Palestinian and Arab-Jewish Cultures: Language, Literature, and Identity

Part of a two-volume set, this volume examines the issues of commitment and hybridization in Arabic literature concentrating on Palestinian literature and Arab-Jewish culture and the interactions between them. Reuvin Snir studies the contribution of Palestinian literature and theatre to Palestinian nation-building, especially since the 1948 Nakba. Becoming an essential part of the vocabulary of Arab intellectuals and writers, since the 1950s commitment (iltizām) has been employed to indicate the necessity for a writer to convey a message rather than merely create an imaginative work for its own sake. As for hybridization, the author focuses on the role Jews have played in Arabic literature against the backdrop of their contribution to this literature since the pre-Islamic period, and in light of the gradual demise of Arab-Jewish culture in recent years. The blending of elements from different cultures is one of the major phenomena in Arabic literature, certainly in light of its relationship with Islam and its cultural heritage, which has been extending during the last one-and-half millennia.

ISBN-13: 9781399503211

Media Type: Hardcover

Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

Publication Date: 02-21-2023

Pages: 400

Product Dimensions: 9.21h x 6.14w x 1.00d

Reuven Snir is Professor of Arabic Language and Literature at the University of Haifa. His most recent books in English include Arab-Jewish Literature: The Birth and Demise of the Arabic Short Story (Brill, 2019), Modern Arabic Literature: A Theoretical Framework (EUP, 2017), Baghdad ― The City in Verse (Harvard University Press, 2013) and Who Needs Arab-Jewish Identity? (Brill, 2015).