The Experimental Arabic Novel places the modern and contemporary Arabic novel in the context of the modernist-postmodern culture debate in the West. Tracing the development of experimentalism in the modern Arabic novel from the 1960s to the present, Meyer argues that it is possible to speak of distinct literary modernisms that have each evolved with a different set of characteristics, depending upon the nature of their historical antecedents. This approach to postcolonial literature offers a way to compare and contrast it meaningfully with Western literature without relying on inherently Western literary models.
The Experimental Arabic Novel places the modern and contemporary Arabic novel in the context of the modernist-postmodern culture debate in the West. Tracing the development of experimentalism in the modern Arabic novel from the 1960s to the present, Meyer argues that it is possible to speak of distinct literary modernisms that have each evolved with a different set of characteristics, depending upon the nature of their historical antecedents. This approach to postcolonial literature offers a way to compare and contrast it meaningfully with Western literature without relying on inherently Western literary models.
Acknowledgments Preface Arabic Transliteration Symbols Glossaries of Arabic Names Introduction: The Experimental Arabic Novel and Comparative Modernisms 1. Modernist Ambivalence and the Beginnings of Narrative Experimentation Existentialism and the Fragmentation of Narrative Voice The Defamiliarization of Narrative The Strategy of Ironic Distance 2. Recovering the Past: The "Arabization" of the Novel Cultural and Historical Counternarrative: Abdelrahman Munif Magical Realism: Salim Barakat Folk Narrative and Subjective Expression 3. Rediscovering the Present: The Lebanese Civil War Fragmented Reportage: Ghada Samman The Patchwork Novel: Elias Khoury The Dynamics of War and Sexuality The Novel of Interior Situations 4. Redefining the Future: Questions of Artistic Choice The "Mirage of Language" and the "Dust of Life" The Conflict between Political and Artistic Commitment The Limits of Masculine Perspective The Dialectical Solution Mimicking Postmodernity Conclusion: The Experimental Arabic Novel and Postmodern Discourse Notes Bibliography Index
Stefan G. Meyer teaches at Siena Heights University.
"This book has a great deal to offer, particularly at a time when Arab-Islamic cultures are coming under close scrutiny by the media and the public at large." - Comparative Literature Studies "...a significant book for Middle East and comparative literature collections." - CHOICE "An exceptionally deep analysis of modernist developments in the Arabic novel of the Levant, evaluating its most recent experimental phase and clarifying the debate about modernism and postmodernism in relation to it among Arab critics, theoreticians, and others." - Issa J. Boullata, author of Trends and Issues in Contemporary Arab Thought "The issues raised have been tackled by leading scholars in the field, but only in piecemeal fashion. The global view attempted here is unprecedented and illuminating." - Pierre Cachia, author of An Overview of Modern Arabic Literature
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