Commission on Higher Education

Asbury College Inc.

College of Education
Anda, Pangasinan

DISCUSSION PAPER

Presented by: Alfredo Asoilan Presented to: DR. Sherilyn E. Nuesca

Professor

ANCIENT MIDDLE EAST

LITERARY BACKGROUND

I. OBJECTIVES

At the end of the discussion, the students will able to:

 To discuss different literary works of Ancient Middle Eastern.
 To seek core values from the given literary works of Middle Eastern writers.
 To add information about the contribution of Middle eastern literature

II. INTRODUCTION

In this topic, we will tackle about the overview of some literary works of Middle Eastern
writers who have contributed in the world of literature. These writers have a greatest influence in
Arab cultures which strengthen the Islamic literatures. The variety of stories and genres made by
the writers show the intellectual ability and creativity of Arabian people.
You will encounter different writers from different places which also part of Middle East.
III. DEFINITION OF TERMS

a. Middle East – is the common term for a region consisting of countries in southwest
Asia and, usually, at least part of North Africa. It is an interesting term – middle of
what? east of what? While the term is now widespread both inside and outside the
region, it is in fact relatively new. It was coined only at the end of the nineteenth
century by the British Foreign Service, and used in a 1902 article by a United States
naval officer.

https://teachmideast.org/articles/what-is-the-middle-east/
 b. Middle Eastern Literatures – is a forum for the academic study of all Middle
Eastern Literatures from Late Antiquity until the present. We publish critical
studies and translations of literature and other cultural works encoded in language
(such as films, songs, graphic novels, memoirs, etc.).

https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?
show=aimsScope&journalCode=came20#:~:text=Middle%20Eastern%20Literatures
%20is%20a,%2C%20memoirs%2C%20etc.).

IV. DISCUSSION

What is the literature of Middle East?

 Twenty-first-century Middle Eastern are

• Arabic,

• Persian

• Turkish

Which literature encompasses a rich variety of genres, whose maturation has profited
from internal and external influences upon this literature over the past fourteen centuries?

What are the common literary themes of Middle East?

Literary themes of Middle Eastern include:

(According to Daniel Vitkus)
 family life,
 Islam and women,
 the impact of war,
 education,
 wealth and poverty,
 class and ethnic differences,
 the relation of East and West

 Pre-Islamic Arabic literature is characterized bythe mua'allaqat (ca. mid 500s–early

600s ce), a collection of poems from the Arabian Peninsula renowned for their beauty.

 These poems are odes to the sorrows of lost love, using such tropes as abandoned
campsites to evoke memories of a beloved.
 The Imru al-Qays (c. mid-500s), perhaps best known, begins: "Come; let us cry from the
remembrance of a love and a home." Although poetic themes have changed over the
centuries, the ode (qasida) has enjoyed continuing popularity through twentieth century.

 Abbasid (750–1258)

Poetry remained the dominant literary form during the "classical" with romantic praise of
a beloved, whether male or female, the most common theme. A folk literature also
emerged, involving heroic or adventure narratives. 

A Thousand and One Nights is the most renowned example. This collection of stories, of
which"Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" and "Aladdin" are perhaps the best known to
Western readers, began to take shape around the year 1000.

 The Ottoman Empire aided the development of Arabic literature by, like the earlier
Islamic empires serving as a bridge joining peoples and cultures across its great
geographic expanse.

 Napoléon Bonaparte's (1769–1821) invasion of Egypt. In 1798, often described as the

beginning of the modern era, also marked the shift from domestic to external literary
traditions as dominant influences on Middle literature.

Muhammad Hussein Heykal's (1890–1956)

 The reputed "first" Middle Eastern novel,Zaynab,was published in 1913 and was
followed by numerous novels published in Ottoman Turkish and Arabic.

Modern Arabic literature

 the short story, also emerged in this period.

 drawing upon the hakawati (story-telling) tradition in folk literature,

 Auto bio-graphic literature, which blended element of the tarjuma (a type of formalized

curriculum vitae used to summarize the life achievements of eminent men)

  the literary inheritance of the sira (the narrative of the life of the Prophet Muhammad)

A list of modern Middle Eastern literature must begin with the Egyptian author:

 Naguib Mahfouz (Najib Mahfudh, b. 1911), who has exercised a peerless influence

over twentieth-century Arabic Literature. His best-known works include the Cairo
(Palace Walk, Palace of Desire, Sugar Street), published from 1956 to 1957,
and Children of the Alley (1959).
  Jordanian Abdelrahman (Abd al-Rahman) Munif (1933–2004), who’s Cities of
Salt (1984) an epic portrayal of the changes brought to a desert community by the advent
of oil drilling there, was rewarded for its authenticity with bans in several countries.

 Ghassan Kanafani (1936–1972) 

The Palestinian short-story author who wrote a number of pieces that demonstrates the
richness of the genre, of which "Men in the Sun" (1963) is the most widely known.

 Nawal el Saadawi (b. 1930)

The Egyptian author who is best known in the United States for her activist writing on the
oppression of women in the Arab world; within the region she is also known as a novelist, whose
works, including Woman at Point Zero (1975), often treat similar themes.

 Hanan al-Shaykh (b. 1945) and Ghada Samaan (b. 1942)

Lebanese novelists who were also often described as concerned with women's experiences,
particularly during the Lebanese civil war.

 Mahmud Darwish (b. 1942)

Who remains one of the most active voices in contemporary Arabic poetry; Memory for
Forgetfulness (1982) is perhaps his most famous diwan (collection of poetry)

 Nizar Qabbani (1923–1998)

Has known for his often frosty relations with his own and other state governments, wrote
political poetry in the guise of romance and quasi-erotic pieces.

Other writers are:

 Taha Hussein's (1889–1973)- The Days (1929–1955)

 Fatima Mernissi's (b. 1940) -Dreams of Trespass (1994)

 Halide Edib Adivar [1884–1964] - House with Wisteria, was published in the mid-
1900s.)

 Fadwa Tuqan (1917–2003) -A Mountainous Journey, 1985)

  Siham Tergeman - (Daughter of Damascus, 1994)

V. CONCLUSION

To generate this topic, Middle Eastern are only Persian, Turkish and Arabic until
other exist. According to Daniel Viktus that Middle East literary themes focusing on
family life, Islam and women, the impact of war, education, wealth and poverty, class
and ethnic differences, the relation of East and West. Furthermore, mua’aalqat is the
collection of Arabian Peninsula renowned for their beauty while Imru al- qays is poetic
theme over centuries. One of the writers who is very well-known is Abbasid , the author
of A Thousand and One nights which is covered the story of Alladin and Ali Baba and

the forty thieves. Other writers are Muhammad Hussein Heykal's, Naguib Mahfouz,

Jordanian Abdelrahman, Ghassan Kanafani, Nawal el Saadawi, Hanan al-Shaykh,

Mahmud Darwish, Nizar Qabbani, Halide Edib Adivar, Fadwa Tuqan, Siham
Tergeman, and Leila Abouzeid

VI. INSIGHTS

Middle Eastern has unique literature which focuses on different stories and genres
which never affect the Islamic beliefs and cultures of Arab country. It shows that behind
of each stories there are core values that may learned. I believe that this Middle Eastern
literature is always connected on Islamic beliefs which are the best opportunity to send
the message to the readers.

VIII. REFERENCE

https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/
literature-middle-eastern

https://homepages.wmich.edu/~acareywe/WebbMiddleEast.pdf