General critical surveys of modern Arabic literature include those by Paul Starkey, Modern Arabic Literature (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2006), Pierre Cachia, An Overview of Modern Arabic Literature (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1990) and Roger Allen, The Arabic Novel (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1995). There is also M. M. Badawi’s Short History of Modern Arabic Literature (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995) and the same author’s edited volume in the Cambridge History of Arabic Literature series, Modern Arabic Literature (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992). All these books contain bibliographies.
French publishers tend to be more active than English in the field of modern Arabic literature: it is worth keeping an eye on new French titles for those able to read the language.
On contemporary trends, the British literary magazine Banipal may be consulted, which features translated extracts. Al-Ahram Weekly, published in Cairo by Al-Ahram, features material on contemporary Arabic literature and can be read online. Certain publishers, Saqi in Britain, the American University in Cairo Press in Egypt and New York, and various American university presses (for example Syracuse and Arkansas), publish translations of modern Arabic literature. Announcements can be consulted on the Internet. Web searches also turn up collections of Arabic literature in translation, especially poetry, hosted by various, usually academic, institutions.
Index
Page numbers in italic indicate an illustration.
Abd al-Jawad, Ahmad 64
Abd al-Jawad, Amina 29–30, 66, 68, 141
Abd al-Sabur, Salah 90, 126
The Tragedy of al-Hallaj (verse play) 130
Abdel-Meguid, Ibrahim 133
Abdel-Quddus, Ihsan 142
I am Free 142
Abdel-Wahhab, Mohamed 15
Abdu, Mohamed 50, 139
al-Abnoudi, Abd al-Rahman 91, 126, 127
Abu Madi, Ilya 62
Abyad, Georges 62
al-Adab (literature review) 86
Adonis 86, 87, 90, 125
Adrift on the Nile, Naguib Mahfouz 70, 71–2
Ahmed, Leila 140
al-Ahram (newspaper) 70, 77, 127
al-Aidy, Ahmad, Being Abbas el Abd 135, 136, 138
Akhbar al-Adab (weekly literary review) 119
al-Akhbar (Cairo daily) 118, 119
‘Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves’ 32
Ali, Idris, Dongola 153
Ali Jinah of Tabriz (play), Alfred Farag 129
All That’s Left to You, Ghassan Kanafani 96
Altoma, Salih 25
Amin, Qassem 139–40
al-Amira zaat al-Himah (Arabic epic) 116
Amrikanli, Sonallah Ibrahim 119
An Egyptian Childhood, Taha Hussein 49
Anxiety Bank (play), Tawfiq al-Hakim 130
Arabian Nights and Days, Naguib Mahfouz 74
Arabian Nights, The, Sir Richard Burton 3, 29, 32, 130, 131, 145
Arab–European contrasts 54–5, 59, 79–80, 150–1
Ashur, Nu’man 129
Aslan, Ibrahim 133
Al Aswany, Alaa 149, 150, 151, 162–2
At the Bus Stop, Naguib Mahfouz 111
el-Atrache, Farid 15
Autumn Quail, Naguib Mahfouz 70, 71
al-Azhar 48, 49, 50
Baalbaki, Leila 142
Baalbek Festival, Lebanon 131
Badawi, M M, Modern Arabic Drama in Egypt 129, 130
Bakr, Salwa 146
Bandarshah, Tayeb Salih 79, 123
Barakat, Halim 99–101, 106
Barakat, Hoda 147, 152
Barakat ibn Musa, Zayni 120
Barghouti, Mourid, I Saw Ramallah 105, 106–7, 108
al-Baroudi, Mahmoud Sami 61
al-Bayati, Abdul Wahab 87
Beer in the Snooker Club, Waguih Ghali 12
Beggar, The, Naguib Mahfouz 70, 71
Beginning and the End, The, Naguib Mahfouz 66, 141–2
Being Abbas el Abd, Ahmad al-Aidy 135, 136, 138
Beirut, Beirut, Sonallah Ibrahim 118
Beirut Nightmare, Ghada Samman 147–9
Ben Jelloun, Tahar 36, 37
Berrada, Mohamed 14
el-Bisatie, Mohamed 133
Bleeding of the Stone, The, Ibrahim al-Koni 154
Blue Aubergine, Miral al-Tahawy 136–8
Bowles, Paul 37
Burton, Sir Richard, The Arabian Nights 29, 30, 32, 130, 131, 145
Cachia, Pierre 159–60
Cairo Trilogy, Naguib Mahfouz 29, 30, 34, 63, 66–8, 77, 141
Cambridge History of Arabic Literature 14
Casanova, Pascale 41
La République mondiale des lettres 42–3
Cheapest Nights, The, Yusuf Idris 75
Chicago, Alaa Al Aswany 162
Children of the Alley, Naguib Mahfouz 70
Choukri, Mohamed, For Bread Alone 37
Cities of Salt, Abdelrahman Munif 81, 83–4
City of Saffron, Edwar al-Kharrat 121, 123, 124
Committee, The, Sonallah Ibrahim 114–15
Darwish, Mahmoud 86, 90, 108–10
Davies, Humphrey 135, 160
Days of Dust, Halim Barakat 100–1
Days with Him, Colette Khouri 142
Days, The, Taha Hussein 26, 52
Diary of a Country Prosecutor, Tawfiq al-Hakim 26, 57–8
Dib, Mohamed 36
Diwan School poets 62, 85
Djebar, Assia 36
Dongola, Idris Alis 153
drama 56–7, 62–3, 128–31
Dughri Family, The (play), Nu’man Ashur 129
Dunqul, Amal 91, 126
Dunyazad, May Telmissany 145–6
Earthquake, The, Tahir Wattar 37
East of the Mediterranean, Abdelrahman Munif 82
Egyptian Earth, Abdel Rahman al-Sharqawi 79
Enani, Mohamed 128
Endings, Abdelrahman Munif 83
al-Fajr (house journal) 53
Fanon, Frantz 41
al-Farafir (small fry) (play), Yusuf Idris 129–30
Farag, Alfred 129, 130
Farouk I, King of Egypt 124
Fate of a Cockroach (play), Tawfiq al-Hakim 129
Fawzia, Princess 124
Fewer Roses, Mahmoud Darwish 109
First Well, The, Jabra Ibrahim Jabra 102, 103–4
Fitzgerald, Edward, Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam 29
For Bread Alone, Mohamed Choukri 37
Fu’ad I, King of Egypt 61
Gallery 68 (literary review) 119–20
al-Garad (locusts)(magazine) 128
al-Garida (magazine) 52
Gate of the Sun, Elias Khoury 160–1, 162
Ghali, Waguih, Beer in the Snooker Club 12
Ghanem, Fathy, The Man Who Lost His Shadow 73
al-Ghitany, Gamal 33, 112, 119–21, 123 130, 133, 158
Gibran, Gibran Khalil 26, 28, 60
Girls of Alexandria, Edwar al-Kharrat 121, 124–5
al-Gumhuriyya (newspaper) 77
Habiby, Emile 97–9, 108, 110
Haddad, Fu’ad 91, 126–7
Hafez, Sabry 82, 84
al-Hakim, Tawfiq 14, 15, 26, 35, 56–60, 56, 62–3, 80, 128–9, 130, 157
Hakki, Yahya 78, 80, 53–6, 157
Hamama, Faten 75, 76
Harafish, The, Naguib Mahfouz 74
Hegazi, Ahmad Abd al-Mu’ti 91, 126
Hidden Face of Eve, The, Nawal al-Saadawi 143
homosexuality 146, 149–52
Hussein, Taha 14, 15, 26, 27, 48–52, 49, 51,–2, 128, 157, 159
I am Free, Ihsan Abdel-Quddus 142
I Live, Leila Baalbaki 142
I Saw Ramallah, Mourid Barghouti 105, 106–7, 108
Ibn Khaldoun 51
Ibrahim, Gamal Attia 133
Ibrahim, Hafez 14, 60–2
Ibrahim, Sonallah 112–19, 123, 130, 133, 158
Ibsen, Henrik 63
Idris, Yusuf 36, 74–8, 122, 129–30
Introduction to Arab Poetics,
Adonis 87
Iraq 84–5
Israel, state of 93, 94, 101, 102, 106
Jabra, Jabra Ibrahim 101, 102–5
Jacquemond, Richard 26, 27
Jahine, Salah 91, 126–7
Jerash Festival, Jordan 131
Johnson-Davies, Denys 23, 31
Journey of Ibn Fattouma, The, Naguib Mahfouz 74
Kanafani, Ghassan 94–7
al-Karmel (literary review) 109
Karnak Café, Naguib Mahfouz 73
Khadra, Yasmina 14
Khalifeh, Sahar, Wild Thorns 105–6
al-Kharrat, Edwar 119, 121–5, 133, 158
Khedive Abbas Hilmi Pasha 61
al-Khitab al-Hamishy (marginal discourse)(magazine) 128
Khouri, Colette, Days with Him 142
Khoury, Elias, Gate of the Sun 160–1, 162
King is the King, The (play), Saadallah Wannous 131
Kitab al-tajalliyat, Gamal al-Ghitany 33
al-Kitaba al-Ukhra (alternative writing) (magazine) 128
el-Koloub, Out 27
al-Koni, Ibrahim 36, 136, 154–5
Kulthoum, Asmahan 15
Kulthoum, Umm 15
Lamp of ‘Umm Hashim, The, Yahya Hakki 54–6, 78, 80
Land of Darkness, Abdelrahman Munif 85
Laredj, Waciny 37
Lebanon civil war 147–9, 148, 161
Liberation of Women, The, Qassem Amin 139–40
Loti, Pierre 141
Love is Forbidden (Egyptian film) 15
Lutfi el-Sayyid, Ahmed 15
Lutfi el-Sayyid, Manfalouti 15
Maeterlinck, Count Maurice 63
Maghreb 12, 36
magical realism 24–5, 158
Mahfouz, Naguib 9, 14, 15–16, 25, 27–8, 32, 35, 38–9, 66–74, 66–8, 70–4, 130, 149, 150, 152, 158, 159
Mahmoud al-Aqqad, Abbas 62
al-Makhzangi, Mohamed 133
al-Mala’ika, Nazik 86, 87, 125
Mallowan, Max 104
Man Who Lost His Shadow, The, Fathy Ghanem 73
Mashraq 12, 36
Matar, Hisham 12
Matar, Muhammad Afifi 126, 127
al-Mazini, Ibrahim Abdel-Qader 62
Memoirs from the Women’s Prison, Nawal al-Saadawi 144–5
Memoirs of a Woman Doctor, Nawal al-Saadawi 144
Memory for Forgetfulness, Mahmoud Darwish 109
Men in the Sun, Ghassan Kanafani 95–6
Midaq Alley, Naguib Mahfouz 66, 141–2, 149
Miramar, Naguib Mahfouz 70, 72–3
Mirrors, Naguib Mahfouz 73–4
Modern Arabic Drama in Egypt, M M Badawi 129
Mohamed’Ali 47
Mountainous Journey, A, Fadwa Tuqan 101
Muhammad ibn Iyas 120
Munif, Abdelrahman 4, 79. 81–5
nahda (Arab renaissance) 35, 48, 59, 80, 85, 139, 140, 159
Naksah (the setback) 111, 112
Nasser, Gamal Abdel 58, 121, 125, 126, 137
Nasser regime 73, 75, 111, 113, 127
al-Nawwab, Muzaffar 127
New Woman, The, Qassem Amin 139
Nights of Musk, Haggag Hassan Oddoul 153–4
Nigm, Ahmad Fu’ad 91, 126, 127
Notes on History and Resistance, Abdelrahman Munif 85
Oddoul, Haggag Hassan 36, 153–4
Only in London, Hanan al-Shaykh 147
Open Door, The, Latifa al-Zayyat 142
Orientalism, Edward Said 21–2, 41
Pahlavi, Prince Muhammad Reza 124
Palace of Desire, Naguib Mahfouz 66
Palace Walk, Naguib Mahfouz 29–30
Palestinian literature 15, 94–110
Papers of a Young Man Who Lived One Thousand Years Ago, Gamal al-Ghitany 120
Passage to France, A, Taha Hussein 51
Passion and Vengeance (Egyptian film) 15
People of the Cave (play), Tawfiq al-Hakim 128
People Downstairs, The (play), Nu’man Ashur 129
poetry 60–2, 85–91, 102, 107–10, 125–8
postmodernist styles 136–8, 158
Princesses’ Street, Jabra Ibrahim Jabra 104
Prison of Life, The, Tawfiq al-Hakim 56–7, 62–3
Qabbani, Nizar 86, 90
al-Qasim, Samih, ‘Travel Tickets’ 110
Qur’an 32, 49
Rama and the Dragon, Edwar al-Kharrat, Edwar 121, 122
République mondiale des lettres, La, Pascale Casanova 42–3
Return of the Spirit, Tawfiq al-Hakim 58–60, 62, 80
Rifaat, Alifa 27, 146
Rommel, Field Marshal Erwin 124
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, Edward Fitzgerald 29
Ruba’iyyat (Quatrains), Salah Jahine 127
Sa’ad, Ali Ahmad see Adonis
al-Saadawi, Nawal 27, 143–5, 143, 146, 159
El Sadat, Esmat 118
Sa’eed, Mustafa 31–2, 80, 81
Sagan, Françoise, Bonjour Tristesse 142
Said, Edward 21–2, 29, 41, 121
Salih, Tayeb 31–2, 36, 79–81, 123, 158
Samman, Ghada, Beirut Nightmare 147–9
Sayeda Zeinab, Mosque of 54, 59
al-Sayyab, Badr Shakir 86, 87, 88–9, 125
Search for Walid Masoud, The, Jabra Ibrahim Jabra 102–3
Season of Migration to the North, Tayeb Salih 31–2, 79–80, 81
Secret Life of Saeed the Pessoptimist, Emile Habiby 97–9, 108
al-Shabbi, Abu al-Qasim 62
Sharaawi, Huda 139, 140–1
Sharaf, Sonallah Ibrahim 119
Shari’a 139
al-Sharqawi, Abdel Rahman, Egyptian Earth 79, 122
Shawqi, Ahmed 60–1
al-Shaykh, Hanan 134, 147, 149, 150
Ship, The, Jabra Ibrahim Jabra 102
Shi’r (poetry review) 86
Sin, The (1965 film) 75, 76
Six Days, Halim Barakat 99–100
Smell of It, The, Sonallah Ibrahim 112–13, 119
as-Soubai, Youcef 14
Soueif, Ahdaf 12
Stone of Laughter, The, Hoda Barakat 152
Story of Zahra, The, Hanan al-Shaykh 147
Stream of Days, The, Taha Hussein 50–1, 52
Sugar Street, Naguib Mahfouz 66, 69, 149
Sulayman of Aleppo (play), Alfred Farag 129
Sultan’s Dilemma, The (play), Tawfiq al-Hakim 130
Surur, Naguib 159
Surur, Shohdy 159
al-Tahawy, Miral 136–8, 145
al-Taher Abdullah, Yahya 36
Tahir, Baha 133
Talaat Harb Street, Cairo 13
tarboush against turban 51, 52
Taymour, Mahmoud 53
Telmissany, May, Dunyazad 145–6
Tent, The, Miral al-Tahawy 136
theatres 129
Thief and the Dogs, The, Naguib Mahfouz 70
Tiller of Waters, The, Hoda Barakat 152
Tragedy of al-Hallaj, The (verse play), Salah Abd al-Sabur 130
Tree Climber, The (play), Tawfiq al-Hakim 129
Trees and the Assassination of Marzuq, Abdelrahman Munif 82, 84
Trench, The, Abdelrahman Munif 81, 84
al-Tunsi, Bairam 126
Tuqan, Fadwa 101–2, 106
UK Banipal Prize for Arabic Translation 160
Variations on Night and Day, Abdelrahman Munif 81, 84
Vive l’amour (Egyptian film) 15
Wannous, Saadallah, The King is the King (play) 131
Wattar, Tahir, The Earthquake 37
Wedding of Zein, The, Tayeb Salih 79
Wild Thorns, Sahar Khalifeh 105–6
Woman at Point Zero, Nawal al-Saadawi 43
Women of Sand and Myrrh, Hanan al-Shaykh 147, 149
women writers 134, 138–41
World Without Maps, Jabra Ibrahim Jabra 103
Yacine, Kateb 36
Yacoubian Building, The, Alaa Al Aswany 149, 150, 151, 161–2
Yusuf, Sa’di 126
Zaat, Sonallah Ibrahim
114, 116–18
Zayni Barakat, Gamal al-Ghitany 119, 120–1, 123
al-Zayyat, Latifa, The Open Door 142
A Brief Introduction to Modern Arabic Literature Page 17