“Voyage to Tomorrow”: Modern Arabic Science Fiction

Akhmedov Rafael Sharifovich

doi:10.11648/j.allc.20180303.13

Abstract

This paper is aimed to analyse time and space as the prominent themes of modern Arabic science fiction on the example of the novel “Voyage to Tomorrow” by Tawfiq al-Hakim. In this research a combination of two research methods - documentary analysis and literature review - was used. Documentary analysis involves obtaining data from about ten scientific articles and theses. Documentary analysis was used to obtain general data about the subject of the research. Results of the research make it obvious that time travel is one of the most contagious ideas in science fiction. In modern society where time is a unit of value and instant gratification is prized, the idea of traveling through time appears more than ever in books, movies, and pop culture. Arabic science fiction writers try to incorporate the latest theories about the nature of the universe to give their stories greater realism. A pioneering figure of modern Arabic science fiction, Tawfiq al-Hakim, is the focus of attention in the paper because of his evolutionary and panoramic view of history and time in his novel “Voyage to Tomorrow”. Qualitative methods, documentary and literary analyses used in the research allowed the author to come to the conclusion that the ideas of the novel approach nature as transformational, rather than static and unchanging, and time as directional, rather than cyclic. The paper also shows how different traditions were combined in the “Voyage to Tomorrow” reflecting peculiarities of modern Arabic science fiction.

Highlights

The history of science fiction genre in the Arab world is still fraught with disagreements and discrepancies with respect to its origins, significant contribution to almost all forms of science fiction was made by such prolific writers as Zakariya al-Qazwini, Ibn al-Nafis, Youssef Ezeddin Eassa, Mustafa Mahmud, Tawfiq al-Hakim, Nabil Farouq, Ahmad Suwailem, Nihad Sharif, Mohammed Aziz al-Habbabi, Omayma Khafaji, Muhammad al-Ashry, Kassem Kassem, Taleb Omaran, Kassem al-Khattat, Abdallah Khalifa, Tiba Ahmad al-Ibrahim, Lina al-Kailani, Sulaiman Mohammed alKhalil, Ashraf Faqih and others
Tradition of Egyptian science fiction is based on the process of popularizing science, outlining a dystopian future (Youssef Ezeddin Eassa) [4] or discovering new physical laws (Mustafa Mahmud). [5]
As Arab literature is so much focused on classical themes, modern Arabic science fiction seems to be a genre with a philosophical belief in the tenacity of humanity and the potential of the mind

Summary

Introduction

The history of science fiction genre in the Arab world is still fraught with disagreements and discrepancies with respect to its origins, significant contribution to almost all forms of science fiction was made by such prolific writers as Zakariya al-Qazwini, Ibn al-Nafis, Youssef Ezeddin Eassa, Mustafa Mahmud, Tawfiq al-Hakim, Nabil Farouq, Ahmad Suwailem, Nihad Sharif, Mohammed Aziz al-Habbabi, Omayma Khafaji, Muhammad al-Ashry, Kassem Kassem, Taleb Omaran, Kassem al-Khattat, Abdallah Khalifa, Tiba Ahmad al-Ibrahim, Lina al-Kailani, Sulaiman Mohammed alKhalil, Ashraf Faqih and others. [1] in the Arab world, science fiction flourished later (6th-12th c.) and took the form of travel writings, or cosmographical treatises that earnestly engaged with the extraordinary and the occult. Tradition of Egyptian science fiction is based on the process of popularizing science, outlining a dystopian future (Youssef Ezeddin Eassa) [4] or discovering new physical laws (Mustafa Mahmud). Tradition of Egyptian science fiction is based on the process of popularizing science, outlining a dystopian future (Youssef Ezeddin Eassa) [4] or discovering new physical laws (Mustafa Mahmud). [5]

Objectives

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion