日本中東学会年報
Online ISSN : 2433-1872
Print ISSN : 0913-7858
A Study of Autobiography in Modern Arabic Literature
HEE-SUN CHO
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ジャーナル フリー

1996 年 11 巻 p. 1-37

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The most important issues of autobiography are the "reality and imagination", "memory and forgetting", and "frankness and concealment". If autobiography is considered as a kind of literature, we could say that it depends upon reality, memory and frankness, in contrast to other literary genres like the novel, the story and the play. In fact the autobiography does not depend totally on reality and frankness, and it is not possible to find out any literary work which depends solely upon imagination to the total exclusion of author's real life experience. Few scholars disagree with the proposition that there are no external differences between autobiography and other literary works. Only the author's will to write an autobiography distinguishes it. "Telling about his life" was familiar to ancient Arabs. Their subsequent familiarization with foreign works led them to imitation. At first, Arab philosophers began to imitate Greek philosophers, and then other Arab scholars, Sufis and politicians followed suit. But they did not write their autobiographies separately but always as appendixes to their work on various subjects such as science, history, philosophy and medicine. Therefore, in spite of their abundance and variety, these autobiographies can not be considered as independent literary work. The autobiography has started to reappear since the beginning of the Nahdah period in which Arab civilization has come into direct contact with the Western civilization. The autobiographies in this period reflect the conflict between the East amd West, describing the process of searching for an Arab identity. They tend to have little literary value, concerning themselves mostly with historical facts rather than personal ones. Like the older autobiographies, they were not written in independent form, either. The political, ecomomic, social, intellectual, and spiritual circumstances in the twentieth century have contributed to the crystallization of Arab identity in Modern Arabic literature with the appearance of an educated middle class. Their new circumstances induced Arab authors to write autobiographies in which they showed their desire for personal freedom, independence, and feelings of confusion and alienation. Autobiographies of this period have some common characteristics, while each work maintains its individuality. First of all, in order to show the development of their characters, many authors focus on their childhood, in describing poverty, hardship and isolation. Secondly they describe the influence of inheritance and environment in forming their characters. Thirdly, most autobiographers of this period have had a direct or indirect contact with the West. They tend to admire the political and social systems, freedom of thought and women's position in the West. Fourthly, they belong to the middle class with its traditional values. Because of their religious background, one can not find autobiographers who go deeply into sexual matters. Finally, their traditional upbringing and their admiration of the Western civilization and culture inevitably causes conflicts in their mind. In conclusion, the autobiography has been in existence since time immemorial as a form of human expression. No doubt it will be written continually in the future. Autobiography has been prominent in modern Arabic literature since the end of the eighteenth century when many Arab authors wrote theirs.

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© 1996 Japan Association for Middle East Studies (JAMES)
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