamuddîn who left for Europe to earn money. In the introduction of the book, he remarks that poeple more often than not gravitate towards biographies, stories and entertaining books as opposed to academic works. He remarks that he therefore wrote his book in the manner of a story. As one the first steps towards transitioning to novels in Arab literature, a blend of literary genres such as story, travel writings and diary can be observed. Nonetheless due to the schocking similarity between the author and his character the book can be considered as a memoir.
This study will thoroughly analyze Ali Mubaraks Alamuddîn and the traces of the self will be pursued through the other. Our main claim is that Alamuddîn can somewhat be read as a self-narration. In this presentation the claim in question will be presented with examples.