Arabic

This study tracks the significant literary activity of the Beirut newspaper Hadīqat al-Akhbār (1858-1911) in its first ten years. A textual examination of the newspaper reveals that Khalīl al-Khūrī (1836-1907), a central figure of the nahda and the owner of Hadīqat al-Akhbār, believed that an adoption of a new Western literary genre into the traditional Arabic literary tradition would provide the Arab culture with tools for reviving the Arabic language and create new styles of expression. The textual analysis of numerous narrative fictions that were published in the newspaper demonstrates two significant matters: first, Hadīqat al-Akhbār was the first Arabic newspaper to publish translations from Western narrative fiction, especially from the French Romance stories. Secondly, it will be shown how Khalīl al-Khūrī constructed a fetal model of Arabic narrative fiction by publishing a fictional narrative of his own, Wayy, idhan lastu bi-ifranjī (Alas, I'm not a foreigner), in 1859-1...

المستخلص تتناول هذه المقالة مفهوم أنقاض ما بعد الحرب وآثارها في روايات الكاتب الكرديّ السوريّ جان دوست (–1965) كجزء من مفهومه العامّ حول مسائل الهويّة والذاكرة وكتابة التاريخ. وتتتبّع هذه المقالة، عن طريق مفهوم الأثر/الأنقاض والمشاهد الديستوبيّة، مسائلَ وجوديّة مضمرة تحت مشاهد الخراب المادّيّ والأخلاقيّ. وهو مفهوم يخرج عن المفهوم التقليديّ لوصف خرائب المدن وبكائيّات أدب مراثي المدن والوقوف على الأطلال؛ إنّه مفهوم يقرأ الركام الصامت من الأحجار من منظور العلاقة الحميميّة مع الأنقاض بصفتها أداة مقاومة وحيدة باقية ضدّ الضياع والمحو القوميّ. وتعتمد هذه المقالة على ثلاثة محاور أساس تصوغ مفهوم دوست للأنقاض؛ الأنقاض وكتابة الذاكرة، والأنقاض: الحدّيّة ومسارات النزوح واللجوء، ونصوص الأنقاض وكتابة السيرة الذاتيّة واليوميّات. وتعيد هذه المقالة النظر في أسئلة التوثيق واللغة والتمثيل والذاكرة، والتي ينبثق منها النقاش في روايات جان دوست، وتحاول معالجة مسألة صياغة التجربة الأليمة وحتّى السوداويّة في أدبه، هذا الأدب الذي يتعامل مع الأنقاض على أنّها أجسام حجريّة متشظّية ذات مدلولات وجوديّة‪.‬

المستخلص ‫يطرح هذا المقال بعدًا جديدًا لموضوع الأمل واللاأمل في الشعر الفلسطينيّ متّخِذًا من نصوص الشاعرين الفلسطينيّين ريم غنايم ووسام جبران متّكأً نصّيًّا مغايرًا يخرج عن تقاطبيّة الأمل واليأس وتناقضهما، ويتبنّى متخيَّلًا بديلًا لايقينيًّا أو حيّزًا بينيًّا ملتبسًا وضبابيًّا. وهو ما يشبه القطع السيزوريّ الذي يتيح الولادة والحياة بصفته توتّرًا بين الانفصال والترابط، في محاولة لتعريف الهويّة الفلسطينيّة بأدوات شعريّة فلسطينيّة تجريبيّة منفلتة من تعريفات الذاكرة ودوائر الانتماء التقليديّة. إنّه خيار الغياب الحاضر، خيار اللاهويّة بوصفها هويّة انتشار في الأزمنة والأمكنة والوجدان، أو خيار المساكنة بين العناصر الكيانيّة الهجينة ومحاولة تجاوز الواقع الفلسطينيّ الثقافيّ الراهن وطروحاته التقليديّة، بل تجاوز مفهوم الخوف والذاكرة. يقدّم كلٌّ من غنايم وجبران رؤيةً خاصّة وجديدة للأدب الفلسطينيّ بصفته مجالًا متغيّرًا باستمرار ويلقي بظلال من الشكّ على نفسه. وإنّ تناول مفهوم الأمل واللاأمل في أعمالهما يُظهر اضطرابًا في التعبيرات المألوفة، ويشكّل مدخلًا للمفاهيم الوجوديّة العامّة والابتكار الأدبيّ....

The focus of this paper is Arabic detective fiction, which began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, thanks to the broad-scope enterprise of translations, and the subsequent development of an authentic Arabic detective literature in the early 1960s. This paper traces diachronically the emergence of this popular genre at an entirely non-canonical level, in Egypt in particular, and examines its thematic characteristics. The paper also examines the causes of the lack of canonical detective literature until the early 1980s. It argues that Arabic detective literature, canonical and non-canonical alike, is a true reflection of the power relations and the social, political and cultural struggles in the Arab world. It further claims that Arabic detective literature is one of the most important literary strata in modern Arab literature, through which we can clearly discern changes in values and esthetics in modern Arab society, and examine the relations between money and ruling power ...

Loss of identity among the Jews of Iraq resulted from the collapse of their old world
and an attendant feeling of rootlessness. Naqqash, in his realistic style and elegiac
tone, describes the damage done to the immigrants by their forced uprooting from
Iraq and the move to Israel, which led to their spiritual annihilation, including a loss
of identity, and in some cases to physical annihilation as well.
Naqqash’s generic uprooted protagonist suffers from a profound loss of identity
and a cultural, social and spiritual rupture. His loss of identity involves also the loss
of his religious belief. However, his uprootedness and loss of identity are not the
result only of external social and cultural factors, but derive also from man’s inner
soul. Proof of this is Naqqash’s refusal to write in Hebrew, which expresses his
refusal to become part of Israeli society. The Arabic language represents the old
world, which, despite its fragility (because every human experience is fragile),
protected those who sought refuge in it.
Naqqash’s adherence to Arabic and his multi-dialectal language play an important
role that goes well beyond its use as a vehicle of expression. Language in his writings
has a dominant independent existence, thus providing the best evidence for his
search for an identity in a world that is no more.
No

Franz Kafka chose the complete metamorphosis of classical reality as the foundation of his world. His stories describe the deterioration and dehumanization of mankind and portray the world as dominated by demonic forces. An examination of the works of Samir Naqqash reveals that dehumanization and metamorphosis are recurring themes in his stories as well. Following in Kafka's footsteps, he uses imagery that exposes the falsehood and delusion that permeate human existence.
Kafka also exposes the absurd in human existence, both on the national-Jewish level (namely the absurd existence of the modern Jew) and on the universal level (namely the absurdity of human life in general). Comparing his works to those of Naqqash, we find that the latter also focuses on a specific and local reality, namely the reality of Iraqi Jews, but at the same time addresses universal themes that characterize the human condition in the twentieth century. His works deal with the fate of man in a universe without boundaries or providence, and with man's illusory pursuit of reason and scientific achievement following the collapse of his spiritual and religious world. Kafka and Naqqash describe modern man as bereft of divine providence and abandoned to the helplessness of his human nature.

Political freedom in the Arab world and rebellion against it underpin the novel al-Ayn dhat al-jafn alma
dani (The Eye with an Iron Lid, 1980) by Egyptian author Sharif Hatatah (1923– ). This novel set
in 1940s Egypt, a decade of national and social ferment, harshly criticizes British colonialism and the
Egyptian governments of the time. The narrative depicts the struggle of the Egyptian national
movement as well as the brutal denial of political and individual freedoms that led to the July 1952
revolution. The novel is profoundly autobiographical, and Hatatah’s life story as a doctor, writer and
political activist depicted in his al-Nawafidh al-maftuhah (The Open Windows, 2006) contributes
valuable background. A wide-ranging analysis of the author and his novel embraces comparative
literature, especially within the Arabic prison literature genre, recent critical studies, the existential
philosophy of Albert Camus and the psychological elements of fear of death, loneliness and
persecution. At its root the article spotlights the adage, the people’s fear of the leadership and the
leadership’s fear of the people, that drives so much of contemporary Middle Eastern conflict and
oppression.

Isaac Bar Moshe (1927–2004) was born in Baghdad and immigrated to Israel in 1950. This article deals with his literary world, which is split between realism on the one hand and fantasy, mysticism and dreams on the other, with both these planes reflecting his perspective on various existential questions. The article focuses on the short stories in his book Behind the Wall (1973) which, like many of his other works, are largely anchored in his private life and depict a bleak reality, with dreams and fantasy offering the only hope of escape into a better, more spiritual world. The article concludes with an analysis of Bar Moshe’s stories in terms of the three functions of fantasy – ‘recovery, escape and consolation’ – as formulated by writer and philologist J.R.R. Tolkien in his book Tree and Leaf.

This article examines existential themes in three of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Munīf’s novels: The Trees and the Murder of Marzūq, East of the Mediterranean and Here and Now or East of the Mediterranean Revisited. The innovation of existentialist literature lies in the strength with which it describes
alienation in the modern era, the meaninglessness of life and the pursuit of truth and absolute values. Munīf’s characters reflect the central themes of existentialist philosophy and literature. Like the protagonists of Sartre and Camus, they are aware of the absurdity of human existence and attempt to rebel against it, though often rebellion leads them to death and obscurity. Munīf’s works, some of which belong to the unique Arabic prison literature sub-genre, highlight individuality and authenticity in his characters and portray other issues that preoccupy Western existentialist writers: anxiety and distress, fear of death, loneliness, alienation and moral decline. In Munīf’s literary world the existentialist fate is inevitable. However, most of his leading characters do not give up and do not succumb to fate, but fight against it in body and spirit. Across the spectrum of his writings, Munīf’s indomitable, yet highly human figures live and die lives committed to the existential ideals of freedom and authenticity, because they are aware that if they give up the struggle, all  ope for a better future is lost.

This paper describes some of the exilic literary issues that preoccupied the Jewish-Iraqi author Samīr Naqqāsh (1938–2004), who emigrated from Iraq to Israel at age thirteen, yet eschewed Hebrew and wrote only in Arabic. Though Naqqāsh’s characters were mainly Jewish, his stories project a natural universalism. A product of the twentieth-century world of upheavals and existentialism, he experienced the troubled existence of one severed from his roots and left without providence, meaning, or purpose. The present article argues that the unifying theme that operated throughout his life and in all his fiction was that modern humanity has lost its way in a labyrinthine realm between the sacred and the demonic.

Modern Algerian literature, unique among Arab national literary traditions, features a cultural blend of Arabic,
Berber and French influences. The literature reflects their love of Algerian culture and thought, and their revolt
against French colonialism. The Algerian-born Arab author Muhammad Dib (1920-2003) wrote in French, mainly
about the Algerian struggle for independence. Expelled in 1959 for supporting the Algerian revolution, he settled in
Paris. Considered a pioneer of Algerian literature, he was the first Arab Algerian to write Western-style novels. His
Algerian trilogy, La Grande Maison, L’Incendie, and Le Métier à tisser, was published between 1952 and 1957.
Though autobiographical, the books trace both rural and urban life in pre-revolutionary times. Dib’s 1959
thematically driven novel Un été Africaine (An African Summer), analyzed here, rather than depicting the
Algerian revolution itself, describes its effect on the characters and their lives. Nevertheless, the novel, framed
around a cross-section of Algerian society, reflects colonial government abuses and the common people’s sacrifices
for their dream of independence. Dib also depicts France’s colonialist attitudes as a betrayal of the ideals of the
French Revolution and claims to humanitarian values.