TY - JOUR
T1 - First steps in writing Arabic narrative fiction
T2 - The case of Hcombining dot belowadīqat al-Akhbār
AU - Bawardi, Basiliyus
PY - 2008
Y1 - 2008
N2 - This study tracks the significant literary activity of the Beirut newspaper Hcombining dot belowadīqat al-Akhbār (1858-1911) in its first ten years. A textual examination of the newspaper reveals that Khalīl al-Khūrī (1836-1907), a central figure of the nahda and the owner of Hcombining dot belowadīqat al-Akhbār, believed that an adoption of a new Western literary genre into the traditional Arabic literary tradition would provide the Arab culture with tools for reviving the Arabic language and create new styles of expression. The textual analysis of numerous narrative fictions that were published in the newspaper demonstrates two significant matters: first, Hcombining dot belowadīqat al-Akhbār was the first Arabic newspaper to publish translations from Western narrative fiction, especially from the French Romance stories. Secondly, it will be shown how Khalīl al-Khūrī constructed a fetal model of Arabic narrative fiction by publishing a fictional narrative of his own, Wayy, idhan lastu bi-ifranjī (Alas, I'm not a foreigner), in 1859-1861. The literary activity in Hcombining dot belowadīqat al-Akhbār, as the following study illustrates, played a substantial role in changing the aesthetic literary taste, and paved the way for the birth of an authentic Arabic narrative fiction.
AB - This study tracks the significant literary activity of the Beirut newspaper Hcombining dot belowadīqat al-Akhbār (1858-1911) in its first ten years. A textual examination of the newspaper reveals that Khalīl al-Khūrī (1836-1907), a central figure of the nahda and the owner of Hcombining dot belowadīqat al-Akhbār, believed that an adoption of a new Western literary genre into the traditional Arabic literary tradition would provide the Arab culture with tools for reviving the Arabic language and create new styles of expression. The textual analysis of numerous narrative fictions that were published in the newspaper demonstrates two significant matters: first, Hcombining dot belowadīqat al-Akhbār was the first Arabic newspaper to publish translations from Western narrative fiction, especially from the French Romance stories. Secondly, it will be shown how Khalīl al-Khūrī constructed a fetal model of Arabic narrative fiction by publishing a fictional narrative of his own, Wayy, idhan lastu bi-ifranjī (Alas, I'm not a foreigner), in 1859-1861. The literary activity in Hcombining dot belowadīqat al-Akhbār, as the following study illustrates, played a substantial role in changing the aesthetic literary taste, and paved the way for the birth of an authentic Arabic narrative fiction.
KW - Arabic narrative fiction 19 century
KW - Arabic newspaper 19 century
KW - Arabic novel
KW - Hcombining dot belowadīqat al-Akhbār
KW - Khalīl al-Khūrī
KW - Translation into Arabic 19 century
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=60950298342&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1163/157006008X335921
DO - 10.1163/157006008X335921
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AN - SCOPUS:60950298342
SN - 0043-2539
VL - 48
SP - 170
EP - 195
JO - Die Welt des Islams
JF - Die Welt des Islams
IS - 2
ER -