BEYOND THE DUNES: AN ANTHOLOGY OF MODERN SAUDI LITERATURE; ED. BY SALMA KHADRA JAYYUSI

This collection opens up the diverse and rich contemporary literature of Saudi Arabia to an English-speaking audience. Salma K Jayyusi, Mansour al-Hazimi and Izzat Khattab have put together a varied selection of poetry, short stories, novel extracts, personal accounts, drama and essays which provide a fascinating insight into the challenges and tensions of a culture that is delicately balancing the demands of transformation while holding onto highly cherished values and norms. Pt. I. Poetry -- Illumination / 'abdallah Al-faisal Al Saud -- Quarters / Muhammad Saeed Al-'amoudi -- Secret Of Life And Nature / Muhammad Hasan 'awwad -- Quartets / Muhammad Hasan Faqi -- She And The Light / Ahmad Al-fasi -- A Scream / Ahmad Qandeel -- Short Poems / Hasan 'abdallah Al-qurashi -- Breakdown Of The Body / Husain Sirhan -- Mother Of History / Usama 'abd Rahman -- Tuful : Noonday Rainbow / Fawziyya Abu Khalid -- Two Little Girls / Fawziyya Abu Khalid -- First Flavour Of Death From The Remains Of Memory / Fawziyya Abu Khalid -- An Experience / Fawziyya Abu Khalid -- After Time / Fawziyya Abu Khalid -- A Moment Of Dream / Faisal Akram -- When I Write Of Love / Muhammad Al-'ali -- The Robe / 'adnan Al-sayyid Al-'awwami -- 'urwa The Outlaw / 'ali Bafaqeeh -- Nada (poem Of His Daughter) / Ahmad Bahkali -- Rebel Against Love / Sa'd Al-bawardi -- Of What Do You Dream? / Nasser Bouhaimid -- Women And A Caravan Of Pain / Lulu Buqshan -- Echo / Huda Al-daghfaq -- A Little Tree / Huda Al-daghfaq -- From : Woods / Huda Al-daghfaq -- Tenderness / Huda Al-daghfaq -- Departure / Huda Al-daghfaq -- Farewell / Huda Al-daghfaq -- Why Do The Places Leave Me / Huda Al-daghfaq -- Realisation / Huda Al-daghfaq -- Dreamy Songs In The Temple Of Silence / Fawzi Al-dahhan -- The Signs / 'ali Al-dumaini -- Roses Sleeping In Baskets / Muhammad Al-dumaini -- Despair / Muhammad Al-dumaini -- Traces Remaining / Muhammad Habiby -- A Pen / Sa'd Al-hamazani -- The Accursed Years / Muhammad 'ubaid Al-harbi -- Night's Loneliness / Salih Al-harbi -- Moon Wars / Ashjan Al-hindi -- Whenever The Memory Neighs / Ibrahim Al-husain -- One Day / Ibrahim Al-husain -- Towel / Ibrahim Al-husain -- Blood Of Indisputable Evidence / Hashim Al-jahdali -- Amber And Grass / Nayif Al-juhani -- Woman Of Linen And Cotton / Ghassan Al-khunaizi -- Shadiya / Ghassan Al-khunaizi -- Experiencing The Senses / Ghassan Al-khunaizi -- For Open Cities / Ghaida' Al-manfa -- For The Sun And Lovers / Ghaida' Al-manfa -- Laila / Muhammad Sa'd Al-mish'an -- The Road / Ahmad Al-mulla -- Wood / Ahmad Al-mulla -- Rhythm I / Khalid Mustafa -- Rhythm Ii / Khalid Mustafa -- A Heartfelt Prayer / Khalid Mustafa -- A Forgotten Fragment Of Night / 'abd Al-rahman Al-qa'oud -- Which Of The Two Is Me? / Lateefa Qari -- Resistance / Fatima Al-qarni -- My Dream / Fatima Al-qarni -- A City / Fatima Al-qarni -- The Moon And The Gypsy Queen / Ghazi Al-qusaibi -- Longing / Hasan Al-sab' -- Moon Of Seville / Hasan Al-sab' -- The Meal Of Strangers / 'abdallah Al-safar -- A Myth / 'abdallah Al-saikhan -- Nightmarish Dream / Ahmad Al-salih -- From Confessions / Ahmad Al-salih -- Voice And Journey / Husain Suhail -- My Fate Is Written By Your Comb / Jasim Al-suhayyih -- Language / Ahmad Sa'd Al-tayyar -- Sands / Muhammad Al-thubaiti -- A Mirror / Ali Al-'umari -- Cock / Ali Al-'umari -- Questions / Thurayya Al-'urayyid -- Name It What You Like / Thurayya Al-'urayyid -- Legend / 'abdallah Salih Al-'utahymeen -- Awakening / Ibrahim Al-wazzan -- Pt. Ii. Short Stories -- That's How The Story Starts / Muhammad 'alwan -- Early Awakening / 'abdallah Bakhashwain -- A Paper Life / Fawziyya Al-bakr -- The School Caretaker / Badriyya Al-bishr -- The Dark Alley / Hamza Muhammad Bogary -- The Mirror / Sa'd Al-dosari -- Away From Home / Khaleel Al-fuzai' -- The Mad Girl Who Tried To Change Village Traditions / Maryam Al-ghamidi -- Up My Grandfather's Long Sleeve / Noura Al-ghamidi -- The Broker Of Donkeys / 'ashiq 'issa Al-hadhal -- The Departure / Husain 'ali Husain -- Salma The Omani / Umaima Al-khamees -- One Day The Sun Will Rise / Najat Khayyat -- Three Episodes / Fahd Al-khilaiwi -- Crazy Minutes! / Hiyam Al-mifleh -- Muzna / 'abdallah Al-nasser -- Footnotes To Laila's History / Hasan Al-ni'mi -- Movement Of A Statue / Laila Al-ohaidib -- Story Of A Bridge / 'abdallah Al-salmi -- Your Night Isn't Mine -- And You're Not Me! / Abd Al-'aziz Al-saq'abi -- And The Step Changed / Khairiyya Ibrahim Al-saqqaf -- The Appeal / Ruqayya Al-shabeeb -- Scenes From A Life / Shareefa Al-shamlan -- My Hair Grew Long Again! / Hussa Muhammad Al-tuwaijiri -- Days With No Hope / Qumasha Al-'ulayyan -- Pt. Iii. Excerpts From Novels -- From The Safa Sheltered Quarters / Hamza Muhammad Bogary -- From The Price Of Sacrifice / Hamid Damanhury -- From Al-adama / Turki Al-hamad -- From Barrent Paradise / Laila Al-juhani -- From Death Walks Here / 'abdu Khal -- From The Bastions / 'abd Al-'aziz Al-mishri -- From A Split In The Night's Attire / Ibrahim Al-nasser -- Pt. Iv. Plays -- The Dumb Devils / 'abdallah 'abd Al-jabbar -- The Secret Of The Talisman / Milha 'abdallah -- From The Actor's Last Death / Raja' 'alem -- The Prompter / Ahmad Al-mulla -- The Lean Years / Muhammad Al-'utheim -- Pt. V. Autobiographical Literature -- From The Story Of Young Muftah / 'abd Al-fattah Abu Madyan -- From My Life With Hunger, Love And War / 'azeez Diya' -- From A Warrior From The Desert / Khalid Ben Sultan Ben 'abd Al-'aziz -- From Beyond The Glamour Of The Job : Snaps From My Earlier Life / Mansour Ben Muhammad Al-khiraiji -- From Memoirs Of A Student / Hasan Naseef -- From Memories Of A Pliant Child / 'abd Al-'aziz Al-rabee' -- From My Journal / Ahmad Al-siba'i -- From Autobiography Of A Writer / Sultana Al-sidairi -- Pt. Vi. Biographical Information. Edited By Mansour I. Al-hazimi, Ezzat A. Khattab ... [et Al.] ; English Edition Edited By Salma Khadra Jayyusi. Translated From The Arabic. Saudi Arabia has changed beyond all recognition in the past few decades, and the country's writers have been pre-eminent in grappling with the dilemmas, the cultural jarring and the identity problems thrown up by such an accelerated pace of change.'Beyond The Dunes'opens up for the first time the diversity and richness of contemporary Saudi Arabian literature to an English-speaking audience in this uniquely accessible book. Mansour al Hazimi, Salma Khadra Jayyusi and Ezzat Khattab have put together a varied selection of poetry, short stories, novel extracts, personal accounts, drama and essays which provide a fascinating insight into the challenges and tensions of a culture that is striving to balance globalisation and modernity with highly cherished traditional values. The social dislocation experienced by Saudi Arabians finds vivid formal expression in the dramas included in this volume, which may surprise many Western readers with their bold experimentalism and surrealist elements.Novelist Ahmad al Siba'I, a more traditional writer, offers a reflective, humanistic response to the world, whilst poets such as Ghassan al-Khunaizi, Ahmad al Mulla and Huda al Daghfaq reflect both the rich stylistic heritage of Saudi literature and the new techniques and outlook of modern Arabic poetry. Even when they are harking back to the vanished world of pre-modern Saudi Arabia, many of these writers reflect generational dialogues and an awareness of contemporary resonances.'Beyond the Dunes'places women's voices firmly in the centre of the Saudi literary canon for the first time, reflecting the increasing pre-eminence of writers such as Raja''Alem, Qumasha al-Ulayyan, Noura al-Ghamidi and Fawziyya Abu Khalid. This ground-breaking book provides an indispensable introduction to the thoughts, forms and expressions of one of the most complex and fascinating of world literatures at a moment of pivotal transformation. Saudi Arabia has changed beyond all recognition in the past few decades, and the country's writers have been pre-eminent in grappling with the dilemmas, the cultural jarring and the identity problems thrown up by such an accelerated pace of change. "Beyond The Dunes" opens up for the first time the diversity and richness of contemporary Saudi Arabian literature to an English-speaking audience in this uniquely accessible book. Mansour al Hazimi, Salma Khadra Jayyusi and Ezzat Khattab have put together a varied selection of poetry, short stories, novel extracts, personal accounts, dram Saudi Arabia has changed beyond recognition, and the country's writers have been pre-eminent in grappling with the dilemmas, the cultural jarring and the identity problems. This work opens up the diversity and richness of contemporary Saudi Arabian literature. It places women's voices in the centre of the Saudi literary canon. "A collection of essays exploring the modern history of Middle East societies by looking at the interaction between the internal history of ideas and the social transformation of local elites under Western impact."--Bloomsbury publishing.