The Edinburgh Companion to the Arab Novel in English ─ The Politics of Anglo Arab and Arab American Literature and Culture

The novel is a largely imported European genre, coming relatively late to the history of Arab letters. So it is not surprising that the first Arab novel -- Ameen Rihani's The Book of Khalid, published in 1911 -- was written in English. Subsequent years saw the flourishing of, first, Arabic novels, then the Francophone Arab novel. In the last two decades, the Anglophone Arab novel has experienced a second coming: the focus of this collection. Opening up the field of diasporic Anglo-Arab literature to critical debate, this reference companion spans from the first Arab novel in 1911 right up to the present day, focusing on the resurgence of the Anglo-Arabic novel in the last 20 years. The combination of classroom-friendly essays, to guide students through the set novels on Anglo-Arab literature courses, and sophisticated critical analyses of the major Anglo-Arab novelists for advanced scholars make this the ultimate, one-stop resource.

Nouri Gana is Associate Professor in the Department of Comparative Literature at the UCLA.