Abstract
The focus of this paper is Arabic detective fiction, which began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, thanks to the broad-scope enterprise of translations, and the subsequent development of an authentic Arabic detective literature in the early 1960s. This paper traces diachronically the emergence of this popular genre at an entirely non-canonical level, in Egypt in particular, and examines its thematic characteristics. The paper also examines the causes of the lack of canonical detective literature until the early 1980s. It argues that Arabic detective literature, canonical and non-canonical alike, is a true reflection of the power relations and the social, political and cultural struggles in the Arab world. It further claims that Arabic detective literature is one of the most important literary strata in modern Arab literature, through which we can clearly discern changes in values and esthetics in modern Arab society, and examine the relations between money and ruling power in Egypt as a mirror of the entire Arab world and the connection between literature, preservation and the undermining of Arab law and social order.Key words: Non-canonical Arabic detective writing, Arabic popular literature, Detective fiction, Crime fiction.
Highlights
In light of the above, this paper proves that Arabic detective literature in its noncanonical format adopts the first principle, i.e., inclusion
The most famous character in detective fiction was that of the charming Arsène Lupin, created by French author Maurice Leblanc (1864-1941), so much so that Majdī Yūsuf, one of the few scholars to review the translations of this genre, said: Hardly any Arab intellectual began his journey without reading the detective stories of Arsène Lupin, which gave the translations of these novels a high status that only
The Arab world in general, occurred in 1984 when Al-Muassasa al-ʿArabiyya alḤadītha (The Modern Arabic Institute) 29 began publishing a variety of series dealing with science fiction, detective science-fiction, detective adventure stories and other series[30] that became tremendously successful and urged/encouraged the publishers to put out more new series with many nuances and innovations.[31]
Summary
The writing of non-canonical modern Arabic detective fiction went through two phases: translations from Western crime fiction, and original Arabic works. 2.1 Stage 1 – Translation as a first encounter—the origins The first encounter of Arabic literature with written detective literature, and more precisely, with the genre of detective narrative, came through translation, as was the case with other non-canonical genres such as science fiction. On this point Snir writes: “Like canonical literature, sub-canonical translated literature constitutes a channel of contact with other literatures and is a source, albeit an indirect one, of changes to the poetics of Arabic literature.”[6] This is the reason why Egyptian and other Arab writers, from Tawfīq al-Ḥakīm toṢunallāhIbrāhīm, remember to have read in their childhood and adolescence cheap editions of Arsène Lupin, Edmond Dantes, Sherlock Holmes and Rocambole.[7]. The most famous character in detective fiction was that of the charming Arsène Lupin, created by French author Maurice Leblanc (1864-1941), so much so that Majdī Yūsuf, one of the few scholars to review the translations of this genre, said: Hardly any Arab intellectual began his journey without reading the detective stories of Arsène Lupin, which gave the translations of these novels a high status that only
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