Despite her family’s attempts to keep their daughter away from political activity by sending her to France to study art, Inji Aflatoun strongly refused. She wrote in her memoirs: “It was neither acceptable nor reasonable for me to leave Egypt and spend several years abroad, while I was deeply involved in a long and harsh process of self-Egyptianization. Eighteen years of my life were lost in a society enveloped in cellophane, to the extent that I do not even possess my national language. What misery a person feels who is tongue-tied. Until I was seventeen, my language was French, and when I began to interact with people, I could not untie the knot in my tongue. Am I then cut off from the tree?”
Inji Aflatoun connected with prominent leftist intellectuals during the 1940s and 1950s, severed her ties with the society she lived in, and dedicated her works to expressing the life of Egyptian women, peasants, and the common folk.
Excerpt Translated from Arabic from an article in The Independent authored by Yasser Sultan.

This narrative reminds one of a book, tracing the life of a psychoanalyst Afaf Mahfoudh from her early days in Minya, Egypt, during the British mandate, to her retirement years in Florida, USA. It explores nearly a century of Egyptian history, using her personal experiences to highlight significant political shifts, particularly during her childhood and youth in the 1940s and 1950s. During this period, figures like Inji Aflatoun were actively involved in the socio-political sphere, resisting societal norms and engaging with leftist intellectuals, which fundamentally influenced the psychoanalyst’s own understanding of her cultural identity and societal roles.
The narrative continues with her move to France in the mid-1960s, her psychoanalytic training after graduating from the Faculty of Law at Alexandria University, and the impact of the 1967 setback. Her career later takes her to the United States, further shaping her professional life. During these years, she remained connected to the intellectual currents back home, drawing inspiration from prominent Egyptian intellectuals engaged in public discourse during the latter half of the 20th century, such as Mustafa Safwan, Nawal El Saadawi, Inji Aflatoun, and Latifa al-Zayyat. These figures, who influenced and participated in the cultural and political landscape of the time, provided a backdrop to her evolving perspectives and professional choices.

Speaking of Latifa Al Zayyat, she was also an acquaintance of Afaf. It’s seems the trio: Inji, Afaf, and Latifa were in and from the same social circle. Her story is poignantly captured by Iman Mersal in “In the Footsteps of Inayat Al-Zayat” (2019), which explores Al-Zayyat’s tragic life and untimely death. The book delves into her personal archive, including her novel “Love and Silence,” to restore her narrative.