Writing Beirut

Mappings of the City in the Modern Arabic Novel

AvSamira Aghacy

Häftad, Engelska, 2026

Del i serien Edinburgh Studies in Modern Arabic Literature

275 kr

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Beskrivning

Exploring how writers utilise the spaces of the city – joining the factual with the imaginary – this book shows how idiosyncratic perceptions of Beirut are produced, generating an infinite number of Beiruts. The city emerges as interactive, dynamic and historical, a place that is created from the streets, buildings, and monuments as well as through performance and social interaction. By referring to factual places in Beirut, the novels produce a strong reality effect through a mimetic mode of expression. Simultaneously, these texts reveal that Beirut is an unstable locale that resists fixity and transparency, shifting between the real and imagined, and the quotidian and discursive.Writing Beirut explores the city in 16 Arabic novels focusing on the urban/rural divide, the imagined and idealised city, the city through panoramic views and pedestrian acts, the city as sexualised and gendered, and the city as a palimpsest. While the book focuses on Beirut in Arabic novels, the introduction provides a thorough overview of Beirut in the modern Arabic novel.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2026-05-31
Mått:156 x 234 x undefined mm
Format:Häftad
Språk:Engelska
Serie:Edinburgh Studies in Modern Arabic Literature
Antal sidor:240
Förlag:Edinburgh University Press
ISBN:9781399565530

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Mer om författaren

Samira Aghacy is Professor of English and Comparative Literature and interim Director of the Institute for Women’s Studies in the Arab World at the Lebanese American University. She is author of Masculine Identity in the Fiction of Arab East since 1967 (2009), and has published numerous articles on contemporary Arabic fiction. She also served for seven years (1997-2003) as editor of Al-Raida, a feminist peer-reviewed journal published by IWSAW.

Recensioner i media

Samira Aghacy has once more provided us with a well-thought-out, brilliant discussion on the pertinent issues plaguing our part of the world. She has thus contributed in raising awareness with this new book, so carefully researched and written. It will no doubt have a great impact on the literary criticism field, as well as gender studies, war studies, and studies of the city.

Innehållsförteckning

IntroductionThe Rural/Urban Divide: Subverted BoundariesThe Rhetoric of Walking: Cartographic Versus Nomadic ItinerariesSexualising the City: The Yoking of Flesh and StoneTraffic between the Factual and Imagined: Beirut DeferredExcavating the City: Exterior and Interior RelicsInconclusive ConclusionBibliographyIndex