Synopses & Reviews
The novel is a largely imported European genre, coming relatively late to the history of Arab letters. It should therefore perhaps come as no surprise that the first novel to have been written by an Arab was written in English (Ameen Rihani's The Book of Khalid, 1911). However, subsequent years saw the flourishing of, first, Arabic novels, then the Francophone Arab novel. Only in the last two decades has the Anglophone Arab novel experienced a second coming, and it is this re-emergence of literary activity that is the focus of this collection.
Opening up the field of diasporic Anglo Arab literature to critical debate, the Companion presents a range of critical responses and pedagogical approaches to the Anglo Arab novel. It offers both classroom-friendly essays and critically sophisticated analyses, bringing together original critical studies of the major Anglo Arab novelists from established and emerging scholars in the field.
Review
'The Edinburgh Companion to the Arab Novel in English, carefully edited by Nouri Gana, brings together the work of some of the very best comparative literature scholars. The essays are all marked by both their theoretical rigor and the clearly expounded close readings of the texts and authors upon which they focus. The Companion is a valuable addition to the relatively small but growing library of critical works devoted to this particular subfield of comparative literature studies.' - Roger Allen, Professor of Arabic and Comparative Literature Emeritus, University of Pennsylvania
'A much needed and welcome anthology. Gana has collected an excellent range of essays of various critical approaches, all of them readable and insightful, as are his contextual contributions. Highly recommended for classroom use.' - Steven Salaita, Associate Professor of English, Virginia Tech
Synopsis
Opening up the field of diasporic Anglo-Arab literature to critical debate, this companion spans from the first Arab novel in 1911 to the resurgence of the Anglo-Arabic novel in the last 20 years. There are chapters on authors such as Ameen Rihani, Ahdaf Soueif and Waguih Ghali, and interviews with Laila Lalami, Hisham Matar and Fadia Faqir.
Synopsis
19 stimulating new essays look at the Anglo-Arab novel from 1911 to the present day
Opening up the field of diasporic Anglo-Arab literature to critical debate, this reference companion spans from the first Arab novel in 1911 right up to the present day, focusing on the resurgence of the Anglo-Arabic novel in the last 20 years. The combination of classroom-friendly essays, to guide students through the set novels on Anglo-Arab literature courses, and sophisticated critical analyses of the major Anglo-Arab novelists for advanced scholars make this the ultimate, one-stop resource.
The novel is a largely imported European genre, coming relatively late to the history of Arab letters. So it is not surprising that the first Arab novel - Ameen Rihani's The Book of Khalid, 1911 - was written in English. Subsequent years saw the flourishing of, first, Arabic novels, then the Francophone Arab novel. In the last two decades, the Anglophone Arab novel has experienced a second coming: the focus of this collection.
Key Features
- Guides students through the novels they are required to read on Anglo Arab literature courses
- Looks at authors including Ameen Rihani, Ahdaf Soueif, Waguih Ghali, Etel Adnan, Diana Abu-Jaber, Jamal Mahjoub, Rawi Hage, Loubna Haikal, Jad El Hage, Mohja Kahf, Samia Serageldin, Rabih Alameddine, Mona Simpson, and Leila Aboulela, Laila Lalami, Hisham Matar and Fadia Faqir
- Topics include pedagogy and the literary marketplace
Synopsis
Opening up the field of diasporic Anglo-Arab literature to critical debate, this reference companion spans from the first Arab novel in 1911 right up to the present day, focusing on the resurgence of the Anglo-Arabic novel in the last 20 years. The combination of classroom-friendly essays, to guide students through the set novels on Anglo-Arab literature courses, and sophisticated critical analyses of the major Anglo-Arab novelists for advanced scholars make this the ultimate, one-stop resource. You'll find chapters on authors such as Ameen Rihani, Ahdaf Soueif, Waguih Ghali, Etel Adnan and Diana Abu-Jaber, and interviews with Laila Lalami, Hisham Matar and Fadia Faqir.
About the Author
Nouri Gana is Associate Professor of Comparative Literature and Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at UCLA. He is the author of
Signifying Loss: Toward a Poetics of Narrative Mourning (2011) and editor of
The Making of the Tunisian Revolution: Contexts, Architects, Prospects (EUP, 2013) and
The Edinburgh Companion to the Arab Novel in English (Edinburgh University Press, 2013).
Table of Contents
Notes on the Contributors
Introduction: The Intellectual History and Contemporary Significance of the Arab Novel in English, Nouri Gana
Part I: Constellations: Modernity, Empire and Postcoloniality
1. The Rise of the Arab American Novel: Ameen Rihani's 'The Book of Khalid', Waïl S. Hassan
2. Beyond Orientalism: Khalid, the Secular City, and the Transcultural Self, Geoffrey Nash
3. The Incestuous (Post)Colonial: Soueif's 'Map of Love' and the Second Birth of the Egyptian Novel in English; Shaden M. Tageldin
4. Drinking, Gambling and Making Merry: Waguih Ghali's Search for Cosmopolitan Agency, Deborah A. Starr
5. Mobile Belonging? The Global 'Given' in the Work of Etel Adnan, Mary N. Layoun
6. Burning, Memory and Postcolonial Agency in Laila Lalami's 'Hope and other Dangerous Pursuits', Ahmed Idrissi Alami
7. Zenga Zenga and Bunga Bunga: The Novels of Hisham Matar and a Critique of Gadhafi's Libya, Christopher Micklethwait
Part II: Force-fields: Ethnic Ties and Transnational Solidarities
8. In Search of Andalusia: Reconfiguring Arabness in Diana Abu-Jaber's 'Crescent', Nouri Gana
9. Europe and Its Others: The Novels of Jamal Mahjoub, Jopi Nyman
10. Space, Embodiment, Identity and Resistance in the Novels of Fadia Faqir, Lindsey Moore
11. The Arab Canadian Novel and the Rise of Rawi Hage, F. Elizabeth Dahab
12. The Arab Australian Novel: Situating Diasporic and Multicultural Literature, Saadi Nikro
13. Identity, Transformation and the Anglophone Arab Novel, Maysa Abou-Youssef Hayward
14. Rabih Alameddine's 'I, the Divine': A Druze Novel as World Literature?, Michelle Hartman
Part III: Prospects/Challenges: Authority, Pedagogy and the Market Industry
15. Invisible Ethnic: Mona Simpson and the Space of the Ethnic Literature Market, Mara Naaman
16. The Challenges of Orientalism: Teaching about Islam and Masculinity in Leila Aboulela's 'The Translator', Brendan Smyth
17. Teaching from Cover to Cover: Arab Women's Novels in the Classroom, Heather Hoyt
18. Perils and Pitfalls of Marketing the Arab Novel in English, Samia Serageldin
Bibliography
Index