Arab Voices in Western Writing: The Politics of the Arabic Novel in English and the Anglophone Arab Novel

Abstract

This article discusses the problems faced by Arab writers who wish to have their work taken up by Western publishing houses. It starts out from the assumption that, in the main, the latter demand reproduction of a specific repertoire of representations and images of Arabs. Arab authors – whether their writings are translated from Arabic or inscribed directly in western languages – have the option of acculturating to these requirements or run the risk of not getting into print. The article tests claims often made for Anglophone Arab novels that they are a form of postcolonial writing with both the potential and the achievement of circumventing translational bias and undermining stereotyping of Arabs and Islam.