Assuming no previous knowledge of the subject, Arabic Literature - An Overview gives a rounded and balanced view of Arab literary creativity.'High'literature is examined alongside popular folk literature, and the classical and modern periods, usually treated separately, are presented together. Cachia's observations are not subordinated to any pre-formed literary theory, but describe and illustrate the directions taken, in order to present an overall picture of the field of relevance to the student of literature as well as to Arabists working in related fields.
Arabic literature--21st century--History and criticism
Abstract
The study of Arabic literature is blossoming. This book provides a comprehensive theoretical framework to help research this highly prolific and diverse production of contemporary literary texts. Based on the achievements of historical poetics, in particular those of Russian formalism and its theoretical legacy, this framework offers flexible, transparent, and unbiased tools to understand the relevant contexts within the literary system. The aim is to enhance our understanding of Arabic literature, throw light on areas of literary production that traditionally have been neglected, and stimulate others to take up the fascinating challenge of mapping out and exploring them.
Arabic literature, Cities and towns--Arab countries--Fiction--History and criticism, and Cities and towns in literature
Abstract
This edited volume addresses the ways in which the city has been explored in works of literature by classical and modern Arab'authors from different theosophical and ideological backgrounds.
Introducing readers to the extremely rich tradition of Arabic literature, this Anthology covers some of its major themes and concerns across the centuries, from its early beginnings to modern times. The texts chosen are a'library of personal preferences'of a scholar who has spent half a century or more in the company of Arabic books, marking then translating those passages that seemed to him to capture some of its most memorable moments. Reflecting the great diversity and unpredictability of Arabic literature as the carrier of a major world culture, both pre-modern and modern, the Anthology is divided thematically to highlight modern issues such as love, religion, the human self, human rights, freedom of expression, the environment, violence, secular thought, and feminism. The short, easy-to-read texts are accessible to non-specialists, providing an ideal entry point to this extraordinary literature.
Sebastian Sebastian (Ed), Stephan Milich (Ed), Sebastian Sebastian (Ed), and Stephan Milich (Ed)
Subjects
Arabic literature--History and criticism and Homeland in literature--Congresses
Abstract
Representations and visions of home, homeland (watan), and nation are perennial themes in Arabic literary writing. In its most recent iteration, namely modern Arabic poetry and prose, these ideas are framed against the backdrop of an increasingly expansive conceptual universe, taking in a wide array of artistic and intellectual expressions. Indeed, the notion and prospect of home and homeland gained even great currency in contemporary Arabic literature, largely in light of the Arab uprisings in 2010 and 2011, where the Arab people attempted to reclaim their countries from the many oppressive power structures guilty of robbing them of their homeland. The present volume highlights the complexity, diversity, and vitality of literary voices in expressing a broad spectrum of ideas and images centered around the Arab homeland and nation. This book therefore contributes to a deeper understanding of the historical dimensions and literary representations of home and homeland in the modern Arab world on the one hand, and the far-reaching cultural and political impact of these concepts on the other. The thematic spectrum of this book ranges from studies of writings on home and nostalgia, travel accounts, didactic epistles, and prison memoirs, as well as the nahda-literature and the genre of collective autobiographies or “village books”. While some essays focus on the processes of symbolic nation-building, others deal with the literary techniques and poetic devices that modern Arab authors employ in order to deconstruct and question the political discourses on watan and Arab nationalism. This collection of essays is the result of a symposium held in 2011 at the University of Göttingen, Germany. The contributors to the volume are renowned specialists in Arabic literature and Middle East Studies working in Universities across the globe, including such countries as Australia, Denmark, Lebanon, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States, and Germany.
This book provides a succinct introduction to modern Arabic literature of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Designed primarily as an introductory textbook for English-speaking undergraduates, it will also be of interest to a more general readership interested in the contemporary Middle East or in comparative and modern literature. The work attempts to situate the development of modern Arabic literature in the context of the medieval Arabic literary tradition as well as the new literary forms derived from the West, exploring the interaction between social, political and cultural change in the Middle East and the development of a modern Arabic literary tradition. Poetry, prose writing and the theatre are discussed in separate chapters. The work overall aims to give a balanced account of the subject, reflecting the different pace of literary development in diverse parts of the Arab world, including North Africa. Key Features•A concise introduction to a field that deserves to be better known in the West.•Clear presentation, based on extensive classroom experience of teaching the subject.•Guidance on other sources of further information.•Extensive bibliography, with list of works in English translation.
Allen, Roger, Ostle, Robin, Allen, Roger, and Ostle, Robin
Subjects
Arabic literature--History and criticism
Abstract
This book is about the career and academic legacy of Mustafa Badawi who transformed the study of Modern Arabic Literature in Western academe in the second half of the 20th century. During the decades after his appointment in Oxford in 1964, he communicated to students and the wider public the extent to which this literature is such a vibrant component of global culture, freeing it from the more traditional approaches of academic Orientalism. The first section of the book is largely biographical as it describes Badawi's early life and career in the cosmopolitan Mediterranean city of Alexandria. It also assesses his role as a public intellectual in the Arab World and the West, and considers the manner in which his initial career as a scholar of English literature affected his teaching and research in Arabic and also his role as a translator. The second section provides examples of the work of eminent scholars in the field who are adding to Badawi's heritage, in some cases in areas of work which were developed under his tutelage.
Yosef Tobi, Tsivia Tobi, Yosef Tobi, and Tsivia Tobi
Subjects
Judeo-Arabic literature--Tunisia--History and criticism
Abstract
As a result of the introduction of the printing press in the mid-nineteenth century and the proximity of European culture, language, and literature after the French occupation in 1881, Judeo-Arabic literature flourished in Tunisia until the middle of the twentieth century. As the most spoken language in the country, vernacular Judeo-Arabic allowed ideas from the Jewish Enlightenment in Europe (the Haskalah) to spread widely and also offered legitimacy to the surrounding Arab culture. In this volume, authors Yosef and Tsivia Tobi present works of Judeo-Arabic Tunisian literature that have been previously unstudied and unavailable in translation. In nine chapters, the authors present a number of works that were both originals and translations, divided by genre. Beginning each with a brief introduction to the material, they present translations of piyyutim (liturgical poems), malzumat (satirical ballads), qinot (laments), ghnayat (songs), essays on ideology and propaganda, drama and the theater, hikayat and deeds of righteous men (fiction), and Daniel Hagège's Circulation of Tunisian Judeo-Arabic Books, an important early critical work. A comprehensive introduction details the flowering of Judeo-Arabic literature in North Africa and appendixes of Judeo-Arabic journals, other periodicals, and books complete this volume. Ultimately, the authors reveal the effect of Judeo-Arabic literature on the spiritual formation of not only the literate male population of Tunisian Jews, who spent a good part of their time at the synagogue, but also on women, the lower and middle classes, and conservatives who leaned toward modernization. Originally published in Hebrew, Judeo-Arabic Literature in Tunisia, 1850–1950 will be welcomed by English-speaking scholars interested in the literature and culture of this period.
Arabic literature--20th century--History and criticism--Bibliography, Authors, Arab--Iraq--Bio-bibliography, Arabic literature--Iraq--Translations into English--Bibliography, Arabic literature--20th century--Translations into English--Bibliography, and Arabic literature--Iraq--History and criticism--Bibliography
Abstract
Covering 60 years of materials, this bibliography cites translations, studies, and other writings, which represent Iraq's national literature, including recent works of numerous Iraqi writers living in Western exile. The volume serves as a guide to three interrelated data:o Translations that have appeared since 1950, as books or as individual items (poems, short stories, novel extracts, plays, diaries) in print-and non-print publications in Iraq and other Arab and English-speaking countries, including Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.o Relevant studies and other secondary sources including selected reviews and author interviews, which cover Iraqi literature and writers.o The scope of displacement or dispersion of Iraqi writers, artists, and other intellectuals who have been uprooted and are now living in exile in Arab or other Western countries.By drawing attention to a largely overlooked but relevant and extensive literature accessible in English, this first of its kind book will serve as an invaluable guide to students of contemporary Iraq, modern Arabic literature, and other fields such as women's studies, postcolonial studies, third world literature, American-Arab/Muslim Relations, and Diaspora studies.
Roger Allen provides a comprehensive introductory survey of literary texts in Arabic, from their unknown beginnings in the fifth century AD to the present. The volume focuses on the major genres of Arabic literature, dealing with Islam's sacred text, the Qur'an, and a wealth of poetry, narrative prose, drama and criticism. Allen reveals the continuities that link the creative output of the present day to the illustrious literary heritage of the past and incorporates an enormously rich body of popular literature typified most famously by The Arabian Nights. The volume is informed by Western critical approaches, but within each chapter the emphasis is on the texts themselves, with extensive quotations in English translation. Reference features include a chronology and a guide to further reading. A revised and abridged version of Allen's acclaimed study, The Arabic Literary Heritage, this book provides an invaluable student introduction to a major non-Western literary tradition.
The Man of Wiles - terrorist or saint? The Man of Wiles (otherwise known as the Master Thief, the Trickster or the Fool) appears in every hero cycle within classical Arabic literature - proof of this figure's popularity with the audiences of Arab story-tellers. He embodies views acceptable to an otherwise inarticulate part of the population, allowing Islam to be treated in a paradoxical and sometimes humorous light in contrast to conventional piety. And he shares with Odysseus not only his wiles but his function as'the sacker of cities', redressing the idea that classical Arabic literature is unrelated to anything outside its own borders. The study of this popular form sets out in detail the recorded lives of these Men of Wiles for those to whom the original texts are not available.
IAFOR Journal of Literature & Librarianship, Vol 9, Iss 1, Pp 60-75 (2020)
Subjects
literary communication theory, reader’s gaps, literary meaning, modern arabic literature, and Bibliography. Library science. Information resources
Abstract
This article discusses the system of gaps in modern Arabic literature and how such gaps function to alert readers to specific author intentions and so facilitate the construction of meaning. The system of gaps, this article argues, is fundamental to the process of literary communication between the text and the reader. Literary meanings are produced through a series of gaps that include the title, polyphonic narrative, circularity, ending, fusion between imagination and reality, punctuation, printed form on the page, reading order, linkage, and echoing. This article also studies the contribution of such gaps in making the reader produce the text’s meaning using, as examples, several short-stories, novels, and poetic texts from modern Arabic literature.
حسين کياني Hossin Kiyani and رؤيا محمدي Roya. Mohammadi
Journal Of Babylon Center For Humanities Studies, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 157-186 (2021)
Subjects
المنهج الزمني، جرجي زيدان، عمر فروخ، شوقي ضيف، حنا الفاخوري, political approach, gorgi zaidan, omar faroukh, shoghi zeif, hana alfakhori, Fine Arts, and History (General) and history of Europe
Abstract
1- INTRODUCTION The history of Arabic literature includes the history of what happened and experienced in the last Arab nation. Collecting these experiences and illuminating all its contributing elements, represents the main foundation for a sound and stable character, therefore, it seems necessary to classify the literature history and its time periods into different distinct divisions. For this reason, most writers of literature history have categorized the history of Arabic literature based on various approaches so that they would be able to simply reveal the movement of literature. These approaches consist of political, climatic, cultural, ethnic ones, as well as literary schools and genres. The political approach is the most common one noticed in the history of Arabic literature. By following this approach, many writers of Arabic literature have attempted to classify its history into various divisions in accordance with their respective political periods. 2- THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK The purpose of the present study is to explain the Common indicators of political approach found in history of Arabic literature. In this line, the four following books written based on political approach and regarded as the most known works in the context of literature history writing were studied and examined: The History literature of Arabic language by Jurji Zaidan, The history of Arabic literature by omar faroukh, the history of Arabic literature by shoghi zeif, Inclusive in the history of Arabic literature by Hanna Al Fakhouri. 3- METHODOLOGY By applying an integrated method, the descriptive method was used for presenting the theoretical principles and the complete inductive method and qualitative content analysis were conducted for analyzing the findings. The Common indicators of political approach were attained by means of qualitative content analysis. 4- RESULTS & DISCUSSION& CONCLUSIONS The findings Common indicators that these four books written based on political approach possesses some common Common indicators that can be summarized into following issues: main and sub classification, preliminary discussion, presentation of features of literature of each period and biographies of literary men. The four books have followed the same political approach that is applied in the first book. Therefore, the books written after Jurji Zaidan's book, have not excluded his particular concepts and methods and it can be said that these four books share much commonalities. Without any criticism, analysis and interpretation, Jurji Zaidan and omar Faroukh have merely gathered and narrated the contents and have not thoroughly examined any writer or poet, therefore it can be said that their books are like an encyclopedia encompassing history of Arabic literature and biographies of literary men. On the other hand, shoghi zeif and Hanna Al Fakhouri have applied critical, interpretive and analytic approach to investigate literary men's works. However, it can be concluded that history of literature writing have experienced ascending movement, since by coming closer to present time, these four books written based on political approach need to receive more analysis and interpretation.
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