Description: In segregated, conservative societies with a repressive attitude to women, writings on the theme of love and sexuality are of particular interest. Among the plethora of studies on modern Arabic literature, this book is the first major treatment of what has generally been a taboo subject. The scope covers the entire history of modern Arabic literature - poetry, the novel and the short story - from the late nineteenth century to the end of the 1980s. Examples are drawn from countries as diverse as Algeria and Kuwait. Although the main accent is on the prose of Egypt and the countries of the Mashreq, North African literature is also included. Topics range from 'Erotic awareness in the early Egyptian short story' to 'death and desire in Iraqi War literature', from 'fathers and husbands as tyrants and victims' to 'the foreign woman in the North African novel'. The writers whose works are analysed include Tawfīq al-Hakīm, Jabrā Ibrāhīm Jabrā, Adūnīs, Laylā Ba'albakkī, Najīb Mahfūz, Edwār al-Kharrat, Laylā al-'Uthmān and Nizār Qabbānī. Each of the nineteen contributors to the book is a specialist in his or her field of modern Arabic literature.
Brief description: Ed de Moor is reader in Arabic literature at the University of Nijmegen and editor of Orientations, the annual publication of the Dutch Association for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. He has written widely on Arabic literature, particularly on modern poetry.
Review Quotes:
'Raises important and thought-provoking issues. There is much of interest and value in this book.' Times Literary Supplement