The Book of Khartoum (Paperback)

Arthur Gabriel Yak

ISBN 10: 1905583729 / ISBN 13: 9781905583720

Edité par Comma Press, Mytholmroyd, 2016

Paperback. Khartoum, according to one theory, takes its name from the Beja word hartooma, meaning 'meeting place'. Geographically, culturally and historically, the Sudanese capital is certainly that: a meeting place of the Blue and White Niles, a confluence of Arabic and African histories, and a destination point for countless refugees displaced by Sudan's long, troubled history of forced migration. In the pages of this book - the first major anthology of Sudanese stories to be translated into English - the city also stands as a meeting place for ideas: where the promise and glamour of the big city meets its tough social realities; where traces of a colonial past are still visible in day-to-day life; where the dreams of a young boy, playing in his father's shop, act out a future that may one day be his. Diverse literary styles also come together here: the political satire of Ahmed al-Malik; the surrealist poetics of Bushra al-Fadil; the social realism of the first postcolonial authors; and the lyrical abstraction of the new 'Iksir' generation. As with any great city, it is from these complex tensions that the best stories begin. In the pages of this book - the first major anthology of Sudanese stories to be translated into English - diverse literary styles also come together to paint a picture of the city, from the political satire of Ahmed al-Malik to the surrealist poetics of Bushra al-Fadil. Shipping may be from our Sydney, NSW warehouse or from our UK or US warehouse, depending on stock availability. N° de réf. du vendeur 9781905583720

Synopsis :

Khartoum, according to one theory, takes its name from the Beja word 'hartooma', meaning meeting place. Geographically, culturally and historically, the Sudanese capital is certainly that: a meeting place of the Blue and White Niles, a confluence of Arabic and African histories, and a destination point for countless refugees displaced by Sudan's long, troubled history of forced migration.

In the first major anthology of Sudanese stories to be translated into English the city also stands as a meeting place for ideas: where the promise and glamour of the big city meets its tough social realities; where traces of a colonial past are still visible in day-to-day life; where the dreams of a young boy, playing in his fathers shop, act out a future that may one day be his. Diverse literary styles also come together here: the political satire of Ahmed al-Malik; the surrealist poetics of Bushra al-Fadil; the social realism of the first postcolonial authors; and the lyrical abstraction of the new 'Iksir' generation. As with any great city, it is from these complex tensions that the best stories begin.

Includes The Story of the Girl Whose Birds Flew Away by Bushra al-Fadhil, winner of the 2017 Caine Prize for African Literature

À propos de l'auteur: Raph Cormack is a Wolfson Foundation doctoral student in Arabic literature at the University of Edinburgh writing about Oedipus on the Nile. He has written on Arabic literature and culture for several publications, including Prospect, Rowayat, and the TLS. He also runs a small translation blog featuring selections from Egyptian and Sudanese writings.
Max Shmookler is a doctoral student in the department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies at Columbia University, where his research focuses on Sudanese literary history. He lived for many years in Cairo and has travelled broadly in the Middle East. His first collection of translations (with Najlaa Othman) was published online by Words Without Borders.

Détails bibliographiques

Titre : The Book of Khartoum (Paperback)
Éditeur : Comma Press, Mytholmroyd
Date d'édition : 2016
Reliure : Paperback
Etat : new