Novel and Nation in the Muslim World : Literary Contributions and National Identities

Exploring the relationship between fiction and nation formation in the Muslim world through 12 unique studies from Azerbaijan, Libya, Iran, Algeria, and Yemen, amongst others, this book shows how fiction reflects and relates the complex entanglements of nation, religion, and modernity in the process of political and cultural identity formation. Front Matter....Pages i-xii Introduction....Pages 1-14 The End of Literary Narratives?....Pages 15-29 Front Matter....Pages 3-31 Writing the Future in Early Turkish Republican Literature....Pages 33-47 Becoming Azerbaijani through Language: On the Impact of Calil Məmmədquluzadə’s Anamin Kitabi....Pages 48-64 The Kurdish Novel and National Identity-Formation across Borders....Pages 65-78 Front Matter....Pages 79-79 Nedjma: Kateb Yacine’s Deconstruction of Algeria’s Colonial Historiography....Pages 81-97 For Bread Alone: How Moroccan Literature Let the Subalterns Speak....Pages 98-113 Mahattat: “Stations” on the Road to the Libyan Nation....Pages 114-129 Front Matter....Pages 131-131 Deconstructing Nation and Religion: Young Saudi Women Novelists....Pages 133-151 Wajdi al-Ahdal and the Broken Yemeni Nation....Pages 152-169 Popular Religion and the Entry into Political Modernity as Seen in The Last of the Angels....Pages 170-181 Front Matter....Pages 183-183 Utopia and Dystopia in Early-Modern Persian Literature: Representations of the Advent of Modernity to Iran....Pages 185-200 Indian Shi’a Muslims and the Idea of Home in Rahi Masoom Reza’s Work....Pages 201-214 Afterword: Nations and Fictions....Pages 215-220 Back Matter....Pages 221-226 Cover 1 Series 2 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 List of Tables 8 Acknowledgments 9 Notes on Contributors 10 Introduction 14 1 The End of Literary Narratives? 28 Part I 43 2 Writing the Future in Early Turkish Republican Literature 44 3 Becoming Azerbaijani through Language: On the Impact of Celil Memmedquluzade’s Anamın Kitabı 59 4 The Kurdish Novel and National Identity-Formation across Borders 76 Part II 90 5 Nedjma: Kateb Yacine’s Deconstruction of Algeria’s Colonial Historiography 91 6 For Bread Alone: How Moroccan Literature Let the Subalterns Speak 108 7 Mahattat: “Stations” on the Road to the Libyan Nation 124 Part III 140 8 Deconstructing Nation and Religion: Young Saudi Women Novelists 141 9 Wajdi al-Ahdal and the Broken Yemeni Nation 160 10 Popular Religion and the Entry into Political Modernity as Seen in The Last of the Angels 178 Part IV 190 11 Utopia and Dystopia in Early-Modern Persian Literature: Representations of the Advent of Modernity to Iran 191 12 Indian Shi–a Muslims and the Idea of Home in Rahi Masoom Reza’s Work 207 Afterword: Nations and Fictions 221 Index 227 This book explores the relationship between fictional literature and nation formation in the wider Muslim world. Through twelve unique case studies, it shows how the complex entanglements of nation, religion, and modernity in the process of political and cultural identity formation are probed and verbalized in fiction. The collection of studies in the book is unique. The chapters move beyond well-researched Arab-Muslim core settings such as Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine, and focus on other Arabic and non-Arabic Muslim majority countries, including Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Azerbaijan, Iraq, and Iran. The contributions link these literary narratives to the formation of national identities in culturally and linguistically diverse - even antagonistic - settings. The book is excellent reading for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in Middle Eastern studies, cultural studies, comparative literature, postcolonial studies, anthropology, and sociology, as well as those interested in Muslim societies, and nationalism