Abdul Rahman Munif
Abdul Rahman Munif | |
---|---|
Born | Abdul Rahman bin Ibrahim al-Munif May 29, 1933 Amman, Jordan |
Died | January 24, 2004 Damascus, Syria | (aged 70)
Resting place | Dahdah cemetery |
Occupation | Writer, journalist, politician, economist |
Language | Arabic |
Alma mater | University of Belgrade University of Paris |
Period | 1933–2004 |
Genre | Novel, short story, critic, biography |
Literary movement | Literary realism |
Notable works | |
Notable awards | Owais Cultural Award (1989) |
Abdul Rahman bin Ibrahim al-Munif (
Biography
Munif was born in 1933 His Story of a City: A Childhood in Amman describes his upbringing there.
In 1952, he moved to Baghdad to study law and later moved to Cairo. He received a law degree from the Sorbonne and a PhD in oil economics from the University of Belgrade's Faculty of Economics.[5] He later returned to Iraq to work in the oil ministry and became a member of the Ba'ath Party. During this time he edited an industry journal called al-Naft wa al-Tanmiya "Petroleum and Development".[6]
He began writing in the 1970s after he left his job with the Iraqi ministry, quit the Ba'ath party, and moved to
Munif was the author of fifteen novels. The
His first novel to appear in English was Endings. The translator claimed it was the first Saudi Arabian novel to be translated into English, and hailed its innovative portrayal of rural life and environmental challenges in an Arabic genre which had, until then, focused mostly on urban, middle-class experiences.[6] While Munif's works were never particularly successful in the West, throughout the Middle East they are critically acclaimed and extremely popular. Cities of Salt was described by Edward Said as the "only serious work of fiction that tries to show the effect of oil, Americans and the local oligarchy on a Gulf country."[9]
While he was one of the fiercest critics of Saddam Hussein and his regime, he was utterly opposed to the American invasion of Iraq and spent the last two years of his life working on non-fiction projects to oppose what he saw as renewed imperialism. He died in Damascus at the age of 70, of kidney and heart failure.[10]
Bibliography
Works translated into English
- — 1987. ISBN 0-394-75526-X
- — 1991. The Trench (Cities of Salt Trilogy, Vol 2), New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 0-394-57672-1
- — 1993. Variations on Night and Day (Cities of Salt Trilogy, Vol 3), New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-75551-9
- — 1998. Endings, London: Quartet Books. ISBN 0-7043-2651-5
- — 1998. Story of a City: A Childhood in Amman, London: Quartet Books. ISBN 0-7043-8023-4
Works in Arabic
Fiction
- — 1973. Al-ashjar wa-ghtyal Marzuq الأشجار واغتيال مرزوق, Beirut: al-Muassasa al-Arabiyya lid-Dirasat wan-Nashr.
- — 1974. Qissat hubb majusiyya قصّة حبّ مجوسية, Beirut: al-Muassasa al-Arabiyya lid-Dirasat wan-Nashr.
- — 1975. Sharq al-Mutawassitشرق المتوسّط, Beirut: al-Muassasa al-Arabiyya lid-Dirasat wan-Nashr.
- — 1976. Hina tarakna al-jisr حين تركنا الجسر, Beirut: al-Muassasa al-Arabiyya lid-Dirasat wan-Nashr.
- — 1977. An-nihayat النهايات, Beirut: al-Muassasa al-Arabiyya lid-Dirasat wan-Nashr.
- — 1979. Sibaq al-masafat at-tawila سباق المسافات الطويلة, Beirut: al-Muassasa al-Arabiyya lid-Dirasat wan-Nashr.
- With Jabra Ibrahim Jabra. 1982. Alam bi-la kharait عالم بلا خرائط, Beirut: al-Muassasa al-Arabiyya lid-Dirasat wan-Nashr.
- — 1984. Mudun al-milh 1: Al-tih مدن الملح ١: التيه, Beirut: al-Muassasa al-Arabiyya lid-Dirasat wan-Nashr.
- — 1985. Mudun al-milh 2: Al-ukhdud مدن الملح ٢: الأخدود, Beirut: al-Muassasa al-Arabiyya lid-Dirasat wan-Nashr.
- — 1989. Mudun al-milh 3: Taqasim al-layl wan-nahar مدن الملح ٣: تقاسيم الليل والنهار, Beirut: al-Muassasa al-Arabiyya lid-Dirasat wan-Nashr.
- — 1989. Mudun al-milh 4: Al-munbatt مدن الملح ٤: المنبتّ, Beirut: al-Muassasa al-Arabiyya lid-Dirasat wan-Nashr.
- — 1989. Mudun al-milh 5: Badiyat az-zulmat مدن الملح ٥: بادية الظلمات, Beirut: al-Muassasa al-Arabiyya lid-Dirasat wan-Nashr.
- — 1991. Al-an… huna, aw sharq al-Mutawassit marra ukhra الآن... هنا، أو شرق المتوسّط مرّة أخرى, Beirut: al-Muassasa al-Arabiyya lid-Dirasat wan-Nashr.
- — 1999. Ard as-sawad 1–3 أرض السواد ١-٣, Beirut: al-Muassasa al-Arabiyya lid-Dirasat wan-Nashr.
- — 2005. Umm an-nudhur أمّ النذور, Beirut: al-Muassasa al-Arabiyya lid-Dirasat wan-Nashr.
Non-Fiction
- — 1973. Mabda al-musharaka wa-tamin al-bitrul al-arabi مبدأ المشاركة وتأمين البترول العربي, Beirut: Dar al-awda.
- — 1975. Al-bitrul al-arabi, musharaka aw at-tamin البترول العربي، مشاركة أو التأمين, Beirut.
- — 1976. Tamin al-bitrul al-arabi تأمين البترول العربي, Baghdad.
- — 1992. Al-katib wal-manfa – Humum wa-afaq ar-riwaya al-arabiyya الكاتب والمنفى, Beirut: al-Muassasa al-Arabiyya lid-Dirasat wan-Nashr.
- — 1992. Ad-dimuqratiyya awwilan ad-dimuqratiyya daiman الديمقراطية أوّلاً الديمقراطية دائماً, Beirut: al-Muassasa al-Arabiyya lid-Dirasat wan-Nashr.
- — 1994. Sirat madina – Amman fi l-arba'inat سيرة مدينة – عمّان في الأربعينات, Beirut: al-Muassasa al-Arabiyya lid-Dirasat wan-Nashr.
- — 1998. Bayn ath-thaqafa was-siyasa بين الثقافة والسياسة, Casablanca: al-Markaz ath-Thaqafi al-Arabi.
- — 1998. Law'at al-ghiyab لوعة الغياب, Beirut: al-Muassasa al-Arabiyya lid-Dirasat wan-Nashr.
- — 2001. Rihlat daw رحلة ضوء, Beirut: al-Muassasa al-Arabiyya lid-Dirasat wan-Nashr.
- — 2001. Dhakira lil-mustaqbal ذاكرة للمستقبل, Beirut: al-Muassasa al-Arabiyya lid-Dirasat wan-Nashr.
Obituary
- Jiad, Abdul-Hadi (February 5, 2004). "Abdul Rahman Munif". The Guardian.
- Hafez, Sabry (January–February 2006). "An Arabian master". New Left Review. II (37). New Left Review.
See also
References
- ISBN 978-977-424-502-2. Retrieved February 24, 2011.
- ^ a b "On an 81st Birthday: Why Does Abdelrahman Munif Not Make the 'World Literature' Canon?". May 29, 2014.
- .
- ^ Abdul-Hadi Jiad (February 5, 2004). "Abdul-Rahman Mounif". The Guardian. London. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
- ^ Petri Liukkonen. "Abdul Rahman Munif". Books and Writers. Finland: Kuusankoski Public Library. Archived from the original on April 5, 2010.
- ^ ISBN 0704326515.
- ISBN 0-394-75526-X.
- ISBN 0-8160-4558-5.
- ^ "Modern Arab writers: Abdelrahman Munif". Archived from the original on September 17, 2008. Retrieved August 12, 2008.
- ^ "Abdul Rahman Munif, 71, Political Novelist". New York Times. February 2, 2004. Retrieved August 9, 2020.