Mahmud Bakhit al-Rabi'i

Mahmoud Bakhith Al Rabii (Arabic: محمود بَخيت الرَّبيعي) is an Egyptian literary critic and academic. He was born on January 15, 1932, in the town of Sohag Governorate, Egypt. He was composing poetry in his youth until 1960, but he then turned to literary criticism. He graduated from Dar al-Ulum university 1958, and obtained his PhD from the University of London in 1965. He taught at the universities of Cairo, Algeria, Kuwait, and the American University in Cairo. He was elected as a member of the Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo in 2008. He has written publications in criticism, studies, and translations, and he also has a trilogy of biography.

Biography Mahmud Bakhith Al Rabii was born on January 15, 1932, in the town of Juhaynah, Sohag Governorate, Egypt. His father was a peasant, his mother memorized a portion of the Qur’an, and he is the youngest of seven brothers. He grew up in his hometown right at the age of six in elementary school. At the age of ten he devoted himself to memorizing the Qur’an, and joined the Religious Institute in Asyut in 1945. Then he moved to the Cairo Religious Institute in 1951, and during this period he began writing poetry and publishing it in Al-Zaman and Al-Ahram newspapers. Then he joined Dar al-Ulum University in 1954. He continued writing poetry at Dar al-Ulum, and obtained a BA in 1958, and with the growth of his academic interest in criticism, he stopped writing poetry in 1960. He studied English and entered the University of London in 1960 and obtained a PhD in 1965 with a letter entitled "Women Writers and Critics in Modern Egypt".

Literary criticism His contribution to literary criticism began in the mid-1960s and is known as a prominent critic with a distinct approach, which aims to mix textual analysis with the very nature of literary creativity itself. He was known in theoretical criticism more than applied criticism. He believes that the creator who needs a critic who teaches him the origins of his art is doomed to failure sooner or later, and the critic who coordinates with such a creator is a critic who has lost his way.

During his education at the University of London, his experience in Arabic and English literature grew, as well as the crystallization of his idea of linguistic analysis of the literary text, influenced by the writings of T. S. Eliot, which had a profound effect on new criticism and scientific research. In this period, his relationship with linguist El-Said Badawi was strengthened, and he was close to Mahmoud Mohamed Shaker.

Works From his writings on criticism:

“In Poetry Criticism” (original title: fy nqd alshr), 1968 “Reading the Novel: Examples from Naguib Mahfouz” (original title: qrat alrwayt: nmadhj mn njyb mhfwz), 1973 "Texts of Arabic Criticism" (original title: nsws mn alnqd alrby), 1977 "Critical Essays" (original title: mqalat nqdyt), 1978 "Poetry Reading" (original title: qrat alshr), 1983 “Of My Banknotes” (original title: mn awraqy alnqdyt), 1996 “In Literary Criticism and the like” (original title: fy alnqd aladby wma alyh), 2001 "Within the Limits of Literature" (original title: fy hdwd aladb), 2008

From his translations:

"The Lonely Voice" (original title: alswt almnfrd), Frank O'Connor, 1969 "Stream of Consciousness in the Modern Novel" (original title: tyar alwy fy alrwayt alhdytht), 1973 "Present Literary Criticism" (original title: hadr alnqd aladby), 1975

He also has:

"At Fifty I Knew My Way: An Autobiography" (original title: fy alkhmsyn arft tryqy: syrt dhatyt), 1991 "After 50" (original title: baad alkhmsyn), 2004 "My Brother Muhammad Al Rabii: Memories and Selections" (original title: akhy mhmd alrbyy: dhkryat wmkhtarat), 2011 “My pleasure in writing about language, poetry, criticism and friends” (original title: mtaty fy alktabt an allogha walshr walnqd walasdqa), with Ali Jamal Turki, 2020