Trials of Arab Modernity
Literary Affects and the New Political
Fordham University Press · Print & ebook · April 15, 2013
Challenging prevalent conceptualizations of modernity—which treat it either as a Western ideology imposed by colonialism or as a universal narrative of progress and innovation—this study instead offers close readings of the simultaneous performances and contestations of modernity staged in works by authors such as Rifa’a al-Tahtawi, Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq, Tayeb Salih, Hanan al-Shaykh, Hamdi Abu Golayyel, and Ahmad Alaidy.
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- Who it’s for
- This study reads Arab literary works as sites of modernity’s simultaneous performances and contestations.
- Genres
- Middle Eastern Lit Crit, Race & Culture in Literature, 20th-Century Literary Criticism
- Published
- Fordham University Press, April 15, 2013
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Challenging prevalent conceptualizations of modernity—which treat it either as a Western ideology imposed by colonialism or as a universal narrative of progress and innovation—this study instead offers close readings of the simultaneous performances and contestations of modernity staged in works by authors such as Rifa’a al-Tahtawi, Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq, Tayeb Salih, Hanan al-Shaykh, Hamdi Abu Golayyel, and Ahmad Alaidy.
Continue reading
In dialogue with affect theory, deconstruction, and psychoanalysis, the book reveals these trials to be a violent and ongoing confrontation with and within modernity. In pointed and witty prose, El-Ariss bridges the gap between Nahda (the so-called Arab project of Enlightenment) and postcolonial and postmodern fiction.
Arab Modernity on Trial
This study reads Arab literary works as sites of modernity’s simultaneous performances and contestations.
Come here for
- Close readings of works by six Arab authors
- A bridge from Nahda to postcolonial and postmodern fiction
Expect
- Engagement with affect theory, deconstruction, and psychoanalysis
- A view of modernity as an ongoing confrontation
Where it sits
| Middle Eastern Lit Crit | 97% |
|---|---|
| Race & Culture in Literature | 36% |
| 20th-Century Literary Criticism | 24% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Middle Eastern Lit Crit
- Authors
- Tarek El-Ariss
- Publisher
- Fordham University Press
- Published
- April 15, 2013
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Reading lane
- Middle Eastern Lit Crit