The City of the Dead is a large area on the periphery of Cairo where people live in house-like tombs. This study focuses on two Egyptian novels Šakāwā l-miṣrī l-faṣīḥ (1981-1985) by Yūsuf al-Qaʿīd and Madad (2014) by Maḥmūd al-Wirwārī, in which living in the cemeteries is portrayed as a paradoxical reality where life and death overlap. Limits between the two are blurred, and this creates a confusing situation where landmarks are lost and moral values are subverted. This situation echoes the characters’ personal dilemmas and the uncertain historical context in which they live. This article sheds light on the representation of life in the cemeteries and the concrete and symbolic function of this space. It also discusses this representation within the portrayal of peripheries and marginal spaces in contemporary Egyptian fiction, and explores the way the two novels—published several decades apart—use this ambivalent space to relate their respective historical realities.

死者之城是开罗外围的一个大片区域，人们居住在类似房屋的坟墓中。这项研究的重点是尤萨夫·卡迪德（Yūsufal-Qaʿīd）和马达德（Madad）撰写的两本埃及小说《萨卡瓦l-米卢里l-法萨迪（Šakāwāl-miṣrīl-faṣīḥ）（1981-1985）（2014年）由Maḥmūdal-Wirwārī撰写，其中，将墓地里的生活描绘成一种生与死重叠的自相矛盾的现实。两者之间的界限模糊不清，这造成了一个混乱的局面，失去了地标性建筑，破坏了道德观念。这种情况反映了角色的个人困境和他们所生活的不确定的历史背景。本文阐明了墓地中生命的表现以及该空间的具体和象征性功能。它还讨论了当代埃及小说中边缘和边缘空间的刻画，并探讨了两本相距数十年出版的小说如何利用这种矛盾的空间联系各自的历史现实。