The Origins of Modern Arabic Fiction

The first edition of this book, completed in 1970, was hailed as a major contribution to scholarship on the development of Arabic fiction in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In this revised and greatly expanded second edition, Matti Moosa has added five entirely new chapters—one on the popular dialogues of Abd Allah Nadim, and four devoted to twentieth century fiction culminating with the novels of Maguib Mahfouz. He has also incorporated the results of more than two decades of fresh research. Moosa's exhaustive discussion, demonstrating the influence of both Western and Islamic ideology and culture, presents many works of fiction for the first time to Western students of Arabic literature. Contents Preface 1 Historical Beginnings: Egypt 2 The Rise of the Arab Drama in Syria and Egypt 3 Yaqub Sanu and the Rise of the Arab Drama in Egypt 4 Abd Allah Nadim and the Art of the Popular Dialogue 5 The Translation of Western Fiction 6 The Revival of the Maqama 7 Salim al-Bustani and the Beginning of Modern Arabic Fiction 8 From Salim al-Bustani to Jurji Zaydan: Francis Marrash and Numan Abduh al-Qasatili 9 Jurji Zaydan and the Arab Historical Novel 10 Arabic Fiction Comes of Age 11 The Growth of the Egyptian Novel 12 The Egyptian Modernists and the Novel 13 Naguib Mahfouz: The Voice of Egypt Notes Bibliography Index About the Book