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Article: ASMA (1873): the early Arabic novel as a social compass.
- Article from:
- Studies in the Novel
- Article date:
- December 22, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 University of North Texas. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The emergence of the modern Arabic novel dates back to the nineteenth century, yet until the 1950s, poetry remained the leading Arabic literary genre (Snir 68-69). During this period, the novel was perceived as a lower or non-canonical genre. Only in the second half of the twentieth century did prose writing, especially novels, become the leading genre. Nevertheless, early examples of this genre had already appeared in the 1870s in the writings of Salim al-Bustani (1846-1884): one of the leading nineteenth-century Arab intellectuals, al-Bustani published serialized novels in his family-owned periodical al-Jinan (The Gardens) and is often considered to be the "father of the ...