Autobiographical Identities in Contemporary Arab Culture

This title explores developments in Arab autobiography over the last 40 years. This original exploration of Arab autobiographical discourse investigates various modes of cultural identity which have emerged in Arab societies in the last 40 years. During this period, autobiographical texts moved away from exemplary life narratives and toward more unorthodox techniques such as erotic memoir writing, postmodernist self-fragmentation, cinematographic self-projection and the autobiographical blogosphere. Valerie Anishchenkova argues that the Arabic autobiographical genre has evolved into a mobile, unrestricted category arming authors with narrative tools to articulate their selfhood. Reading works from Arab nations such as Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Syria, and Lebanon, Anishchenkova connects the century’s rapid political and ideological developments to increasing autobiographical experimentation in Arabic works. The immense scope of her study also forces consideration of film and cyber forms of self-representation and offers a novel theoretical framework to these various modes of autobiographical cultural production.It studies works from throughout the Arab world, including Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Syria and Lebanon. It examines how rapid political and ideological developments in different parts of the Arab world have influenced the eruption of autobiographical experimentation. It focuses on written autobiographies, with considerations of film and digital forms of self-representation.