A Critical Introduction To Modern Arabic Poetry

A critical survey of the development and achievements of Arabic poetry over the last 150 years.

After centuries of oppressive Ottoman rule, the Arab world began to find new vitality and freedom in the twentieth century. The accompanying resurgence of creative expression is splendidly reflected in this definitive anthology of contemporary Arabic poetry, which spans the modern Arab world from the turn of the century to the present, from the Arab Gulf to Morocco. The editor, Salma Khadra Jayyusi, a renowned expert on modern Arabic literature, presents a through introduction to the works of more than ninety Arab poets. To create the best possible English translation, each selection has been translated first by a bilingual expert and then by an English-language poet, who creatively renders it into idiomatic English.

"The purpose of this book is to trace the development of the differing forms employed in various liteary movements in modern Arabic poetry. This development seems to me the most important elemment in the understanding of the contemporary revolution in Arabic poetry. Moreover, this revolution is considered to be the first in the history of Arabic poetry in which the influence of foreign literature has been such that it las almost completely cut off modervn Arabic poetry from its classical heritage." from Introduction.

This edition includes new material on the Arabic novel up to 1993. It is a survey of the Arabic novel and its development from its beginnings in the 19th century until today. It traces the origin, early cultivation and the mature period after World War II of the Arabic novel.

This volume provides an authoritative survey of creative writing in Arabic from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day.