A Study on Egyptian Writer Ṣunʻallāh Ibrāhīm's Novel The Committee

This paper analyzes the Egyptian novelist, Ṣunʻallāh Ibrāhīm's novel The Committee (1992) through the aesthetic of reception (or reception theory) research methodology. Aesthetic of reception is a methodology of literary studies that creates a literary work with 'writer-text-reader' as the main elements. This paper analyzes the novel based on terms and theory of aesthetic of reception, and divides it into the fields of 'text reading', 'criticism reading', and 'author reading.' Research about the author was done in the 'author reading' section, this paper then excerpts and then translates the original text from the perspective of researcher & recipient of the novel in the 'text reading' section, and in the 'criticism reading' section, this paper translates and quotes critics' critical texts as the novel needs to expand reader & recipient's horizon of expectations. In summary, based on the theory of aesthetic of reception the story of this novel was about a middle-aged ambitious Egyptian man who had prepared for a job at 'The Committee'. This job symbolizes the hidden power either in politics or in economy to have fast success in his life. However, he was killed by 'The Committee'. More details of this story are dealt in the part of 'text reading' and the part of 'criticism reading' in this paper.