Trials of Arab Modernity: Literary Affects and the New Political

Challenging prevalent conceptualizations of modernity--which treat it either as a Western ideology imposed by colonialism or as a universal narrative of progress and innovation--this study instead offers close readings of the simultaneous performances and contestations of modernity staged in works by authors such as Rifa'a al-Tahtawi, Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq, Tayeb Salih, Hanan al-Shaykh, Hamdi Abu Golayyel, and Ahmad Alaidy.

In dialogue with affect theory, deconstruction, and psychoanalysis, the book reveals these trials to be a violent and ongoing confrontation with and within modernity. In pointed and witty prose, El-Ariss bridges the gap between Nahda (the so-called Arab project of Enlightenment) and postcolonial and postmodern fiction.

Author: Tarek El-Ariss
Publisher: Modern Language Initiative
Published: 04/15/2013
Pages: 248
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 8.90h x 6.00w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9780823251728

Review Citation(s):
Choice 11/01/2013

About the Author
Tarek El-Ariss is Associate Professor of Middle Eastern Studies and Comparative Literature at the University of Texas, Austin.