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Document Details :

Title: Christelijke themata in de moderne Arabische literatuur
Author(s): DE MOOR, Ed
Journal: Journal of Eastern Christian Studies
Volume: 47    Issue: 1-2   Date: 1995   
Pages: 73-94
DOI: 10.2143/JECS.47.1.2003151

Abstract :
Although Christians contributed largely to modern Arabic literature, in literary studies Arabic literature is generally considered as the reflexion of Islamic culture. Scholars tend to neglect the Christian aspects of this literature. Nevertheless there are some studies which deal with works by modern writers, Muslims and Christians alike, on themes such as mixed marriage, Church and State, the problem of minorities and religious questions. Striking themes in modern Arabic prose and poetry are the presentation of Jesus, the Son of Men, as a prophet of social justice, and motifs such as the Holy Cross and the Resurrection. We find these themes fairly often in the prose written by Jibran Khalil Jibran, a Lebanese Christian, in the poetry by the so-called Tammuzian poets and in the Palestinian Resistance poetry. Modern novels sometimes deal with historical events concerning Christianity, as is shown in some works by Najib Mahfuz and Kamil Husayn.