Author Description

This is an in-depth, original survey of religion in the modern Arabic novel. Tracing the relationship from the genesis of the form in the early 20th century to present, the book explores the struggle between religious and secular discourse as it plays out on the pages of the Egyptian novel. Through close readings of representative works, the book reveals the manifold ways in which the Egyptian novel has engaged with Islam, Christianity, Sufism, myth, ritual, scripture and religious intertextuality. Key features: detailed literary analyses of religious themes in 20 Egyptian novels, drawing on a range of critical theories; first close study of the Coptic theme in the Arabic novel; includes new readings of key works, such as Mahfouz's trilogy and Tawfiq al-Hakim's novels, as well as important but overlooked works, such as 'Abd al-Hakim Qasim's Al-Mahdi and Turaf min Khabar al-Akhira. Scholarly but accessible, this research is significant for postcolonial studies as well as Arabic literary studies.