Clear all
Work #831 · Mid

The Cairo Trilogy

Naguib Mahfouz
1956-57 (Bayn al-Qasrayn, Qasr al-Shawq, al-Sukkariyya) · Arabic
Realist family-saga novel trilogy · Twentieth-century Egyptian / Arabic literature

Mahfouz's 1956-57 trilogy — three generations of a Cairo family across colonial Egypt

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute The Cairo Trilogy (Mid)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Both
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Theistic
Observer · Moral Authority Scripture
Observer · Theological Method —
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

⧖

Time

The Cairo Trilogy

The historical time of three generations.

✦

Space

The Cairo Trilogy

The old alleys and modern streets of Cairo.

◉

Matter

The Cairo Trilogy

The patriarchal house and the embodied family.

◎

Observer

The Cairo Trilogy

The omniscient narrator across the al-Jawad family.

⚡

Energy

The Cairo Trilogy

Energies of patriarchy, modernization, revolution.

⧉

Information

The Cairo Trilogy

The chronicle of three generations.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

The Cairo Trilogy

Mahfouz's Cairo Trilogy: foundational for modern Arabic literature; first Arabic-language Nobel Prize for Literature (1988).