ARABIC STUDIES Dr. MOHAMMAD GABER PHD

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Dr. Mohammad Gaber (PhD)

• The term literature refers to any work written in the a language.

• Most people do not know the exact meaning of literature, and they think it is just as a branch of the Language; such as Grammar, semantics, pragmatics, phonetics,

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• Literature is the art of written works. Literature means "acquaintance with letters" (from Latin littera letter).

• Academic study of literature is known as Letters ("Arts and Letters").

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1. It is anything written or printed.

2. It may be written or unwritten.

3. It is artistic interpretation of life through the medium of words.

4. It is considered to be mirrors of a culture.

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5. It is a reproduction of life, in an artistic pattern.

6. It deals with the ideas,

thoughts, and emotions of man.

7. It presents human experiences in various forms.

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8. It represents sensations, feelings, moods, attitudes, thoughts, and events in an interrelated series.

9. It is a product of a particular people, fashioned according to their own aesthetic (artistic) ideals.

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Many various reasons for studying LITERATURE, among them:

• undergo a learning experience and experience aesthetic satisfaction.

• know the reality of MAN, his behavior, attitude, his own culture, how to write the history, etc.

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• appreciate our literary heritage

• manifest our deep concern for literature

• being pleasure and enjoyment

• have therapeutic value

• discover the beauty of the artistic craftsmanship of the writer in portraying his artistic vision

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• draw out human values incorporated (included) in the great works of the various writers

• have a better insight (approaching) and understanding of human life and experience.

• to develop student's character.• to help build emotional maturity,

and equip students with new critical faculties.

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1. According to CONTENT: • FICTION = literature of knowledge,

power, imagination = appeal is imaginative thinking. For example; (Novel, Short story, Drama, Poetry)

• NON-FICTION = literature of knowledge/ utilitarian literature = appeal is reason. For instance: ( Biography, Essay (formal), Diary, Autobiography, History)

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2. According to FORM / STRUCTURE:

It is classified into: Prose and Poetry:

• PROSE = use of sentences that are made into paragraph

• POETRY = verse, line, and stanzas

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3. According to PURPOSE:

It is classified into:

• Narration,• Description, • Exposition, and • Argumentation

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• While the ARABIC language was growing in size and importance, ARABIC writers were still looking to classical* models for style.

• One of the greatest challenges for ARABIC authors was learning to balance these classical styles with the unique patterns of the ARABIC language.

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LITRARY MAJOR FORMS

Novel 

Poem  Drama

Short story

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LITRARY GENRES

• Genres (types) abound in daily life and people often work within them unconsciously (automatically); people often take for granted their prominence (status)and ever present residence in society.

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LITRARY GENRES (Cont.)• Epic  Lyric

  • Drama   Satire

• Tragedy  Comedy

• Romance Tragicomedy

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MediaPerformance (play)  Book

DiscussionCriticism 

Theory  Magazines

Debates

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Poetry• A poem is a composition written in verse

(although verse has been equally used for epic and dramatic fiction).

• Poems rely heavily on imagery, precise word choice, and metaphor.

• Circumstances dictate Poems, but neve the reverse.

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Poetry (Cont.)

• Language and tradition dictate some poetic norms: * Arab & Persian poetry always rhymes, * Greek poetry rarely rhymes, * Italian or French poetry often does, * English and German poetry can go either way.

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Prose• Prose consists of writing that does not adhere

to any particular formal structures (other than simple grammar); "non-poetic" writing, perhaps.

• Prose writing can of course take beautiful forms; but less by virtue of the formal features of words (rhymes ,meter) but rather by style, placement,

or inclusion of graphics.

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Fiction• Narrative fiction (narrative prose)

generally favors prose for the writing of novels , short stories, graphic novels

• A novel consists simply of a long story written in prose without pictures.• A graphic novels consists simply of a long story written in prose with pictures.

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Fiction (Cont.)• Examples of short stories:

Bed Time stories such as: Snow white and the Seven dwarfs.

• Examples of graphic novels: Harry Potter , Lord of the Rings

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Other prose literature• Philosophy, history, journalism, and legal

and scientific writings traditionally ranked as literature.

• They offer some of the oldest prose writings in existence; novels and prose stories earned the names "fiction" to distinguish them from factual writing or nonfiction, which writers historically have crafted in prose.

• Such as : Newton

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Drama• A play or drama offers another classical literary

form that has continued to evolve over the years. • It generally comprises chiefly dialogue between

characters, and usually aims at dramatic / theatrical performance rather than at reading.

• During the 18th and 19th centuries, opera developed as a combination of poetry, drama, and music.

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Drama (Cont.)

• Nearly all drama took verse form until comparatively recently.

• Shakespeare could be considered one of the best drama writer. One of the best of his writtings is Romeo and Juliet, which is a classic romantic drama generally accepted as literature.

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Oral literature• The term oral literature refers not to written, but to oral

traditions, which includes different types of epic, poetry and drama, ballads, legends, jokes, and other genres of folklore.

Other narrative forms• Films, videos and broadcast operas have carved out a

niche which often parallels the functionality of prose fiction.

• Graphic novels and comic books present stories told in a combination of sequential artwork, dialogue and text.

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• Arabic literature (Arabic: العربي -Al-Adab Al ,األدبArabi) is the writing produced, both prose and poetry, by writers (not-necessarily Arabs) of the Arabic language.

• It does not usually include works written using the Arabic alphabet but not in the Arabic language such as Persian literature and Urdu literature.

• Arabic literature emerged in the 6th century with only fragments of the written language appearing before then.

• It was the Qur'an in the 7th century which would have the greatest lasting effect on Arabic culture and its literature.

• Arabic literature flourished during the Islamic Golden Age and continues to the present day.

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Pre-Islamic literature• The period before the writing of the Qur'an and

the rise of Islam is known to Muslims as Jahiliyyah or period of ignorance. Whilst this ignorance refers mainly to religious ignorance.

• There was little written literature during this time, most of it was oral tradition literature . Such as :

Al -jahiliyyah poets / Pre-Islamic Poets

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Qur'an and Islam• The Qur'an had a significant influence on the

Arab language. The language used in the Qur'an is called classical Arabic.

• It contains injunctions, narratives, homilies, parables, direct addresses from God, instructions and even comments on itself on how it will be received and understood.

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Qur'an and Islam (Cont.)

• The Qur’an is admired for its layers of metaphor as well as its clarity.

• This leads to the doctrine of i'jaz or inimitability of the Qur'an which implies that nobody can copy the work's style and no one should try.

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Qur'an and Islam (Cont.)

• This may have exerted dominance over the pre-Islamic poets of the 6th century whose popularity may have vied with the Qur'an amongst the people. There were a marked lack of significant poets until the 8th century. One notable exception was Hassan ibn Thabit who wrote poems in praise of Muhammad and was known as the "prophet's poet“.

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Qur'an and Islam (Cont.)

• Aside from the Qur'an the Hadith or tradition of what Muhammed is supposed to have said and done are important literature

• Some of the most significant collections of Hadith include those by Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj and Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukhari.

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Islamic scholarship• Muhammad (the Blessings and Peace Upon Him)

also inspired the first Arabic biographies, known as: Al-Sirah Al-Nabawiyyah.

• Al-Sirah Al-Nabawiyyah was written early by Wahb ibn Munabbih, but Muhammad ibn Ishaq wrote the best known.

• Whilst covering the life of the prophet they also told of the battles and events of early Islam and have numerous digressions on older biblical traditions.

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Islamic scholarship (Cont.)

• Some of the earliest work studying the Arabic language was started in the name of Islam.

• Tradition has it that the caliph Ali, after reading a Qur'an with errors in it, asked Abu al-Aswad al-Du'ali to write a work codifying Arabic grammar.

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Arabic poetry• A large proportion of Arabic literature before the

20th century is in the form of poetry, and even prose from this period is either filled with snippets of poetry or is in the form of Sa’ja or rhymed prose.

• Sa’ja originally meant the cooing of a dove.

• An important feature of the poetry which would be applied to all of the literature was the idea that it must be pleasing to the ear.

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Non-fiction literature• A type of work closely allied to the collection

was the manual in which writers like ibn Qutaybah offered instruction in subjects like etiquette, how to rule, how to be a bureaucrat and even how to write.

Ibn Qutaybah also wrote one of the earliest histories of the Arabs, drawing together biblical stories, Arabic folk tales and more historical events.

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Fiction literature• The most famous example of Arabic fiction is the

One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights), easily the best known of all Arabic literature and which still affects many of the ideas non-Arabs have about Arabic culture.

• A good example of popular Arabic prose fiction is that the stories of Aladdin and Ali Baba .

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Romantic literature• A famous example of romantic Arabic poetry

is Layla and Majnun, dating back to the Umayyad era in the 7th century. It is a tragic story of undying love much like the later Romeo and Juliet .

• "Qays and Lubna"

• "Antara and Abla".

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Modern literature• A revival took place in Arabic literature during the

19th century along with much of Arabic culture and it is referred to in Arabic as al-Nahda (النهضة), or Renaissance.

• This resurgence of writing in Arabic was confined mainly to Egypt until the 20th century when it spread to other countries in the region.

• This Renaissance was not only felt within the Arab world but also beyond with a great interest in the translating of Arabic works into European languages.

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Modern literature (Cont.)

• Some of the best known are Taha Hussein's The Future of Culture in Egypt which was an important work of Egyptian nationalism and the works of Nawal el-Saadawi who campaigns for women's rights.

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• The works of Naguib Mahfuz depict life in Cairo, and his Cairo Trilogy, describing the struggles of a modern Cairene family across three generations, won him a Nobel prize for literature in 1988.

• He was the first Arabic writer to win the prize.

Modern literature

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Modern plays• The most important Arab

playwright was Tawfiq al-Hakim whose first play was a re-telling of the Qur'anic story of the Seven sleepers and the second an epilogue for the Thousand and One Nights.

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Women in Arabic literature• Modern Arabic literature has allowed a greater number of

female writers' works to be published: a. May Ziade, b. Fadwa Touqan, c. Suhayr al-Qalamawi, d. Ulfat Idlibi, e. Layla Ba'albakki , f. Zuhrabi Mattummal , g. Hoda Barakat and h. Alifa Rifaat. They are just some of the novelists and short story writers.

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• There has also be a number of significant

female academics such as Zaynab al-Ghazali,

Nawal el-Saadawi and Fatema Mernissi who

amongst other subject wrote of the place of

women in Muslim society.

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Write in your own words, what is literature ?

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I. MainI. Main Differences Differences between English & between English & Arabic language:Arabic language:

• Two different languages. Two different languages.

• Having different alphabets. Having different alphabets. - English has - English has 2626 letters. letters.

- Arabic has - Arabic has 2828 letters letters

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• (Some people say that there are (Some people say that there are 2929 letters in Arabic, and the letters in Arabic, and the letter letter Hamaza Hamaza has more forms than others). has more forms than others).

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• Different in letter shape.Different in letter shape.

• Writing & reading directions:Writing & reading directions:

1.1. English is written / read from English is written / read from leftleft to right. to right.

2.2. Arabic is written/read from Arabic is written/read from rightright to left. to left.

• English has both capital and lower case letters but there are no lower or upper English has both capital and lower case letters but there are no lower or upper case letters in Arabic.case letters in Arabic.

• Arabic is written in cursive.Arabic is written in cursive.

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• ARABIC Letter form changes ARABIC Letter form changes according to its position in the word:according to its position in the word:- when occurring alone.- when occurring alone.- At the beginning.- At the beginning.- In the Middle.- In the Middle.- At the end.- At the end.

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• Some Arabic letters / sounds are not found in English:Some Arabic letters / sounds are not found in English:

Arabic letters Pronunciation in English

ح H’aaخ Kh’aص S’aadض Daadط Ta’aظ Tha’aع aynغ Ghaynق Qaaf

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Arabic letters that have no matches in English letters

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• English letters that have no matches in Arabic letters

P V X

• Sentence structure: Sentence structure: Arabic sentence may not contain a verb, while English Arabic sentence may not contain a verb, while English follows the word order in structure; follows the word order in structure;

the usual word order in English is the usual word order in English is SSVVOO ((subjectsubject, , verbverb, then , then objectobject), while the usual word order in Arabic is ), while the usual word order in Arabic is VVSSOO. . Example: Example: English: English: Amal Amal eatseats AppleApple

Arabic:Arabic: التفاحةالتفاحة أملأمل تأكلتأكل

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• Most words in Arabic have different forms for male / female Most words in Arabic have different forms for male / female and singular/plural.and singular/plural.

• Differentiates between male and female in pronouns, verbs, Differentiates between male and female in pronouns, verbs,

words, and sentence structure. Pronouns like "they" and words, and sentence structure. Pronouns like "they" and "you" have specifications for male and female, singular and "you" have specifications for male and female, singular and plural. plural. Example of Pronouns :Example of Pronouns :

TheyThey : Male : Male FemaleFemale

YouYou : Male : Male FemaleFemale

In Arabic

In Arabic

In Arabic

In Arabic

Hom هم

Hon هن

Anta أنت

Anti أنت

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• The Arabic grammar structure is very complex, but The Arabic grammar structure is very complex, but systematic and contains few exceptions. When being systematic and contains few exceptions. When being spelled, it's almost always written as you hear it, but in spelled, it's almost always written as you hear it, but in English, hearing what you think is spelled "neybur" is English, hearing what you think is spelled "neybur" is spelled: neighbor. There aren't really any silent letters spelled: neighbor. There aren't really any silent letters except in few rare cases.except in few rare cases.

• Arabic has diacritics ( Arabic has diacritics ( ُ ِ َُ ِ َ ) but English doesn't ) but English doesn't contain diacritics.contain diacritics.

,, means ( o , u ) means ( o , u ) means ( a )means ( a ) means ( e , i )means ( e , i )

DiacriticsDiacritics In English, pronounced like Arabic pronunciation Position

DammahFatthahKasrah

TopTopBottom

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• Arabic numbers are originally borrowed from India, but Arabic numbers are originally borrowed from India, but they are still used its original set of numbers as well, while they are still used its original set of numbers as well, while the English numbers are borrowed from Arabic originally, the English numbers are borrowed from Arabic originally, i.e. 1, 2, 3...), meanwhile the Latin numbers are borrowed to i.e. 1, 2, 3...), meanwhile the Latin numbers are borrowed to be used in English, which are: I, II, III, IV, V, etc. in be used in English, which are: I, II, III, IV, V, etc. in addition to those used of Arabic origin.addition to those used of Arabic origin.

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II. Main II. Main similarities similarities between Arabic between Arabic language & English language.language & English language.

1. Both in English and in Arabic, the headword of a noun phrase can be a noun, a pronoun (including an indefinite pronoun), or a demonstrative. 

• Nouns :• Head: Nouns: typically refer to entities: bird/stone • Pronouns: • personal: I, you, she, he, it, we, you, they• demonstrative: this, that• possessive: my, your, her, his, its, our, their;

mine, yours, ours,...• reflexive: myself, yourself, herself,..., oneself• interrogative: what, which, who, whom, whose,

indefinite (“nominal”): somebody, something 

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2.  Both in English and in Arabic, suffixes can be used for the formation of the plural variant of a word. 

• For example in English ( boy will change to boys )3.  Both in English and Arabic, the locative adverbs,

such as here and there in English, and huna ‘here’ and hunak ‘there’ in Arabic can follow the headword of a noun phrase.

• For example the Noun phrase: a new book 4.  Both in English and in Arabic, there are items,

which can be used before the headword in the structure of the noun phrase.

• Head: noun• a book• The book• This book

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5. Both in English and in Arabic, there are gradable and non-gradable adjectives to be used in the noun phrase. 

An example from English: rich, richer, richest, and from Arabic: ghani

‘rich’, aghna ‘richer’, and al-aghna ‘the richest’.

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• Write down three points of the differences between the Arabic language and English language.

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Thankful Words

This power point presentation was

designed by:

Prof. Shatha

I thank her very much for her great efforts.

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