This book provides the first authoritative, comprehensive critical survey of creative writing in Arabic from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day, a period which saw profound changes in the very concept of literature. Muhammad Ali's drive for modernization in Egypt early in the nineteenth century began a process of westernization which gathered momentum, eventually spreading from Egypt and Syria to the rest of the Arab world, aided by the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire. With the spread of secular education, printing and journalism, a new reading public appeared. A significant translation movement resulted in the borrowing of Western ideas as well as of literary forms: the novel, the short story and drama. Against the background of the rise of nationalism, the conflict between Islam and westernization, and the search for identity (intensified later by diverse ideologies), the traditional conception of literature as a display of verbal skill was replaced by the view that literature should reflect and indeed change social and political reality. The contributors to this volume of the Cambridge History of Arabic Literature examine the attempts made by Arab men and women to adapt the new imported forms as well as the indigenous literary tradition to meet the requirements of the modern world, and their achievement in making a major contribution to world literature.
This book provides the first authoritative, comprehensive critical survey of creative writing in Arabic from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day, a period which saw profound changes in the very concept of literature. Muhammad Ali's drive for modernization in Egypt early in the nineteenth century began a process of westernization which gathered momentum, eventually spreading from Egypt and Syria to the rest of the Arab world, aided by the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire. With the spread of secular education, printing and journalism, a new reading public appeared. A significant translation movement resulted in the borrowing of Western ideas as well as of literary forms: the novel, the short story and drama. Against the background of the rise of nationalism, the conflict between Islam and westernization, and the search for identity (intensified later by diverse ideologies), the traditional conception of literature as a display of verbal skill was replaced by the view that literature should reflect and indeed change social and political reality. The contributors to this volume of the Cambridge History of Arabic Literature examine the attempts made by Arab men and women to adapt the new imported forms as well as the indigenous literary tradition to meet the requirements of the modern world, and their achievement in making a major contribution to world literature.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Editorial note; Chronological table of events; Map of the Arab world; 1. Introduction: I. The background M. M. Badawi; II. Translations and adaptations 1834-1914 Pierre Cachia; 2. The Neo-classical Arabic poets S. Somekh; 3. The Romantic poets R. C. Ostle; 4. Modernist poetry in Arabic Salma Khadra Jayyusi; 5. The beginnings of the Arabic novel Roger Allen; 6.The mature Arabic novel outside Egypt Roger Allen; 7. The Egyptian novel from Zaynab to 1980 Hilary Kilpatrick; 8. The modern Arabic short story Sabry Hafez; 9. Arabic drama: early developments M. M. Badawi; 10. Arabic drama since the thirties Ali Al-Ra'i; 11. The prose stylists Pierre Cachia; 12. The critics Pierre Cachia; 13. Arab women writers Miriam Cooke; 14. Poetry in the vernacular Marilyn Booth; Bibliography; Index.
