Award-winning Egyptian author and former USM Libra professor Nawal El Saadawi’s lecture on the Egyptian revolution drew such a crowd Tuesday that people were turned away.
Visibly excited students and members of the community filled every seat and some of the aisles in Talbot Lecture Hall in Portland. Some attendees even stood for the duration of the lecture in the back of the room.
Still lively at age 80, Saadawi has written over a dozen books, largely about women in Islam. She was originally trained as a medical doctor, and published her first book, a memoir of her work as a doctor in 1960. Her writing has gained her admirers, as well as many enemies. She has been imprisoned in Egypt and faced death threats from Islamic fundamentalists angry about her critiques of treatment of women in Egypt.
In addition to publishing such seminal texts as “The Hidden Face of Eve” and “Woman at Point Zero,” the latter of which is considered “essential reading” in the USM core curriculum, Saadawi also took part in Egypt’s recent revolution. “I have been dreaming of the revolution since I was 10 years old,” she said.
USM professor of philosophy George Caffentzis welcomed Saadawi back in an introduction he gave before her speech. Caffentzis praised Saadawi for her years of work concerning feminism, colonialism and authoritarianism.
Saadawi spoke of the interconnectedness of revolutions, pointing to the current labor struggle in Wisconsin. “The revolution is a virus, and it is a very good virus,” she said.
She urged Americans to take action in their own communities. “Why revolt?” she asked. “This is a silly question. Why not revolt?”
Saadawi, who taught at as a visiting Libra Professor at USM in 2003, also questioned the American education system, saying it suppresses creativity. “Good education creates disobedience,” she said.
While answering questions from the audience, Saadawi spoke of her fears about the revolution being tainted by foreign influence, particularly following the arriva in Egypt of U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. She spoke about how Egypt had been weakened by dependence on foreign powers.
“Out of five loaves of bread [Egypt] imports four, mostly from America,” she said. “This is the mechanism of the neo-colonialist way. They don’t invade us with an army; they invade us in this economic way.”
Saadawai also expressed discontent over the seeming lack of a revolutionary leader who could assume the position of president in Egypt. She also added she was worried about the committee to reform the constitution being all male. “Women died in the revolution,” she said. “They should be a part of the new Egypt.”
Despite her worries, Saadawi remained optimistic about the future of Egypt. “I have confidence in the power of people, and I am not afraid.”