Re-visiting the Arab Cultural Renaissance:  Al-Nahda and the Reception of European Literature

Al-Nahda – the Renaissance corresponds to the advent of “modern civilization” (al-tamaddun al-ḥadîṯ) in Egypt and the East through contacts with the West. The Renaissance is opposed to the Middle Ages (al-qurûn al-wusṭâ), times of darkness. It is intended, more than a renewal of old models, a revolution of knowledge and thought. It is born of more or less violent contacts with the outside. Just as the Renaissance of the East is fertilized by the Western contributions so the European Renaissance which preceded it is largely attributed to the philosophical and scientific mediation of the Arabs of Andalusia. My research is a re-consideration of al-Nahda, highlighting the development of contemporary Arabic literature as a result of the late-19th – early 20th cultural rebirth of the Arab world, with a special stress on the French-Egyptian cultural transfer and the importance of translation.

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Studying Modern Arabic Literature

10.3366/edinburgh/9780748696628.001.0001 ◽

2015 ◽

Keyword(s):

Twentieth Century ◽

Arab World ◽

Public Intellectual ◽

Arabic Literature ◽

Global Culture ◽

The West ◽

Teaching And Research ◽

The Face ◽

The 1960S ◽

Modern Arabic

This book is devoted to the life and academic legacy of Mustafa Badawi who transformed the study of modern Arabic literature in the second half of the twentieth century. Prior to the 1960s the study of Arabic literature, both classical and modern, had barely been emancipated from the academic approaches of orientalism. The appointment of Badawi as Oxford University's first lecturer in modern Arabic literature changed the face of this subject as Badawi showed, through his teaching and research, that Arabic literature was making vibrant contributions to global culture and thought. Part biography, part collection of critical essays, this book celebrates Badawi's immense contribution to the field and explores his role as a public intellectual in the Arab world and the west.

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A Thousand and One Nights and the Novel

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199349791.013.5 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Richard van Leeuwen

Keyword(s):

Magical Realism ◽

World Literature ◽

Freedom Of Expression ◽

Arab World ◽

Arabic Literature ◽

Literary Genre ◽

The Novel ◽

The West ◽

Eighteenth And Nineteenth Centuries ◽

Modern Arabic

This chapter examines the influence of Alf layla wa layla (A Thousand and One Nights), the ingenious Arabic cycle of stories, on the development of the novel as a literary genre. It shows that the Nights helped shape the European novel in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The chapter first explains how the French translation of the Nights and its popularity in Europe led to its incorporation in world literature, creating an enduring taste for “Orientalism” in many forms. It then considers how the Nights became integrated in modern Arabic literature and how Arabic novels inspired by it were used to criticize social conditions, dictatorial authority, and the lack of freedom of expression. It also discusses the Nights as a source of innovation for the trend of magical realism, as well as its role in the interaction between the Arab world and the West.

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Ziadeh, May (1886–1941)

Routledge Encyclopedia of Modernism ◽

10.4324/9781135000356-rem1640-1 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Bayan Haddad

Keyword(s):

Twentieth Century ◽

Cultural Heritage ◽

Arab World ◽

Arabic Literature ◽

Late Nineteenth Century ◽

The West ◽

Men And Women ◽

Literary Figure ◽

Late Nineteenth ◽

Modern Arabic

May Ziadeh was a prominent literary figure and salonnière in the Arab world in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. A journalist, essayist, author and literary critic, she was also known for being a spellbinding orator and an unusually gifted stylist and translator. Ziadeh was best known for instituting a long running weekly salon (1911–1931) in her home that brought together leading men and women in the period when Egyptian anti-colonial nationalism was at its height. Ziadeh was also a strong advocate of the emancipation of women in the Arab society. Famous for being moderate, Ziadeh did not equate modernity with the denial of Arabic cultural heritage in blind imitation of the West. Many critics believe that modern Arabic literature has not produced a female writer of Ziadeh’s calibre and that her contribution to the feminist cause cannot be overlooked.

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SEJARAH PRA KEMUNCULAN NOVEL ARAB

Adabiyyāt Jurnal Bahasa dan Sastra ◽

10.14421/ajbs.2011.10109 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 184

Author(s):

Moh. Wakhid Hidayat

Keyword(s):

Arab World ◽

Arabic Literature ◽

Western World ◽

The West ◽

Western Literature ◽

The Third ◽

Modern Arabic ◽

Classical Arabic

Novel (riwayah) is categorized as a genre of modern Arabic literature. The birth of this genre has something to do with the revival period of Arabic in general. Yet the pre-natal of this new genre in Arab world is left undiscussed. This research aims at disclosing the birth of Arabic novel. It is found that Egypt has been the center of the labor of this genre. Its pre-natal period is marked by the translation of the Western literature and the resurrection of the genre of maqamah. There are some arguments on the situation and condition of the pre-natal of the Arabic novel. First, it was imported from the west. The second argument is that novel is indigenous genre, and the third is that novel is rooted from both classical Arabic and modern Western world.

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The First Contact between the West and China: Sinology´s Origin

Sinología hispánica ◽

10.18002/sin.v7i2.5732 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 89

Author(s):

Gabriel Terol Rojo

Keyword(s):

Roman Empire ◽

Middle Ages ◽

Far East ◽

Asian Country ◽

The West ◽

Depth Study ◽

The One ◽

First Contact ◽

European Renaissance ◽

Selection Of

In this study the first contact between Western and Asia culture, specifically with China, is reviewed. It begins with a reference to the Roman Empire mentioning the most relevant reference works for a more in-depth study. Next, it focuses on the diaspora of Nestorian Christianity towards the East and specifically its location in Chinese territory, considering also the main reference works and following a historical and lineal story. Then, the trips of Benjamín de Tudela, although they did not go beyond Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf, served to verify the existence of Jewish communities in the Far East. In that frame of reference, the context of the Silk Road would explain its dedication on the one hand and, on the other, it delimits them curiously outside the Chinese territory, delving into the hermetism of the Asian country. In the Middle Ages and the European Renaissance, and anticipating the trips of Spaniards and Portuguese, the figure of Marco Polo is undoubtedly the most outstanding in the task of spreading the knowledge about China in the West. And in that sense also Ibn Battuta, then, is relevant. Finally, and from the stories written by these three travelers, multiple expeditions to Mongolia and China are evinced. A selection of these concludes the present work.

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THE BEGINNING OF THE EUROPEAN RENAISSANCE

EPRA International Journal of Research & Development (IJRD) ◽

10.36713/epra4787 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 104-108

Author(s):

Mahmudov Otabek

Keyword(s):

Middle Ages ◽

Scientific Literature ◽

Careful Analysis ◽

The West ◽

Historical Significance ◽

Historical Factors ◽

Historical Factor ◽

Cultural Processes ◽

History Of ◽

European Renaissance

In article on the basis of careful analysis of the scientific literature devoted to history of the translations in Spain in XII–XIII centuries, the place of the Toledo school in the formation of the Renaissance process in Europe is revealed. In addition, the historical significance of this school in the translation and study of the works of scholars of the medieval Muslim East is assessed. As a result of the analysis of political, social and cultural processes that took place in the VIIΙ-ΧΙΙ centuries on the Iberian Peninsula, the historical factors that influenced the formation of the Toledo school are established, and it is also proved that the period of mutual synthesis of East and West cultures was the main historical factor in the formation of the school. The scientific and methodological foundations of views on the stages of the Toledo school’s activity, the staff, tasks, as well as translators and scientists who worked at the school are revealed. based on this, it is proved that the Toledo school is the logical beginning of the Renaissance of the West. KEYWORDS: Toledo school, Renaissance, Spain, Europe, Muslim East, Middle Ages, Arab, Castilian, Latin, translations, translators.

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