Kategoria BISAC: Literary Criticism >> African

Jean-Paul Sartre's famous question, "For whom do we write?" strikes close to home for francophone writers from the Maghreb. Do these writers address their compatriots, many of whom are illiterate or read no French, or a broader audience beyond Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia? In Experimental Nations, Reda Bensmaia argues powerfully against the tendency to view their works not as literary creations worth considering for their innovative style or language but as "ethnographic" texts and to appraise them only against the "French literary canon." He casts fresh light on the original...

Since the discovery over one hundred years ago of a body of Mesopotamian poetry preserved on clay tablets, what has come to be known as the Epic of Gilgamesh has been considered a masterpiece of ancient literature. It recounts the deeds of a hero-king of ancient Mesopotamia, following him through adventures and encounters with men and gods alike. Yet the central concerns of the Epic lie deeper than the lively and exotic story line: they revolve around a man's eternal struggle with the limitations of human nature, and encompass the basic human feelings of lonliness, friendship, love, loss,...

"A very important contribution to the field by an African scholar with a thorough, empathetic command of the field of African feminine writing in French."--Christiane Makward, Penn State University

"A work of quality. . . . This first major study of fiction and nonfiction prose by Francophone African women is a significant work of criticism in the study of African literature."--Maxine Montgomery, Florida State University

French-speaking African women traditionally expressed their creativity through oral storytelling. Previously silent in print, today they also speak...

"An invaluable contribution to our understanding of Mahfouz and a full, descriptive survey of novels by the Egyptian Nobel Prize-winning writer. It bridges the gap for non-Arabists, and in detail gives a vivid portrait of each novel, its subject matter, and the historical period in which it was written."--Omar Pound, Princeton University

Until he won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1988, little was known in the West about the life and literary accomplishments of Naguib Mahfouz, an Egyptian and the first Arab to receive the award. His writing, examined by Matti Moosa in its original...