Bildungsroman and the Arab Novel - Egyptian Intersections

Through a close-reading of a corpus of novels featuring young protagonists in their path toward adulthood, the book shows how Bildungsroman impacted the formation of the Egyptian narrative. The book helps the reader to understand the key role played by the coming of age novel in the definition and perception of modern Arab subjectivity.

List of contents

Introduction 1. Building the Nation, Imagining the Youth in early 20th-century Egypt 2. The Way of the Egyptian Novel: Zaynab by Muhammad Husayn Haykal 3. National Allegory and Bildungsnarrative in ‘Awdat al-rūh (The Return of the Spirit) by Tawfīq al-Ḥakīm 4. A Personal, Feminist, Anti-Colonial Awakening: al-Bāb al-maftūḥ (The Open Door) by Laṭīfa al-Zayyāt 5. The Crisis-plot: Adīb (A Man of Letters) by Ṭāhā Ḥusayn and Qindīl Umm Hāshim (The Lamp of Umm Hashim) by Yaḥyā Ḥaqqī 6. The "Disillusionment Plot" in Najīb Maḥfūẓ and ‘Abd al-Ḥakīm Qāsim 7. Antiphrastic Bildung and Multiple Selves in the Avant-Garde Literary Movement Epilogue Bibliography

About the author

Maria Elena Paniconi is Associate Professor in Arabic Literature at the University of Macerata, Italy. Her research interests are the Arab Nahḍa and the Bildungsnarratives in Modern and Contemporary Arab world. She wrote about nahḍawī writers and genres in JAL and Oriente Moderno. She translated into Italian the 1935 novel Adīb by Tāhā Ḥusayn.

Summary

Through a close-reading of a corpus of novels featuring young protagonists in their path toward adulthood, the book shows how Bildungsroman impacted the formation of the Egyptian narrative. The book helps the reader to understand the key role played by the coming of age novel in the definition and perception of modern Arab subjectivity.

Product details

• Authors: Maria Elena Paniconi
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 27.05.2024
• EAN: 9781032323633
• ISBN: 978-1-0-3232363-3
• No. of pages: 304
• Series: Routledge Advances in Middle East and Islamic Studies
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Social sciences (general); SOCIAL SCIENCE / Regional Studies, Society & culture: general, LITERARY CRITICISM / Middle Eastern, POLITICAL SCIENCE / World / Middle Eastern, Middle East, Politics & government, Regional Studies, Literature: history & criticism, Politics and government, Middle Eastern history, Regional / International studies, Society and culture: general, Literature: history and criticism