Iraq's Modern Arabic Literature

Covering 60 years of materials, this bibliography cites translations, studies, and other writings, which represent Iraq's national literature, including recent works of numerous Iraqi writers living in Western exile. The volume serves as a guide to three interrelated data:o Translations that have appeared since 1950, as books or as individual items (poems, short stories, novel extracts, plays, diaries) in print-and non-print publications in Iraq and other Arab and English-speaking countries, including Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.o Relevant studies and other secondary sources including selected reviews and author interviews, which cover Iraqi literature and writers.o The scope of displacement or dispersion of Iraqi writers, artists, and other intellectuals who have been uprooted and are now living in exile in Arab or other Western countries.By drawing attention to a largely overlooked but relevant and extensive literature accessible in English, this first of its kind book will serve as an invaluable guide to students of contemporary Iraq, modern Arabic literature, and other fields such as women's studies, postcolonial studies, third world literature, American-Arab/Muslim Relations, and Diaspora studies.

Many thanks are due to Salih J Altoma for his relentless tracking down of translations., Altoma has achieved what he has set out to do: he has provided a thorough guide to English translations of Iraq’s modern Arabic literature. In so doing, he has also brought to light important trends in the field....His solid guide invites people from across fields to participate in the promotion of Iraq’s cultural production. Altoma has laid an outstanding foundation for such work. Iraq’s Modern Arabic Literature: A Guide to English Translations Since 1950 benefits from the author’s extensive background in Arabic literature and translation studies, and his past work compiling bibliographical guides. In fact, as an expert in these fields and in Iraqi literature, Altoma is uniquely positioned to write this book. More importantly, though, his dedication to the subject comes through in each page that he writes. It is especially evident in the amount of work and attention to detail that no doubt went into compiling this guide. Anyone interested in Arabic literature in general or Iraqi literature specifically will find this book to be nothing short of a treasure trove. It is also a valuable resource for those interested in the study of diaspora, postcolonial, gender, and translation studies. For the general reader, this guide serves as a timely and important antithesis to the dehumanizing images of Iraq with which the English-speaking world is constantly bombarded. Altoma has masterfully demonstrated that an expanding world of more human representations exists for the English reader.

Salih J. Altoma is professor emeritus of Arabic and Comparative Literature at Indiana University. His publications include The Problem of Diglossia in Arabic: A Comparative Study of Classical and Iraqi Arabic (1969), Modern Arabic Literature: A Bibliography of Articles, Books, Dissertations, and Translation in English (1975), Modern Arabic Poetry in English Translation: A Bibliography (1993), and Modern Arabic Literature in Translation: A Companion (2005).