The blogosphere and blogging provided Arab bloggers momentarily with a domain in which to criticize the government, call for change, break taboos and mobilize citizens. This book shows that many of the same societal and political problems that have been treated for decades in literary expression in Egypt are also brought up in five Egyptian, top-ranked blogs in the run-up to the uprising of January 2011. Social critical narrative themes common to the literature as well as to blogposts include criticism of poor governance, corruption, poverty, religious hypocrisy and the vast class differences existing in Egyptian society. Some of the bloggers call for democratic liberties such as human rights and freedom of expression.
This article applies Hubert Zapf's (2002) eco-critical triadic model to the novel Nazif al-hajar by the Libyan author Ibrahim al-Kawni/al-Kony (1990). Through the representation of three central characters and three animal species affiliated with the desert, we inquire about the problematic of the extinction of central species of the fauna in the bioregion in which the novel is set, the south-western Libyan desert. We also inquire about 'alternative' life-styles suitable for life in the global village of the present.
This article explores a way in which an urban society in the Arab world may respond to an ecosystem by acquiring a measure of ecological literacy (eco-literacy) in a short story by an Egyptian author. Guided by David W. Orr’s concept of ecological literacy (1992) and eco-literacy (Amy Cutter Mackenzie and Richard Smith, 2003) we observe in which way this short story expresses awareness of ecological interrelatedness and an attitude of care and stewardship towards nature. With Christopher Manes (1996) and Don Kulick (1917) we argue that an environmental ethics which speaks on the behalf of nature and empathetic engagement with life beyond the human emerge.
In this paper I present five popular Egyptian bloggers who blog in Arabic and show their posts to be activist, at times breaking taboos with regard to what may be said publicly about the president, the government and State Security. While doing this they also adhere to a deep-seated Arabic tradition of using cultural instruments of expression. From the vantage point of Sabry Hafez’ (2011) findings with regard to despondency and gloom in Arabic literary texts from the 1900s, we find these bloggers to be vexed with the pervasive corruption, harassment from State Security and lack of democratic rights such as freedom of speech and rule of law in their society. With Hoda Elsadda (2010 and 2012) we also perceive these bloggers to be creative while voicing vibrant and diverse views in their posts. No matter how activist or radical the blogger emerges, a substantial instrument of expression may be derived from the Arabic cultural tradition of poetry in the service of resistance.
The bloggers according to popularity ranking when they were selected during 2010: (1) Wael Abbas (Wāʾil ʿAbbās), (2) Abdel Moneim Mahmoud (ʿAbd al-Munʿim Maḥmūd), (3) Ashraf al-Anany (Ashraf al-ʿAnānī), (4) Nawara Negm (Nawwāra Najm), (5) Ahmed Shokeir (Aḥmad Shuqayr).
This article identifies literary cross-currents and meeting-points in modern literature in the making in the UAE and Oman. During roughly three decades (1970-2000) immense changes have taken place in these countries. Adjusting to the global, urbanised life of the metropolis and information technology in the service of intercultural exchange are issues which have occasioned scepticism towards modernity and globalisation. Literature in the UAE and Oman expresses an effort to shake off some of the vestiges of traditional Western realism as well as to comment on the rapid transformation that has overturned pre-oil society. This literature is marked by an ambivalence between old and new, tradition and modernity and indigenous and foreign, all of which have been prevalent forces throughout the shaping of modern Arabic literature.
A translation from Arabic of Qatari woman author Hudā al-Naʿīmī's short story Laylā wa-Anā into English from her short story collection Abāṭīl, published in Cairo, 2001.
Kapitlet "Natur och välbefinnande i kris- och orostider, Libanon och Irak" behandlar hur olika naturmanifestationer spelar en roll för psykisk hälsa och välbefinnande som skildrat i två arabiska romaner. I den ena romanen, Hayy al-Amirkan (Amerikanernas kvarter) av Jabbour Douaihy, utspelar sig handlingen i Libanesiska Tripoli i en miljö som präglas av oro och våld i spåren av klasskillnader, hot och våld från polis, säkerhetstjänst, militär och konflikter mellan radikala grupper. I den andra romanen, Ya Maryam (Ave Maria) skildras huvudpersonernas tillvaro i det krigsdrabbade Irak efter den amerikanska invasionen 2003. Invasionen ökade instabiliteten och den inre oron och osäkerheten i landet. Att inte ständigt vara på sin vakt mot möjliga faror, är något vi kopplar till ökad sinnesfrid och välbefinnande, särskilt i tider av oro. I romanerna Hayy al-Amirkan och Ya Maryam visas att vägen till balans och psykologiskt välbefinnande går genom vistelse i en trädgård och omsorg om två växttyper: bonsai-trädet och dadelpalmen.
This article explores how cultivated nature emerges as therapeutic in maintaining psychological well-being for individuals living in contexts of violence and unrest. It addresses this issue through analysis of two contemporary works of Arabic fiction, one set in Iraq and the other in Lebanon. We ask about the effect of contact with two expressions of nature on central characters in the novels while taking into account that, in therapeutic horticulture, active or passive contact with nature may promote human health.
Well-being through outdoor life and ecolacy are fundamental concepts in sociological research with regard to the question whether nature is instrumental for integration into some Western societies. In this article, we ask if the Saudi Arabian protagonist in Muḥammad Ḥasan ʿAlwān’s novel, al-Qundus, (The Beaver), 2011, becomes a part of, “integrated in”, North American society by means of ecolacy. An ecocritical and sociological reading, which takes into account human and non-human communication, shows that the protagonist does not become integrated into the North American society to which he has immigrated by way of his acquired ecolacy. Rather, his steps towards ecolacy seem to lead to self-knowledge and reconciliation with his family members in Riyadh rather than being a conduit to integration.
Professuren i Semitiska språk vid Uppsala universitet instiftades 1605, då för att studera Bibeln på originalspråk. När Linné-lärjungen Peter Forsskål 1761 gav sig iväg med en forskningspexpedition till Arabien hade han redan författat sitt verk "Tankar om den borgerliga friheten" 1759. Detta verk speglar dagens liberala idéer om individens frihet att uttrycka sig. Forsskål dog av malaria i Jemen och när vi fick tryckfrihet i Sverige hade Forsskål redan varit död i tre år. Forsskåls tankar om människans kärlek till individuell frihet och att få tänka, tro och uttrycka sig fritt lever vidare. Idag, när människor från Mellanöstern och arabvärlden flyr, bland annat därför att de inte får säga vad de önskar, eller tvingas överge sina övertygelser eller modersmål framstår studiet av Semitiska språk minst lika viktigt som för 400 år sedan.
The Egyptian author Yuusuf al-Sibaa'ii (1917-1978) was not worried about the critical attitude that the literary élite and the book reviewers displayed towards his novels. He had many thousands of enthusiastic readers in all parts of the Arab world. This thesis seeks to uncover what lies beind these divergent opinions.
This thesis analyzes the sixteen novels of Yuusuf al-Sibaa'ii through the lens of Arabic literary history and the social, political and historical contexts in which they were written. Written between 1947 and 1973, they are marked by the vast processes of change that took place i Egyptian and Arab society during this period. It is apparent that throughout his novels al-Sibaa'ii engages in social criticism and in doing so he pinpoints current topics of interest for the majority. His mode of expression is romantic and melodramatic, which appeals to some readers. Several other aspects have assisted in making his novels available and attractive to young readers: conventional and repetitious use of clichés, straightforward characters and a linguistic style that was less convoluted than what was traditional at the time coupled with the occasional use of colloquial Egyptian in the dialogues. Their continuing popularity through film versions, video tapes and new impressions is further proof of their appeal.
This article strives to set in motion comprehensive research on the ways in which Arabic is evolving in Arabic blogs and computer mediated communication (CMC). By combining media studies, sociolinguistics and literature it examines code choice, content and mode of representation in five top ranked Egyptian blogs. We distinguish between MSA, ECA and mixed varieties and establish that all three codes may be employed. We argue that bloggers make deliberate choices regarding code, and that code-switching in CMC may function as frames for familiarizing or officialdom. We conclude that bloggers with an activist agenda tend to use ECA and a mixed variety, and educational blogs tend to use MSA and a mixed variety. Both activist and educational bloggers may employ a Bakhtinian carnivalesque mode of representation.