Il crimine nell’opera di Naǧīb Maḥfūẓ

This article offers an analysis of the conception of crime in Naǧīb Maḥfūẓ’s oeuvre. Literary criminals and their stories can, in fact, be seen as part of a counter narrative against the dominant conceptions of law, justice and morality imposed by power and authority. This is even more true when it comes to the fiction of a writer who overtly explores the political realm, just like the Egyptian Nobel Laureate does. Focusing on Bidāyah wa nihāyah, al-Ṭarīq and Yawma qutila al- zaʻīm, this study tries to show how Maḥfūẓ subverts some common criminal stereotypes by crafting his characters so that they can actually be a means for offering a harsh critique against several injustices and problems suffered by Egyptian citizens and contemporary societies on the whole.