Edward Al-Kharrat, a Pioneer of Innovative Narrative Prose Writing: Beginnings
This study deals with the short stories of Edward al-Kharrat (b. 1926) during the early stages of his writing career, which officially began at the end of the 1950s. The article will deal with the atmosphere, the contents and the novel aspects of his writing as reflected in his first three story col...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Pluto Journals
2013-09-01
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| Series: | Arab Studies Quarterly |
| Online Access: | https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.13169/arabstudquar.35.4.0378 |
| Summary: | This study deals with the short stories of Edward al-Kharrat (b. 1926) during the early stages of
his writing career, which officially began at the end of the 1950s. The article will deal with the
atmosphere, the contents and the novel aspects of his writing as reflected in his first three story
collections, Hitan aliya (High Walls , 1959), Saat al-kibriyaa (Hours of
Pride , 1972) and Mahattat al-sikka al-hadeed ( The Train
Station , 1955–84), against the background of the changes that were taking place in
the Arab world at the time, as well as changes that occurred in the concepts and functions of
literature and in the strategies of narration. In his move away from traditional narratives that were represented at that time by the novelist
Naguib Mahfouz (1911–2006), al-Kharrat's stories tended more and more to delve into the
depths of the soul and to focus on existentialist and metaphysical issues, and, as a result, he was
forced into changing his storytelling strategies and reducing external narratives in favor of
introspection, dreams and imagination, as well as using language that relied on metaphor and
attained a nearly poetic character. All these elements together contributed to convulsing
“reality,” which in al-Kharrat's writings became different, discontinuous and
unclear. |
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| ISSN: | 0271-3519 2043-6920 |