This is the first book in English that gives a concise and authoritative survey of the whole of modern Arabic literature since the mid-nineteenth century with a view to helping the general reader as well as the student to form a clear picture of the literary achievements of the modern Arabs. The drive for modernization, which started in Egypt and Syria early in the nineteenth century and which gradually spread to the rest of the Arab world, resulted in the introduction of secular education, printing, journalism, and much translation of western thought and literature. Consequently, a new...

Translations of twelve popular Arabic plays written and produced during the past thirty years introduce English readers to the vibrant theater scene of the Arab world. The plays-from Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Tunisia-reflect a variety of dramatic trends and styles and provide insights into contemporary social, cultural, and political currents. This well-prepared anthology represents a unique contribution to the study of world drama and modern Middle Eastern culture. Playwrights include Yusuf al-Ani, Abd al-Aziz al-Surayii, the Balalin Company of Jerusalem, Izz al-Din...

This book is the first critical survey of modern Egyptian drama during the period of its maturity from the 1930s to the present day. A discussion of the work of Tawfiq al-Hakim is followed by an examination of the less experimental plays of his successors, Mahmud Taymur, Bakathir and Fathi Radwan.

This volume of the Cambridge History of Arabic Literature provides the first authoritative, comprehensive, critical survey of creative writing in Arabic from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day. The rise of secular education, printing and journalism created a new reading public, and Western ideas and literary forms, notably the novel, the short story, and drama, became influential. This book examines the attempts made by Arab men and women to adapt the imported forms as well as the indigenous literary tradition to meet the requirements of the modern world. Quoted material is given...

This book is the first critical survey of modern Egyptian drama during the period of its maturity from the 1930s to the present day. A discussion of the work of Tawfiq al-Hakim is followed by an examination of the less experimental plays of his successors, Mahmud Taymur, Bakathir and Fathi Radwan.

This book is the first critical survey of the development and achievements of 'modern' Arabic poetry, here signifying the period from the latter half of the nineteenth century to the present day. It ranges over the entire Arabic-speaking world and includes a discussion of the work of poets who emigrated to the United States and Latin America. Four main stages are examined in the development of a specifically modern Arabic poetry: the 'neoclassical', in which poets turned to their literary heritage for their ideals and inspiration; the pre-romantic', which was marked by a tension between a...

This volume of the Cambridge History of Arabic Literature provides the first authoritative, comprehensive, critical survey of creative writing in Arabic from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day. The rise of secular education, printing and journalism created a new reading public, and Western ideas and literary forms, notably the novel, the short story, and drama, became influential. This book examines the attempts made by Arab men and women to adapt the imported forms as well as the indigenous literary tradition to meet the requirements of the modern world. Quoted material is given...

This book, originally published in 1988, traces the development of Arabic drama from its beginnings in Lebanon in the mid-nineteenth century to its maturity reached in Egypt in the second and third decades of the twentieth. A brief discussion of the indigenous dramatic tradition is followed by an examination of the way in which modern drama was imported and adapted from the West independently by Marun Naqqash in Beirut and Ya'q b Sann ' in Cairo, both of whom were inspired by Italian opera and influenced by French comedy. The subsequent search for Egyptian identity is examined through the...

Coleridge's theories, insights and practical criticism underlie nearly all subsequent criticism in English. It was not only that he turned decisively away from eighteenth century views (clearly and usefully surveyed in the first chapter). His powerfully general theories of the imagination and of poetic language and structure provided permanent insights. He saw the plays as organic structures of poetic effects, the product of conscious artistry. These served Shakespeare's deep human insight, both psychological and moral. Dr Badawi provides a lucid analysis of the elements of Coleridge's...