- Murtaḍā Kzār (1982-, Kuwait / Iraq) – al-Sayyid Aṣghar Akbar (‘Mr. Asghar Akbar’, 2012). This novel centers three generations of family genealogists from the Shia shrine city of Najaf in south-central Iraq from 1871-2005 (reference). It tells the story of three spinsters, grandchildren of Mr. Aṣghar Akbar, who are investigating their grandfathers story, starting from the basement of the old family house he is documented to be buried in (reference). It that basement, the sisters find old photographs and documents that bring them closer to their own family’s past, including their grandfather’s career as a genealogist, and, with it, that of the city of Najaf and its inhabitants (reference) (also in F: Children and Family Life: Genealogies and inter-generational stories).
- Ṭālib al-Rafāʿī (1958-, Kuwait) – Fī al-Hunnā (‘Here’, 2014). The Kuwaiti Shia female protagonist of this novel, Kawthar, falls in love with a married Sunni man. The novel describes their relationship as it develops from Kawthar’s point of view as she, because of it, becomes increasingly isolated from society (reference). Is also sheds light on sectarian divides in Kuwait more generally.
- ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sharqāwī’s (1920 – 1987, Egypt) play’s al-Ḥusayn, Thāʾiran (‘al- Husayn, a revolutionary’, 1969) and its sequel al-Ḥusayn, Shahīdan (‘Al-Husayn, a martyr’, 1969). al-Ḥusayn, the grandson of the prophet, is a righteous young man determined to serve God and the prophet. When his adversary the Caliph Muʿāwiyah forces his people to accept his son Yazīd as his successor, al-Ḥusayn resorts to violence even though he knows he will be defeated. al-Sharqāwī portrays al-Ḥusayn as a tragic hero in this reenactment of the Islamic tragedy, influenced by the 1967 defeat (reference) (also in H: Historical novels: Umayyad period (661 – 750 CE)).
Refrences:
In order of appearance
- Yasmeen Hanoosh. 2013. “Unnatural Narratives and Transgressing the Normative Discourses of Iraqi History: Translating MurtaḍāGzār’s Al-Sayyid Aṣghar Akbar.” JAL 44: 145-180
- Mithāq Ḥassan ʿAṭār al-Rikābī. 2018. “Markazat al-Hāmish fī Riwāyat al-Sayyid Aṣghar Akbar li-Murtaḍā Kzār.” Majalat Awrūk li-l-ʿUlūm al-Insāniyyah 12(1): 157-168, p. 160, 161
- Zuhūr Karām. 2015. “Min Riwāyah ilā al-Takhayyul al-Thātī. Al-Ghayrī ‘Fī al-Hunā’ lil-Kuwaytī Ṭālib al-Rifāʿī.” www.alquds.co.uk, 13 April 2015, https://www.alquds.co.uk/%EF%BB%BF-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A5%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%AE%D9%8A%D9%8A%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B0%D8%A7%D8%AA%D9%8A-%D9%80-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%BA%D9%8A/ (last accessed 25 November 2023)