United Arab Emirates / All works
Short stories
الخشبة
Not translated into English
Abdallah Saqr · 1974
Synopsis
The collection brings together stories of revolt and self-discovery, which question the situation of the Arab world of their time; the author says they were born of the events in the region. These narratives, which Tijani places among allegorical or mythical stories, seek individual freedom and justice, through devices that the critic Abdulfattah Sabri describes as fragmentation, circular narration and the building of scenes in time.
Context
According to Olatunbosun Ishaq Tijani, a first printing failed in the 1970s: its content, hostile to the British colonial authorities, led to the copies being burned shortly after they appeared, and the book came out again in Dubai; a fourth edition dates from 1999. Other sources say it was badly received for its progressive views. It is regarded as the first collection of short stories in Emirati literature, and Sabri sees in it the birth of a current of revolt, earlier than the works of Nasser Jibran.
Who it is for
For reading the first steps of the short story in the Emirates, in an early collection marked by revolt.
Prizes and reception
Abdulfattah Sabri sees Abdallah Saqr as the pioneer, perhaps the founder, of the Emirati short story.
Sources for this page 3
The pages consulted to check this page.