RESOURCE: @ArabicElit: Electronic Literature in the Arab World

@ArabicElit: Electronic Literature in the Arab World is a new, open-access book by Reham Hosny, published by Bloomsbury. From the publisher’s website:

In this open access book, Reham Hosny delves into the idiosyncrasies of Arabic electronic literature (e-lit), examining its rich historical roots and contemporary evolution.

@arabicelitoffers a comprehensive exploration of Arabic electronic literature, tracing its lineage from 12th-century Arabic poetry to modern digital forms. Through an interdisciplinary lens that incorporates literary studies, digital humanities and critical theory, this book investigates how Arabic e-lit is shaped by its historical, cross-cultural and sociopolitical contexts.

The first chapter uncovers the classical precursors of e-lit, while subsequent chapters tackle the challenges and potential of this emerging field, including language barriers and the digital divide. A unique annotated bibliography serves as a resource for analysing Arabic e-lit, and a new classification framework is proposed to better understand its diverse forms. The book also adopts a cultural materialist perspective to explore the dynamics of Arabic social media texts and examines cross-cultural digital literary approaches by comparing Arabic and American e-lit works. Finally, the conclusion anticipates the future of Arabic e-lit in the age of artificial intelligence. This book is essential reading for scholars, students and enthusiasts of digital literature and Middle Eastern studies, offering fresh insights into a rapidly evolving literary landscape.

The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on www.bloomsburycollections.com.