Migrations to the North. Images of the West in Arabic Literature
By comparing some texts of the Arabic travel literature, this article aims to reverse the perception of the cardinal direction, West/East North/South. Travel seems to be a recurrent theme in the Arabic tradition: the ‘holy’ voyage, the pilgrimage to Mecca, which allowed mediaeval geographers to desc...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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UNICApress
2011-11-01
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| Series: | Between |
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| Online Access: | http://ojs.unica.it/index.php/between/article/view/276 |
| _version_ | 1827854288785768448 |
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| author | Marianna Salvioli |
| author_facet | Marianna Salvioli |
| author_sort | Marianna Salvioli |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | By comparing some texts of the Arabic travel literature, this article aims to reverse the perception of the cardinal direction, West/East North/South. Travel seems to be a recurrent theme in the Arabic tradition: the ‘holy’ voyage, the pilgrimage to Mecca, which allowed mediaeval geographers to describe the lands and climates they traversed, has evolved in the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries into a study mission or a “secular” travel to the West.
The first remarkable works in modern Arabic literature are just such travel reports, mainly towards Europe. They include, in chronological order, materials such as the famous tales of al-Tahtawi and al-Shidyaq, Tayyib Salih’s Season of Migration to the North, and contemporary migration literature written in Arabic as well as in other languages. It is important to observe a significant evolution of the literary genres: from the maqama and rihla by the early writers to the novel and chronicle of the more recent ones. Finally, this article shows that the West creates its own East just as the East creates its own West, thus the study of the imagery that the other develops about us is just as critical as the demystification of our representation of the other. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T11:19:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1037522738ec43e5bc9c7ab371f4a341 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2039-6597 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T11:19:25Z |
| publishDate | 2011-11-01 |
| publisher | UNICApress |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Between |
| spelling | doaj.art-1037522738ec43e5bc9c7ab371f4a3412023-09-02T01:17:02ZengUNICApressBetween2039-65972011-11-011210.13125/2039-6597/276203Migrations to the North. Images of the West in Arabic LiteratureMarianna Salvioli0Università di Napoli "L'Orientale"By comparing some texts of the Arabic travel literature, this article aims to reverse the perception of the cardinal direction, West/East North/South. Travel seems to be a recurrent theme in the Arabic tradition: the ‘holy’ voyage, the pilgrimage to Mecca, which allowed mediaeval geographers to describe the lands and climates they traversed, has evolved in the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries into a study mission or a “secular” travel to the West. The first remarkable works in modern Arabic literature are just such travel reports, mainly towards Europe. They include, in chronological order, materials such as the famous tales of al-Tahtawi and al-Shidyaq, Tayyib Salih’s Season of Migration to the North, and contemporary migration literature written in Arabic as well as in other languages. It is important to observe a significant evolution of the literary genres: from the maqama and rihla by the early writers to the novel and chronicle of the more recent ones. Finally, this article shows that the West creates its own East just as the East creates its own West, thus the study of the imagery that the other develops about us is just as critical as the demystification of our representation of the other.http://ojs.unica.it/index.php/between/article/view/276Letteratura di viaggio arabaMigrazioneOccidenteRachid NiniTayyibSalih |
| spellingShingle | Marianna Salvioli Migrations to the North. Images of the West in Arabic Literature Between Letteratura di viaggio araba Migrazione Occidente Rachid Nini TayyibSalih |
| title | Migrations to the North. Images of the West in Arabic Literature |
| title_full | Migrations to the North. Images of the West in Arabic Literature |
| title_fullStr | Migrations to the North. Images of the West in Arabic Literature |
| title_full_unstemmed | Migrations to the North. Images of the West in Arabic Literature |
| title_short | Migrations to the North. Images of the West in Arabic Literature |
| title_sort | migrations to the north images of the west in arabic literature |
| topic | Letteratura di viaggio araba Migrazione Occidente Rachid Nini TayyibSalih |
| url | http://ojs.unica.it/index.php/between/article/view/276 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mariannasalvioli migrationstothenorthimagesofthewestinarabicliterature |