The Modern Literary (After)lives of al-Khiḍr. Issue 3 (October 2014)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- The Modern Literary (After)lives of al-Khiḍr. Issue 3 (October 2014)
- Main Title:
- The Modern Literary (After)lives of al-Khiḍr
- Authors:
- Toorawa, Shawkat M.
- 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>
- Is Part Of:
- Journal of Qur'anic studies. Volume 16:Issue 3(2014)
- Journal:
- Journal of Qur'anic studies
- Issue:
- Volume 16:Issue 3(2014)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 16, Issue 3 (2014)
- Year:
- 2014
- Volume:
- 16
- Issue:
- 3
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2014-0016-0003-0000
- Page Start:
- 174
- Page End:
- 195
- Publication Date:
- 2014-10
- Subjects:
- 297.1226
- Journal URLs:
- http://www.eupjournals.com/journal/jqs ↗
http://www.euppublishing.com/journals ↗ - DOI:
- 10.3366/jqs.2014.0172 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 1465-3591
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - BLDSS-3PM
British Library HMNTS - ELD Digital store - Ingest File:
- 4035.xml