The lessons are clear, in non-technical language, and have generous examples, with plenty of exercises for translation from Arabic to English and from English to Arabic. This is the manual that students interested in Arabic as a living and expanding world language will prefer. It is the first to deal mainly with modern literary Arabic. In Mr Cowan's words: 'The purpose is to explain to the students, in as concise a manner as possible, the grammatical structure of the modern Arabic literary language as it is found today in newspapers, magazines, books, the radio, and public speaking. I have endeavoured to restrict the material to the minimum which may serve as a stepping-stone to a deeper study of Arabic. As the fundamental grammar of written Arabic has hardly changed as an introduction to the classical language also. Having once mastered its contents the student should have a sound grasp of Arabic grammar and can then direct his studies towards modern literature or classical according to his needs and inclinations.

This guide's focus is modern literary Arabic, particularly the style employed by newspapers. Each chapter begins with a text embodying the points to be discussed, and the carefully chosen vocabulary terms are those that arise most often in spoken and written Arabic. A vocabulary list appears in the appendix.

Modern Arabic literature remains little known and poorly understood despite growing curiosity among European readers. This brief introduction offers a unique overview, focusing on developments over the last fifty years. It provides a guide to the literary landscape, indicating the major landmarks in the shape of authors, ideas and debates. The picture that emerges shows that the literature of the modern Arab world, Europe's closest neighbour, is not so far from us as we are sometimes encouraged to think. A timely contribution to the dialogue between East and West, bringing modern Arabic literature into the mainstream for English-speaking readers. 'Tresilian's book is not only informative about its subject but also provides thought-provoking messages to the general reader.' -- Denys Johnson Davies Banipal

An introduction to Modern Arabic Literature, from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the present

An accessible introduction to Arabic literature from the fifth century to the present.