The Edinburgh Companion to the Arab Novel in English: The Politics of Anglo Arab and Arab American Literature and Culture

With 19 stimulating new essays, this book looks at the Anglo Arab novel from 1911 to the present day. The novel is a largely imported European genre, coming relatively late to the history of Arab letters. It should therefore perhaps come as no surprise that the first novel to have been written by an Arab was written in English (Ameen Rihani’s The Book of Khalid, 1911). However, subsequent years saw the flourishing of, first, Arabic novels, then the Francophone Arab novel. Only in the last two decades has the Anglophone Arab novel experienced a second coming, and it is this re emergence of literary activity that is the focus of this collection. Opening up the field of diasporic Anglo Arab literature to critical debate, the Companion presents a range of critical responses and pedagogical approaches to the Anglo Arab novel. It offers both classroom friendly essays and critically sophisticated analyses, bringing together original critical studies of the major Anglo Arab novelists from established and emerging scholars in the field. It guides students through the novels they are required to read on Anglo Arab literature courses.It includes chapters on Ameen Rihani, Ahdaf Soueif, Waguih Ghali, Etel Adnan, Diana Abu Jaber, Jamal Mahjoub, Rawi Hage, Loubna Haikal, Jad El Hage, Mohja Kahf, Samia Serageldin, Rabih Alameddine, Mona Simpson, Leila Aboulela, Laila Lalami, Hisham Matar and Fadia Faqir. It presents essays on pedagogy and the literary marketplace.

Reviews of The Edinburgh Companion to the Arab Novel in English: The Politics of Anglo Arab and Arab American Literature and Culture

'The Edinburgh Companion to the Arab Novel in English, carefully edited by Nouri Gana, brings together the work of some of the very best comparative literature scholars. The essays are all marked by both their theoretical rigor and the clearly expounded close readings of the texts and authors upon which they focus. The Companion is a valuable addition to the relatively small but growing library of critical works devoted to this particular subfield of comparative literature studies.' – Roger Allen, Professor of Arabic & Comparative Literature Emeritus, University of Pennsylvania 'A much needed and welcome anthology. Gana has collected an excellent range of essays of various critical approaches, all of them readable and insightful, as are his contextual contributions. Highly recommended for classroom use.' – Steven Salaita, Associate Professor of English, Virginia Tech