The Modern Literary (After)lives of al-Khiḍr. Issue 3 (October 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Toorawa, Shawkat M.
• Is Part Of: Journal of Qur'anic studies. Volume 16:Issue 3(2014)
• Page Start: 174
• Page End: 195
• Publication Date: 2014-10
• Subjects: 297.1226
• DOI: 10.3366/jqs.2014.0172
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1465-3591

Abstract

<abstract xml:lang="en"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <p>Prominent examples of major Qur'anic characters in modern world literature include Joseph (and Zulaykha) -like characters in the 1984 Arabic novel, <italic>al-Rahīna</italic> (<italic>The Hostage</italic>) by the Yemeni writer Zayd Muṭīʿ Dammāj (d. 2000) and the fictionalised portrayal of the women around the Prophet Muḥammad in Algerian filmmaker and novelist Assia Djebar's 1991 French novel, <italic>Loin de Médine</italic> (<italic>Far from Medina</italic>). In this article I focus, rather, on a 'minor' Qur'anic character, al-Khiḍr (cf. Q. 18:65–82). I begin by looking briefly at the evolution of al-Khiḍr in Islamic literatures generally and then focus on his deployment in several short fictional accounts, viz. the 1995 French novella <italic>L'homme du livre</italic> (<italic>Muhammad, A Novel</italic>) by Moroccan author Driss Chraïbi (d. 2007); Victor Pelevin's 1994 Russian short story, 'Prints Gosplana' (<italic>Prince of Gosplan</italic>); the 1998 short story, 'The Mapmakers of Spitalfields', by Bangladeshi-British writer Manzu Islam; and Reza Daneshvar's 2004 Persian tale, 'Mahboobeh va-Āl' ('Mahboobeh and Ahl'). I characterise the ways in which these modern authors draw on the al-Khiḍr type, persona, and legend, and go on to suggest how and why the use of al-Khiḍr in modern literature is productive and versatile.</p> </abstract>