About this item
Highlights
- Volume I examines the ways in which contemporary Arab authors communicate with two major sources of inspiration: the first, is the rich Arabic literary heritage whether it has been embodied in texts or concrete experiences, real or imaginary.
- Author(s): Reuven Snir
- 400 Pages
- Literary Criticism, Middle Eastern
Description
About the Book
Studies Arabic literary production from the point of view of continuity and interference and the interactions between them
Book Synopsis
Volume I examines the ways in which contemporary Arab authors communicate with two major sources of inspiration: the first, is the rich Arabic literary heritage whether it has been embodied in texts or concrete experiences, real or imaginary. The second are other cultures and literatures which have become sources for direct or indirect loans for Arabic literature. Both sources are essential for our understanding of the nature of contemporary Arabic literary works. The relationship between modern and medieval Arabic literature is indispensable; moreover, the literariness of any Arabic literary text cannot be isolated from the history of Arabic literature. Also, the role and function of Arabic literature, the nature of its literary criticism and scholarship, the relations between religious, political, and other activities within Arab culture and its literary production--all may be modelled in Arab culture in relation to other culture or cultures.
Review Quotes
Apart from the author's possessing an undisputable in-depth knowledge of the subjects discussed, the most interesting thing with this work is the new perspectives that are being presented. This is achieved by the writer's method of putting the subjects against the backdrop of different angles. The method of looking at the subjects against the different axes has its own original place and it gives its own contribution to a deeper understanding of Arabic literature.
-- "Astrid Ottosson al-Bitar, Associate Professor, Stockholm University"Arabic literature, Snir notes, has been radically transformed since the mid-19th century, with modern genres, themes of decadence and inversion, translations of Western literature, and even science fiction and internet writing. Yet he argues convincingly that serious literary standing requires familiarity with all historic levels of Arabic writing. [...] Recommended.--S. Ward, formerly, University of Wyoming "CHOICE, January 2024"