Fabio Caiani Phd Thesis
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INNOVATION IN THE NOVELS OF MUḤAMMAD BARRĀDA, IDWĀR AL-KHARRĀṬ, ILYĀS KHŪRĪ AND FU'ĀD AL-TAKARLĪ, (1979-1999) Fabio Caiani A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 2005 Full metadata for this item is available in Research@StAndrews:FullText at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/3707 This item is protected by original copyright INNOVATION IN THE NOVELS OF MWIAMMAD BARRADA, IDWAR AL-KHARRAT, ILYAs :KHURI AND FU:JAD AL-TAKARLI (1979-1999) FABIO CAIANI A Thesis submitted for the Degree ofDoctor ofPhilosophy at the University ofSt. Andrews December 2004 St. Andrews Declarations • Fabio Calanl, hereby certify that this thesis! which is approximately 76/900 words in length, has me, that it is the record of work carried out by me and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for a gher degree. JjI2/'o4-signature date r I • I was as a resea student in September 1999 and as a ca date for the degree losonhv September 2000; study for s is a record was carried out the University of St rews between 1999 a 2004. date ~ signature candidate • I hereby certify candi lied the conditions the Resolution and Reg ations aonronrtate the degree Doctor of I in the University St rews a that the candidate is qual ed su s thesis in application for that degree. date~' fL.' °t signature Copyright Declaration In submitting this thesis to the University of St Andrews I understand that I am giving permission for it to be made available for use in accordance with the regulations of the University Library for the time being in force, subject to any copyright vested in the work not being affected thereby. I also understand that the title and abstract will be published, and that a copy of the work may be made and supplied to any bona fide library or research worker. date )/1c £) 0Lr- signature of candidat I I/-z thesis was possible the I received from drtterent mstrtutaons u71",Ph I wish University (Venice) a Foundation Studentship sponsored the first me scholarships cover fees. The BRISMES Research Student Award enabled me to travel to Tunisia 1n·h",.,'",ri':XUT Fu:lad al-Takarll gather secondary sources. I pleasure of meeting both al-Takarh and Idwar discuss their works: I am very grateful to them encouragement remarkable kindness. I also to thank my parents and all my friends many have supported me during all these years. thesis is about I would like to mention John Coltrane and like discussed below, innovated their own fields not only with their talent, but also with their technical skins ill one case, rnscrpnne greatest thanks go supervisor, Catherine, having very patiently and competently guided me, and, for having taught me how read literature. Abstract This thesis is a detailed literary analysis of the innovative elements in the novels of four of the most significant contemporary Arab authors: the Moroccan Muhammad Barrada, the Egyptian Idwar al-Kharrat, the Lebanese Ilyas KhuTI and the Iraqi Fu3ad al-Takarlt. These novels were published between 1979 and 1999, a period during which the work of these authors reached literary maturity. While this thesis (unlike many critical studies of Arabic fiction written in English) is based on close textual analysis of the texts in question, it places its findings within a wider framework: its introduction (the first part of an essay on literary innovation) defines what is meant by innovation in the Arabic novel; its conclusion (the second part of that essay), is an attempt to connect the innovative methods adopted by the above mentioned writers with the wider literary scene: it shows how these writers have contributed to promoting some of the mam innovative trends of the Arabic novel in the last few decades. In adopting a literary approach to these novels, we have considered how the writers' formal choices and techniques have shaped the content of their texts. In this way, we have not only highlighted the importance which the novelists' socio-political discourse assumes in Arab societies, but have also underlined how this discourse is more or less successful because of its artistic merits. The first chapter of this thesis deals with the highly fragmented nature of these texts (lack of ordered development or plot); the second chapter tackles the problems inherent in narrative voice and the position of the authors within their texts; the third chapter explores the intertextual connections these writers use to shape a certain discourse; the fourth chapter deals with the way these novelists promote a self-referential kind of fiction. Index Introduction On Literary Innovation (part 1) p. 1. Chapter I Fragmentation 31. Chapter Polyphony p. 61. Chapter Intertextuality p.117. Chapter IV Metafiction p.173. Conclusion On Literary Innovation (part 2) p.210. Bibliography p.237. "It occurred to me that boring books [...] for example an experimental novel, especially an Arabic one, might help me to sleep." Tawfiq, al-Masarriit ura-tl-auija" by FuJad al-Takarli: (p. 459) INTRODUCTION On Literary Innooation. (part 1). In 1997, the May/June issue of the prestigious Lebanese literary magazine al-Adiib was dedicated to the topic of experimentation and innovation in the Arabic novel.! In his brief introduction, editor-in chief Samah Idrrs first explains that he wants this special issue to deal with the "new" and the "lively" in the Arabic novel through an analysis of specific examples, instead of relying on Western literary theories. He then adds that the impressive response of the readers, writers and critics to such topics- shows a growing interest in new novelistic styles which, unlike old techniques, keep abreast with a life which has become unpredictable, quickly changing (Idris 1997: 19). Our approach to the same topic (innovation within the realm of contemporary Arabic fiction) has some features in common with Idris's: in particular, we will rely on a close textual analysis of certain novels which present significant innovative features. However, we will also refer to literary theories and draw parallels between the Arabic novels studied and non-Arabic fictional texts. First, let us shed light on the criteria behind the selection of such texts. The focus of this study is a number of novels which have been published during the last quarter of a century (the first being published in 1979, the last in 1998).3 These were written by Arab 1 For an overview on the history of the magazine and its importance as far as literary matters in the Arab world are concerned, see Ruocco 1999. 2 So impressive that the magazine actually dedicated two issues to the Arabic novel: the one mentioned above and the following. Idris's main reaction to such a positive response confirms the impression of most critics of contemporary Arabic literature: in the last few decades the novel has acquired such a status that it is considered the privileged literary genre. 3 Our starting point is the year in which al-Kharrat's ground-breaking novel Hiima tua-tl-tinnin. appeared (the author himself financed the first publication and the novel was published one year 1 writers of different nationalities who, according to most critics (Arab and Western scholars of modern Arabic fiction), have significantly contributed to innovation in the Arabic novel in the period defined above. The Iraqi novelist Fu:Jad al-Takarh (born 1927, Baghdad) has received less critical attention than others and the innovative elements in his work (wrongly but maybe inevitably, as we will show below) have often been overlooked. The other main writers whose work is analysed below are Idwar al-Kharrat (b. 1926, Alexandria), Ilyas Khuri (b. 1948, Beirut) and Muhammad Barr-ada (b. 1938, Rabatj.! This study aims at filling a gap in the field of criticism (in English) of the contemporary Arabic novel. The gap is both quantitative and qualitative. First of all, the studies in English focusing on writers of the previous generations, dominated by Najtb Mahfuz (b. 1911), outnumber those about the next generation of writers (with whom we are dealing here). More importantly, it is evident that today Arabic fiction is often read by Western academic later in Beirut by al-Mu"assasa al-Carabiyya li-tl-diraeat uxi-il-naehr), The novel has been translated into English as Rama and the Dragon by Ferial Ghazoul and John Verlenden (2002). Hereafter, when lust referred to, the Arabic title of a novel will be followed by the year of its first publication, and the title and date of its published English translation (when available). Subsequent citations win include only the Arabic title, or the first part of it if the novel is frequently mentioned: Rama wa-'l-tinn'in (1979; Rama and the Dragon, 2002), subsequently Rama, When quoting entire passages from these novels, a plain number referring to the page/s of the Arabic edition used will be given, followed by a number in italics referring to the English translation. For those novels for which no published English translation is available, the Arabic title will be foflowed by our translation of it, e.g. Bab al-ehams "The Gate of the Sun" (1998). This novel, by Ilyas KhUri, and Fu"ad al-Takarlf's al-Maearrat wa-'l-awjaC are the most recent of those studied. 4 While the literary quality of the works here analysed and the critical consensus are the most important criteria of selection, we have also deliberately chosen writers who can loosely be said to represent every major region within the Arab world (the East or Iraq, the east of the Mediterranean sea, Egypt and North Africa).