- Dalāl Khalīfah (?, Qatar) – Min al-Baḥḥār al-Qadīm Ilayk (‘From the ancient mariner to you’, 1995). Originally published without the author’s name, this novel tells of the daily life of a sailor at sea (reference). It consists of an exchange of letters between the sailor and his friend on the land, in which the former contemplates life, identity, morals, and existence in general (reference). The ship and events are a symbol of life and the nation. The novel was inspired by a Prophetic Ḥadīth (reference).
- Ṣāliḥ Mursī (1929 – 1996, Egypt) – Zuqāq al-Sayyid al-Bulṭī (‘Mr. Bulti’s alley’, 1963). This novel is set in a fishermen’s neighborhood in Alexandria and depicts the way the fishermen’s livelihood is threatened by the introduction of modern fishing methods (reference). The novel also looks at the geopolitical position of the Alexandrian port.
- Ṭālib al-Rafāʿī (1958-, Kuwait) – al-Najdī (‘al-Najdi’, 2017). Focus of this novel is one of the most famous Kuwaiti captains: Alī Naṣṣir al-Najdī, whose life it traces from his birth in 1907 until his death in 1979. Through al-Najdī’s adventures, the novel also sheds light on the history of Kuwait and of sailors in the Gulf. The narration, however, is only set in the last 12 hours of the hero and his colleague’s life as they face a dangerous storm, showing how the sea can be a source of life and joy, but also death.
- Hājir Quwaydrī (?, Algeria) – al-Rāyyis (‘Raïs’, 2015). This historical novel is set between 1791 and 1815 and portrays several characters who each tell a part of the story of the Algerian privateer Raïs Ḥamīdū, who eventually became admiral of a war fleet, through which the novel depicts the social and political life in Algeria during the rule of the Ottomans and the intrigues and conspiracies that were hatched between the Turkish rulers and their struggle for power (reference) (also in 1800 – 1920: Ottoman Period).
Refrences:
In order of appearance
- Su’ad al-Mana. 2008. “The Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf”, in Arab Women Writers: A Critical Reference Guide 1873-1999, eds Radwa Ashour, Ferial J. Ghazoul, Hasna Reda-Mekdashi, translated by Mandy McClure. The American University in Cairo Press: Cairo, pp 254-282, p. 273
- Murād ʿAbd al-Raḥman Mabrūk. 2018. “‘Al-Sirālah’ wa al-Tashkīl al-Tībūjrāfī fī al-Riwāyah al-Qaṭariyyah (min al-Biḥār al-Qadīm Ilayk Namūthijān)”. Kuliyat al-Ādāb wa al-ʿUlūm 2(2): 15-34, p. 20
- Su’ad al-Mana. 2008. “The Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf”, in Arab Women Writers: A Critical Reference Guide 1873-1999, eds Radwa Ashour, Ferial J. Ghazoul, Hasna Reda-Mekdashi, translated by Mandy McClure. The American University in Cairo Press: Cairo, pp 254-282, p. 273
- Hilary Kilpatrick. 1992. “The Egyptian novel from Zaynab to 1980.” In Modern Arabic Literature. eds. Muhammad Mustafa Badawi. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 223-270, p. 253
- Fayiz ʿAlām. 2016. “Riwāyat ‘al-Rāyyis’: Takhayyalū al-Jazāʾir fī Zaman al-al-ʿUthmāniyīn,” www.raseef22.net, 23 March 2016. https://raseef22.net/article/52339-%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%B3-%D8%AA%D8%AE%D9%8A%D9%91%D9%84%D9%88%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%B1-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%B2%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7 (last accessed 13 June 2021)