Militant Autobiographies: The memoirs of Injī Aflāṭūn (1924-1989)

This article examines Mudhakkirāt Injī Aflāṭūn. Min al-ṭufūla ilā al-sijn, in which the Egyptian artist, Injī Aflāṭūn (1924-1989) – also a committed communist and feminist – recounts the personal process through which she came to define her identity, a journey she describes as her “ar- duous path toward the true Egypt”. Her life story is reinterpreted here through the lens of estrange- ment. This literary and artistic device illuminates how Aflāṭūn came to measure the distance be- tween herself and the Other, ultimately drawing closer to the Egypt of the ordinary people, those for whom she fought and whom she portrayed in her paintings.