Travel Genre in Arabic Literature A Selective Literary And Historical Study

This dissertation is a modest attempt at examining the literary and historical back-grounds pertaining to the evolution of the travel genre in Arabic literature. The study's main objective is to pursue the literary, historical, and sociopolitical proofs that the travel genre in the Arab Islamic culture, did not only provide the medium of self expression and identity since the early beginnings of the Arabic culture, but eventually evolved into becoming an integral part in the creation of the modern Arabic literary forms. The travel genre or rahil in the poetic and narrative compositions of the pre-Islamic legendaries, such as the poets Imru al-Qais and Antara ibn-Shaddad, as well as, the poet and ascetic Umayah bin abi al-Salt, provide evidence as to the early use of the travel genre to articulate themes of individual, cultural, and religious magnitudes. Whereas the travel narratives of Ibn Jubayr, Ibn Battuta, and Ibn Khaldun, employ the inherited actual and spiritual properties of the travel genre to describe and discern the state of the Islamic Ummah, or community, as well as their place in it, the Maqamas of the travelers al-Tahtawi, al-Shidyaq, and al-Muwaylihi, expanded the use of the genre to articulate intercultural dialogues on both individual and national levels. The writings of the 1988 Nobel Laureate for literature Najib Mahfuz, the leading Arab feminist Nawal al-Sa'adawi, and the diplomat and author Yahya Haqqi, not only help infuse the inherited Arabic travel motif with new realizations of the East-West dichotomy, but also initiate the contemporary literary trends to reconcile the two cultures.El-Shihibi, Faithi is the author of 'Travel Genre in Arabic Literature A Selective Literary And Historical Study' with ISBN 9781581123265 and ISBN 1581123264.