Novelizing the Muslim Wars of Conquests: The Christian Pioneers of the Arabic Historical Novel
View/ Open
Leafgren_gsas.harvard_0084L_10362.pdf (916.0Kb)
Access Status
Full text of the requested work is not available in DASH at this time ("restricted access"). For more information on restricted deposits, see our FAQ.Author
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Leafgren, Luke Anthony. 2012. Novelizing the Muslim Wars of Conquests: The Christian Pioneers of the Arabic Historical Novel. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University.Abstract
During the Arabic cultural renaissance of the nineteenth century known as the nahda, Christian Arabs made a substantial contribution to the development of fiction and journalism. Among these pioneers, Salim al-Bustani, Jurji Zaydan, and Farah Antun were inspired by translations of European fiction to write the first historical novels in Arabic. Their narrations of the Muslim wars of conquest are carefully constructed blends of history and fiction that emphasize the cultural and religious values that Christian and Muslim Arabs hold in common. In their novels, these authors celebrate the historical achievements of the Arabs and seek to inspire a new sense of Arab cultural identity, open to Christians and Muslims alike and based on shared language, history, territory, values, and aspirations for reform. In this way, these authors respond to the sectarian tensions of their time, European imperialism, and the challenges of modernism with ideas that would become central to Arab nationalist discourse in the twentieth century.Citable link to this page
http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:10304402
Collections
- FAS Theses and Dissertations [6136]
Contact administrator regarding this item (to report mistakes or request changes)