Sanat Al-Ahlam Al-Khateera (The Year of Dreaming Dangerously), by: Slavoj Žižek, Trans: Amir Zaki, Cairo: Tanweer, 2013.

Tanweer Publishing House has just released the first Arabic rendition of renowned Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek's The Year of Dreaming Dangerously, translated by journalist Amir Zaki.

Composed in English, the book was first released in October 2012, and deals with the enormous 2011 protests that broke out around the world, from Tunisia to Cairo, Athens to Damascus and New York.

On the back cover, Žižek writes: “Call it the year of dreaming dangerously: 2011 caught the world off guard with a series of shattering events. While protesters in New York, Cairo, London, and Athens took to the streets in pursuit of emancipation, obscure destructive fantasies inspired the world’s racist populists in places as far apart as Hungary and Arizona, achieving a horrific consummation in the actions of mass murderer Anders Breivik.

“The subterranean work of dissatisfaction continues. Rage is building, and a new wave of revolts and disturbances will follow. Why? Because the events of 2011 augur a new political reality. These are limited, distorted — sometimes even perverted — fragments of a utopian future lying dormant in the present.”

Slavoj Žižek, 64, is a renowned contemporary Slovenian philosopher and cultural critic. He is currently senior researcher at the University of Ljubljana's Institute for Sociology and Philosophy and professor of philosophy and psychoanalysis at the prestigious European Graduate School.

Amir Zaki, 26, journalist and translator, graduated from Cairo University's Philosophy Department in 2009. While Sanat Al-Ahlam Al-Khateera (The Year of Dreaming Dangerously) is his first published translation, he authored various articles and translated numerous texts by Friedrich Nietzsche and Samuel Beckett.