- Ismāʾīl Ghazālī (1977-, Morocco) – Qiṭṭat Madīnah al-Arkhibīl (‘The cat of Archipel town’, 2020). Story of this novel takes place in the Moroccan city of Essaouira, albeit in a strange and imaginary form. Cats, in the novel, form the memory of the city, and show the reader the magical and at times dystopic underground world of the city with all its strangeness, wonders, and poverty (reference) (also in L: Cultural and Literary Heritage: Folktales).
- Yūsuf Idrīs’ (1927 – 1991, Egypt) short story collection Al-ʿAtab ʿalā al-Naẓar (‘The eyes can’t see’, 1987). In the title story of this collection, the main protagonist, the peasant Ḥasan, goes to the village doctor asking for a pair of glasses for his donkey, as he fears his donkey has gone blind. After an initial refusal, the doctor agrees to help Ḥasan, who comes up with the plan to place a female donkey in front of his donkey, assuming that if the glasses work, his donkey will mount the other donkey (reference). Following the successful implementation of the plan, Idrīs comically ends the story by having Ḥasan ask the doctor for a pair of glasses for himself, drawing a parallel between animal and human sexual desire (reference).
- Ibrāhīm Kūnī (1948-, Libya) – Anūbis (2002, English trans. Anubis: A Desert Novel, 2005). The young Tuareg boy Anūbī grows up not knowing who his father is and embarks on a quest through the desert looking for him. As he dwells through the Sahara, he encounters strange animal creatures, some of which become his mother / father. The author relays a version of the founding myth of the Tuareg said to be that of a divine human-jackal ancestor similarly named Anūbī, who resembles the Ancient Egyptian god Anubis (reference). The boy’s quest for his father leads him to discover his ancestry more broadly, as he collects stories, encounters, and experiences.
- Aḥmad al-Madīnī (1947-, Morocco) – Mamarr al-Ṣafṣāf (‘Willow alley’, 2014). This novel is about the struggle of the poor residents of a building in a traditional Moroccan town against Mukhzār, who, representing the security and intelligence services, wants to tear it down to build a mosque. The residents are forced out and harassed. The novel is narrated by a dog, Jāk, the most ‘human’ friend of one of the building’s residents. It criticizes phony religion that leads to building mosques, as this assures a place in heaven, rather than providing for the basic needs of the poor (reference) (also in G: Dysfunctional Governance: Government (bureaucracy) and the individual).
- Muḥammad al-Makhzajī’s (1950-, Egypt) short story collection Ḥaywānāt Ayāmnā (‘Animals of our Day’, 2007) uses animal voices to comment on political and social oppression. Each story tells of one anima One story, ‘al-Khuyūl’, tells of horses living on an island full of landmines remaining from the war. The horses on the island know their way between the landmines, and their every movement is calculated as to not to explode. This restriction to their freedom makes them depressed, some so badly that they jump into the see and drown (reference). Another story, ‘Al-Ghizlān’, is a reflection on the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq and its goal of ‘bringing democracy’, through the story of a deer (also in L: Cultural and Literary Heritage: Folktales).
- Saʿadallah Wannūs (1941 – 1997, Syria) – ʿAn al-Dhākirah wa al-Mawt (‘On memory and death’, 1996). This literary work consists out of several short texts reflecting on illness, life, and death. They include a theatre play titled Bilād Aḍyaq min al-Ḥubb (‘A country narrower than love’), a text written in the form of a diary titled Dhākirat al-Nubuʾāt (‘Memories of the prophecies’) (see in D: Disabilities, Illness, and Disorders: Illnesses: Cancer), and a piece titled Riḥlah fī Majāhil Mawt ʿĀbir (‘Journey into the unknown of fleeting death’). The work is a diary, reflection, parody, drama, play, and methodology all at once, and the motif appearing in all parts is: flies (reference). Wannūs reflects on the daily experiences of flies and their relation towards humans, such as comparing a day in the life of humans, to the life of a fly which is lasts a day (also in D: Death: Death).
Refrences:
In order of appearance
- Ashraf al-Ḥasānī. 2022. “al-Riwāʾī al-Maghrebī Ismāʾīl Ghazālī: Naṣṣī Yurāhin ʿalā al-Makān li-Yuḥariruhu min Waṭʾah al-ʾĀdī wa al-Maʾlūf”, www.aljazeera.net, 4 April 2022 https://www.aljazeera.net/news/cultureandart/2022/4/10/الروائي-المغربي-إسماعيل-غزالي-نصي (last accessed 7 July 2022)
- Frédérick Lagrange. 2016. “Le désir de la langue chez Yūsuf Idrīs” in La Littérature Arabe Dialectale: Un Partimoine Vivant, eds. Sobhi Boustani and Marie-Aimée Germanos, Karthala: Paris, pp. 29-73,. p. 59, 60
- Susan Mchugh. 2012. “Hybrid Species and Literatures: Ibrahim al-Koni’s ‘Composite Apparition’.” Comparative Critical Studies 9(3): 285-302, p. 289, 290
- FayyizʿAlām. 2016. “Murājiʿah li-Riwāyat ‘Mamar al-Ṣafṣāf’.” www.raseef22.net, 27 May 2016 https://raseef22.net/article/7558-book-review-mamar-al-safsaf (last accessed 26 October 2021)
- Muḥammad Abū al-Saʿūd. 2022. Maʿayā Kutub – Ḥaywānāt Ayāmnā – Qiṣaṣ. YouTube, 27 July 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30LtjeRjlJA&t=826s (last accessed 7 August 2022)
- Yazin al-Ḥājj. 2020. “Saʿadallah Wannūs… Thākirat Aqwā min al-Mawt.” www.al-akhbar.com, 16 May 2020, https://al-akhbar.com/Kalimat/288701 (last accessed 6 October 2021)