The Study of Literary Populism in Tawfiq al-Hakim's Plays

Abstract

Populism is a political term appeared with the rise of popular revolutions in Russia and France. Afterwards, it penetrates into literature. This term signifies advocating common people in politics, it follows the same trend in literature, too. The populist criticism culminates in France, because French critics were concerned with the literary works which treat low classes, undergrounds and miserable people. Tawfiq al-Hakim is an Egyptian prominent writer who studied law but devoted his life to literature and writing. He was a prolific writer who wrote in different styles. His works are characterized with commitment with the social problems and criticism of the social changes. Since the drama is written in dialogical form, it can deal with common people's concerns better than novel. Moreover it has no limitation in choosing the topics. This popular social spirit as well as his commitment to common people have made al-Hakim a popular writer. He exploited these themes to increase people's awareness and help them in managing their social problems. Applying the populist criticism, this article shows that Tawfiq al-Hakim's work was not a mere imitation of Western populistic works. His innovations can be found in selection of the themes and concentration on local problems.