This paper deals with the scopic enactment and negotiation of the scalar dynamics of gendered nationalism
and their implication for women’s third prison in the Egyptian post-independent setting. The paper
particularly tackles the questions of the gender politics of nationalism and their scopic drive underpinning
the cinematic adaptation of the gender story of the nation from text to screen along two historical contexts—
the period of developmental and global modernity.Adopting a multicultural feminist approach, the paper
examines three cinematic adaptations of two novels and a play. These are Idris’ (1962) (AlʿAyb: Disgrace),
al Zayat’s (1960) l-Babal-Maftouh(Open Door) and alAsaal’s(1982 ) Segnal-Nisa(Women’s Prison). The
paper approaches the adaptations –Idris andKhalifa’s ( العيب( 1967 (AlʿAyb: Disgrace),Youssef Issa and Latifa
alZayat’s(1963) al-Babal-Maftouh, Abu Zikri and Naoum’s (2014) SegnalNisa—through both McClintock’s
framework on the gender politics of nationalism (1997),Hucheon’s notion of “the context of creation … and
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reception”(Hutcheon2006, 15) and Mulvey’s take on the visual pleasure of narrative cinema. The paper
capitalizes on the medially induced turn in Translation Studies (Littau 2011) with its attention to context and
media as parameters and venues for constructing the self-image of national cultural identity