Description: Dwight F. Reynolds brings together a collection of essays by leading international scholars to provide a comprehensive and accessible survey of modern Arab culture, from the early nineteenth to the twenty-first century. The chapters survey key issues necessary to any understanding of the modern Arab World: the role of the various forms of the Arabic language in modern culture and identity; the remarkable intellectual transformation undergone during the 'Nahda' or 'Arab Renaissance' of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the significant role played by ethnic and religious minorities, and the role of law and constitutions. Other chapters on poetry, narrative, theatre, cinema and television, art, architecture, humour, folklore, and food offer fresh perspectives and correct negative stereotypes that emerge from viewing Arab culture primarily through the lens of politics, terrorism, religion, and economics.
Brief description: Dwight F. Reynolds is Professor of Arabic Language and Literature in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author of Heroic Poets, Poetic Heroes: The Ethnography of Performance in an Arabic Oral Epic Tradition (1995), Arab Folklore: A Handbook (2007), co-author and editor of Interpreting the Self: Autobiography in the Arabic Literary Tradition (2001), and co-editor of The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Volume 6: The Middle East (2002).
Review Quotes: "The Cambridge Companion to Modern Arab Culture represents a foundational text for anyone, seasoned scholar or casual devotee, with an interest in Middle Eastern societies."
The Middle East Journal