Might or not it’s that the straightforward joys of our time, like watching the sky within the early morning, may develop into utterly alien sooner or later? Might a easy stroll outdoors, at any hour of the day, ultimately appear unusual or uncommon? And is it attainable that what as soon as felt pure, might develop into unfamiliar and unnatural?
These questions are explored in Azza Sultan’s fascinating quick story, The Sky Room (translated by Raphael Cohen), included within the anthology, Egypt +100: Tales from a Century after Tahrir (2024), revealed by Comma Press. The gathering presents a collection of science fiction tales that envision life in Egypt 100 years from now, mixing the boundaries between actuality and fiction.
The story is advised by means of a collection of conversations between a daughter and her father, interlaced along with her recollections of their previous discussions about nature. In a world the place even informal outings are closely regulated and synthetic know-how dominates, she clings to the tales of her father’s love for the pure world — the inventive patterns of the clouds, the hues of the ocean, and the straightforward pleasure of strolling barefoot on the bottom.
Time and time once more, her nostalgic recollections of her father stay as the only tether to her humanity, a stark distinction to the impassive world that surrounds her.
A synthetic world
Set in a future dominated by synthetic intelligence and know-how, the story envisions a world the place even the skies are artificially managed, with people in a position to alter their colours and shapes. What was as soon as a easy view from a window, balcony, or mountaintop has remodeled into a synthetic playground the place folks manipulate the sky’s look.
In Sultan’s story, the sky is mentioned throughout a dialog between a father and his daughter. The daddy describes clouds as secret messages from the earth to the sky, creating an imaginative story to assist his daughter higher grasp and perceive the actual sky, since she has principally seen synthetic skies all through her life.
The sky’s lack of its pure essence acts as a metaphor for the quick story assortment as a complete, reflecting how nature turns into a historic artifact or monument, akin to the pyramids—relics of a previous period skilled solely by historical societies.
Simply as older generations affiliate printed newspapers or rotary dial telephones with a bygone period, nature too turns into part of historical past on this work of fiction. Its true essence can solely be skilled and appreciated by means of the tales shared by those that have lived amongst it. It’s by means of these tales that future generations shield, cherish, and honor nature.
This metaphor additionally ties into a big theme within the assortment: the consequences of local weather change.
Michel Hanna’s quick story, Encounter with the White Rabbit (translated by Mohammed Ghalayini), examines how local weather change transforms Egypt’s future, leading to submerged cities and big migrations, a state of affairs not in contrast to the present considerations over rising sea ranges in Alexandria. This environmental disaster creates a pointy distinction between cities which are protected against local weather change and people devastated by it, underscoring the rising divide between completely different societies.
Cairo transforms into a spot unfamiliar and forgotten by its inhabitants, with even Cairo Worldwide Airport left in wreck. The town has develop into a disordered refuge for these fleeing the consequences of local weather change on different cities. What as soon as outlined Cairo now exists solely as a distant reminiscence within the hearts of its residents, and thru the tales of older generations.
Though science fiction might seem fully imaginative, it usually mirrors our current actuality.
In Cairo, billboards and tv advertisements incessantly current a imaginative and prescient of a futuristic Egypt—one marked by clear streets, towering skyscrapers, and a way of order. The time period “New Republic” is generally used by politicians to explain this envisioned future. Nonetheless, whereas such a future can provide hope for progress, literature encourages us to look again and replicate extra gently and deeply: what does it actually imply to be futuristic, and does a futuristic imaginative and prescient essentially assure prosperity for everybody?
Cities haunted by the previous
Cities can by no means actually escape their historical past or previous identification, which is a recurring theme in lots of the tales within the assortment. Whilst modernization reshapes all the things, odd folks proceed to hold the echoes of previous wars, revolutions, and sociopolitical actions.
Regardless of all of the developments and futuristic adjustments, human feelings stay fixed and unchanged, as if nothing ever modified. Folks nonetheless yearn for love, compassion, and fervour the identical means they do now.
A few of these tales aren’t in regards to the revolutions themselves, however in regards to the revolutionaries—those that had been impressed and remodeled by concepts. The gathering explores how revolutionary ideas can proceed to affect people, not simply complete nations. Even when historical past won’t ever return, the concepts and passions of previous leaders and revolutionaries proceed to swim by means of time.
As historian James H. Billington as soon as said in his e book, Fireplace within the Minds of Males (1980), the research of revolutions usually emphasizes elite figures, whereas the experiences of working-class revolutionaries and odd persons are incessantly neglected. This quick story assortment, in distinction, goals to deal with that hole by exploring how revolutionaries have come to embody a novel type of religion—each a deep-seated ideological dedication and a spirited adherence to revolutionary beliefs.
Historical past doesn’t at all times keep in mind odd folks. Whereas it information the tales of countries, leaders, monuments, and temples, the tales of on a regular basis people who lived by means of these instances are inclined to fade, lingering solely within the recollections of their family members who carry their legacy ahead.
The e book explores the concept locations are extra than simply bodily areas; they’re dwelling, respiration entities that carry the load of human recollections and feelings. Even once they evolve, their spirit stays intact.
In the long run, after time has erased a lot of what as soon as was, it’s the tales that hold us related to our previous. By way of these tales, we come to grasp that what we actually maintain onto shouldn’t be the land itself, however the spirit it represents.
The legacy of odd folks, nevertheless small, lives on within the tales we share. Their smiles, phrases, and actions proceed to encourage and transfer us. Whereas they might not have had grand memorials, their legacy lives on in our hearts. And it’s in our hearts that the true historical past of countries is written.