Blinding Ignorance: Medical Science, Diseased Eyes, and Religious Practice in Egypt
Arab Studies Journal, Fall 2004/Spring 2005
20 Pages Posted: 30 Sep 2011
Date Written: December 28, 2005
Abstract
This paper is concerned with trachoma, an endemic and pervasive eye disease in Egypt that is closely linked with ignorance and backwardness in official medical and public health discourses. Through a critical analysis of the literary work of Yahya Haqqi, a nationalist Egyptian writer, I argue that biomedicine is not merely a package of material technologies, but also an institution that demands the cultivation of new sensibilities and dispositions for both doctors and patients. I then compare Haqqi’s literary piece to its film adaptation to illustrate how modern medical science and reform Islam work together in Egypt to promote biomedical treatment and to dismiss popular religion-healing practices as ignorant.
Keywords: blindness, medicine, trachoma, Yahya Haqqi, Egypt, Islam
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