Gazing Games: Yūsuf Idrīsʹs Contemplating Protagonist and the Elusive Object of his Gaze

The article postulates an extant sub-genre in modern Arabic literature of gazing-stories, defined as short stories that are both telling about and structured around a gazing situation. It then analyses Yūsuf Idrīsʹs gazing-stories from interpretative grids offered by four theories of the gaze, two western and two Middle-Eastern. The theories range from those emphasizing the positive element of infatuation, to those that are centred on negative aspects, such as shame or power-wielding. Idrīsʹs gazing-stories served as a tool for addressing the authorʹs criticism of various issues, such as the inequities of conservative Egyptian society, the insolence of the ruling regime, and various social ills, such as lack of freedom of choice, particularly in sexual relations between men and women. However, there were two periods in Idrīsʹs literary career: around the 1960s a change in his own life, personal experience and views turned his gazing-stories into stories of obstructed or negated gaze. The two types of gazing-stories—before and after the change—are compared and analysed in their content, environment, message, structure and technique.