Sudanese literature

This is a good article. Click here for more information.
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Part of a series on the
Culture of Sudan

Sudanese literature consists of both

nonfiction that were created during the cultural history of today's Republic of the Sudan. This includes the territory of what was once Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, the independent country's history
since 1956 as well as its changing geographical scope in the 21st century.

Even though there exist records about historical societies in the area called Sudan, like the Kingdom of Kush in Nubia, little is known about the languages and the oral or written literature of these precursors of the Sudan of today. Moreover, the notion of Bilad al-Sudan, from which the name of the modern country is derived, referred to a much wider geographic region to the south of the Sahara, stretching from western to eastern Central Africa.

Like in many African countries, oral traditions of diverse ethnic or social groups have existed since time immemorial, but a modern written Sudanese literature can only be traced back to the beginning of the 20th century. Through the publication of written literature in Sudanese newspapers and books, as well as aided by

formal, non-religious education, a modern Sudanese literature of fiction and nonfiction began to appear.[1] Going back to age-old oral traditions, poetry and the lyrics for songs have been the most popular literary genres in Sudan. Just as other cultural expressions, literature reflects the hybrid identities of Sudan, that have been called Afro-Arabism by some scholars. In the 21st century, electronic media, which often rely on written texts and oral storytelling on video, connect people in Sudan with their compatriots at home as well as in the world-wide Sudanese diaspora. Some contemporary writers with Sudanese roots and living in other countries, such as Leila Aboulela or Jamal Mahjoub
, write in English. Together with translations of original works written in Arabic, they have made fictional literature about Sudan accessible to an international audience.

History

Historical precursors of modern literature in Sudan

The oldest existing records of the precursors of a distinctive Sudanese literature can be dated to about 300 BCE and were written in the Meroitic script. These historical records, such as inscriptions on sandstone, bear testimony of the kings of Kush or deities of the Kushite culture in northern Sudan.[2] During the Christianization of Nubia in the sixth century CE, the Kushite language and cursive script were replaced by Byzantine Greek, Coptic, and Old Nubian languages, with texts relating both to religion, to public affairs or to private life. From the fourteenth century onwards, Arabic gradually became the primary language in Nubia and, with the spread of Islam, developed into the main written and spoken language for religious and secular affairs in most other parts of Sudan.[3]

The oral poetic tradition of the northern Nilotic Sudan was mainly expressed in colloquial Sudanese Arabic. Presented orally or in songs, poetry was and still is a fundamental form of literary expression in highly developed and structured forms. Most of the poetry that has survived from the 19th century is in praise of the Prophet and during the Mahdist period, in praise of the Mahdi.[4]

A rare historical record written in the early 19th century by Shaykh Ahmad ibn al-Hajj Abi Ali (b. 1784-5) and other early Sudanese historians is the

Turco-Egyptian regime that succeeded it. The manuscripts were edited as an annotated translation under the title "The Sudan of the Three Niles" in 1999 by British historian Peter M. Holt. In her review of this edition, historian Heather J. Sharkey wrote: "Along with the Tabaqat of Ibn Dayf Allah (a biographical dictionary of Sudanese Muslim holy men compiled in the late eighteenth century),[5] the Funj Chronicle is the most important Arabic source for the northern riverain Sudan in the Funj era, a period when Islam was spreading widely."[6] Another account of the early 19th century was written by Muḥammad al-Tūnisī (d. 1857)), who spent ten years as merchant from Cairo in the Sultanate of Darfur and described the kingdom in detail and with his own drawings in the book entitled 'In Darfur'.[7]

Traditional and modern forms of oral literature

Literature in contemporary Sudan is either

Arabic language, with certain types also in local languages, such as poetry in the Fur language of western Sudan.[8] As in other African countries, both written literature and genres of oral tradition, such as folk tales, proverbs or poems, are common, but depend on their social setting, such as in rural, partly illiterate or in urban educated societies.[9][10] These oral types of storytelling may be simply recited by individuals or by groups of persons, or they may be accompanied by singing and musical accompaniments, thus transgressing the theoretical definition of literature and music.[11]

"Long before the novel and short story became known as literary genres, Sudanese literature existed in the form of oral stories and narrative poems, most of which, until recently, were transmitted from one generation to the next.", as literary critic Eiman El-Nour put it in her seminal paper The Development of Contemporary Literature in Sudan.[12][13][14]

Among the living oral traditions, there are the Ahaji folk tales and the

Abdallah al-Tayyib, a scholar of Arabic literature and language, and published in English as Heroes of Arabia [15] as well as in Stories from the sands of Africa.[16]

Sudanese poet Mahjoub Sharif

Poetry and songs continue to occupy a prominent role in contemporary Sudanese culture. Songs celebrating the beauty of the land, its regions and scenery have been very popular in modern music since at least the 1930s. Before independence, poems and the lyrics of songs were often artistic expressions of nationalism and other political issues.[17] Among others, Khalil Farah (1892–1932) was an important poet, and his patriotic verses have been used in popular songs like "Azza fī Hawāk" (My beloved Azza).[18][19]

During more recent times of political oppression, forms of oral literature have been expressions of resistance towards the rulers of the day, and have even led to the imprisonment or exile of poets like Mahjoub Sharif (1948–2014)[20] or musicians like Mohammed Wardi (1932–2012).[21]

A traditional form of oral poetry are the songs of

Western Sudan, called Hakamat. These are women of high social standing, respected for their eloquence, intuition and decisiveness, who may both incite or vilify the men of their tribe, when engaged in feuds with other tribes.[22] The social impact of these Hakamat can be exceptionally strong. Because of this, they have recently been invited by peacebuilding initiatives in Darfur in order to exert their influence for conflict resolution or other social issues, like environmental protection.[23] Other forms of popular oral literature are Sudanese folk tales, often narrated by female storytellers.[24]

In the 21st century, contemporary forms of oral literature in urban settings as an expression of

Sudanese Revolution of 2018/19.[25][26]

The beginnings of modern Sudanese literature

Background

In the Sudan, as in other Third World countries, an inherent respect for the spoken word has created an awareness of the intimate links between language, literature and social reality. (...) This awareness of the intimate links between language and society causes the Sudanese writers' conception of literature to be more holistic than the view of his Western counterpart. It is believed that "Art" has always been in the service of man.

— Constance E. Berkley (1981), "The Contours of Sudanese Literature", p. 109.

Moreover, literary scholar Constance E. Berkley states that "Sudanese Arabic literature has links with all Arabic literature, both past and present. At the same time, it is valid in its own right. Among the Sudanese, as among other African and/or Arabic speaking people, poetry is the preferred literary form."[27] On the further issue of writing in Arabic with a distinct Sudanese character, the Sudanese poet and critic Mohammed Abdul-Hayy writes: "Muhammad Ahmed Mahgoub was one of the leading literary spokesmen who (...) expressed the idea of a Sudanese literature 'written in Arabic, but infused with the idiom of our land, because this (idiom) is what distinguishes a literature of one nation from another.'"[28]

Although there were several newspapers published in Sudan around the beginning of the 20th century, like Jaridat al-Sudan, a biweekly paper published in Arabic and English first printed in 1903, arguably the most important newspaper in terms of impact on modern Sudanese literature was Al-Ra'id (The Pioneer). This newspaper, published in Arabic, started in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, in 1914 and presented a variety of poetry and other literary forms. Its first editor was the well-known poet and journalist Abdul Raheem Glailati. In 1917, the British authorities deported him to Cairo because of his article criticising the poor living conditions of Sudanese. Despite this, he later could publish a collection of revolutionary, nationalist poetry in 1924.[29] In 1934, the literary journal Al Fajr (The Dawn) was founded and became known for publishing the first Sudanese short stories.[17]

Another important factor for the development of written literature in Sudan was the spread of modern

non-fictional publications on world-wide issues.[30]

Important literary genres

Apart from poetry, the most prominent

Arabic cultural influences.[33] This multiple cultural identity also gave the name to a group of writers of the 1960s, comprising Al-Nur Osman Abkar, Mohammed Abdul-Hayy, Ali El-Makk and Salah Ahmed Ibrahim, called The Jungle and Desert School (madrasat al-ghāba wa-l-ṣaḥrā’), where "jungle" stands for the rainforests of the South and "desert" refers to northern Sudan.[34]
Sudan's hybrid identity has been reflected in numerous literary works since then. Some authors such as Ḥāmid Badawī (b. 1956),have chosen literary characters and places from various regions, others wrote about families with members from different ethnic backgrounds or about people displaced from rural origins to the larger cities.

Apart from poetry, the most prominent

independence of Sudan in 1956, short stories and novels have dealt with political and social issues, as well as with the question of the country's complex cultural identity.[35]

Sudan's hybrid cultural identity

This central theme of what it means to be Sudanese is marked in more or lesser degrees by both

Arabic cultural influences.[36] Since The Jungle and Desert School, numerous other writers have included this hybrid identity in their narratives, either by choosing literary characters or places from different regions, such as Abkar Adam Isma‘il (b. 1965), who originates from Kordofan, in his novel Aḥlām fī bilād al-shams (Dreams in the Land of the Sun). Authors like Hamid Badawi (b. 1956) included references to intermarriages between Arabs and Africans in his Mashrū‘ Ibrāhīm al-Asmar al-riwā’ī (Ibrahim al-Asmar's Project of Novel). Numerous novelists like Ibrahim Ishaq, Jamal Mohammad Ibrahim, Al-Hasan Bakri (b. 1955) and others have focused on the coexistence of many diverse ethnic, cultural, religious, and linguistic groups living next to each other in Sudan. Another example is the Sudanese journalist and renowned poet across the Arabic literary world Muhammad al-Fayturi (1936–2015), whose extensive poetic work "particularly draws upon his experience as an African living among Arabs, and thus addresses issues such as race, class and colonialism."[37] Resuming these recurrent literary topics, critic and translator of Sudanese novels Xavier Luffin made the following remark: "At the same time, none of these authors idealizes this richness, since they often quote the many problems faced by the marginalized, such as racism and civil war."[35]

Social and political themes

In line with social and political developments in other countries at the time, stories, novels and poems dealing with

European countries
.

After the 1990s, an increasing number of writers included social and political issues by choosing poor and marginalized people as major characters. Thus, Ibrahim Bashir Ibrahim (b. 1958) described people's lives in a suburban slum of Al-Obeid in his novel Al-Zindiyya (1995). Further novels dealing with people living in slums or with the shammasa (street boys) are Dhākirat shirrīr (2005, Memories of a Bad Boy) by Mansour El Souwaim and The Kandarees (2012) by Abdalaziz Baraka Sakin. In a general sense, "marginal characters became a real topos in Sudanese literature, because of their profession, often related to an ethnic origin: the Southern alcohol-seller, the Ethiopian prostitute, the West African healer, and so on. Depicted with empathy, they often play the role of rebels against the political and moral authorities."[39]

A number of authors writing stories with social and political contexts also have included explicit references to Sudan's failures of democracy. Thus, Ahmad al-Malik (b. 1967) presented a typical despot in his Al-Kharīf ya’tī ma‘a Ṣafā’ (2003) (Autumn Comes with Safā), which tells the story of a president through his own memories, "from his coming to power by chance to the eve of his disappearance." Al-Malik further included numerous details of life under dictatorship, "mixing them with fantasy, dream, and humor in a style that recalls magical realism", which helps the author to avoid censorship.[40]

Another novel dealing with dictatorship is Waṭan khalf al-quḍbān (2002) (A Nation behind Bars) by Khālid ‘Uways (b. 1972). Here, the writer does not dwell explicitly on the dictator, but most of all on the system and its victims: His main characters are two women in jail, Rābi‘a and Mary, an educated artist from the North and a servant from the South of the country. By narrating their lives in jail and in the outside world, the novel describes a host of negative influences employed by the regime against its own people. By the characters of Rābi‘a and Mary, ‘Uways shows "that the victims of the regime are both Africans and Arabs, non-Muslims and Muslims."[41]

Similar recurrent themes are the "undeniable and long history of conflict and political turbulence",

discrimination and violence against women, told by female authors like Rania Mamoun or Stella Gaitano. Among contemporary Sudanese poets, Mahjoub Sharif is remembered for his poems "for freedom, full with music, witty, agitating, but always didactic."[43] As critic Magdi El Gizouli wrote in his obituary about Sharif: "A school teacher by training, this secular prophet spoke truth to power in a creative language that readily transformed into powerful memes, and as a consequence landed him habitually in the detention cells of Sudan's military rulers."[43]

freedom of expression and to bring together writers of different cultural groups. It was dissolved by the military government of Omar al-Bashir in 1989 and could only be revived from 2006 onwards.[44] After ten years of activities in the general context of suppression of free expression, it was closed down again in 2015, but upon a court ruling in 2016, the Union managed to resume its activities.[45] - In 2015, poet Mamoun Eltlib and others started a monthly street market for used books called Mafroosh, meaning “spread out” or “display”, attracting many young people looking for books. But a short time later, these informal meetings were also banned by the government.[46] Publishing and distributing books also suffered greatly from the government's neglect and censorship, which also led to the circulation of illegal copies.[47]

According to the editor and translator of The Book of Khartoum,[48] Max Shmookler, Sudanese literature of the late 20th century is characterized by an "association between estrangement (ghurba) and the West (al-gharb)" that "has run deep in Sudanese society and literature."[49] This cultural contrast between a largely conservative society, even in the urban centres, and the growing influence of a globalized world, is reflected in the choice of characters and plots of many contemporary authors. Examples for this contrast and estrangement can be found in Tayeb Salih's Season of Migration to the North, but also in stories about human tragedy, like the pandemic in Amir Taj al-Sir's novel Ebola 76 or in the short story Isolation[50] by one of the youngest authors, Sabah Sanhouri.[49]

Here we find the tension between Sudanese society as it is and how it might have been and could, perhaps, still become. This is the tension between the present state of conflict — over resources, political power, and identity — and the nostalgia for a more harmonious past, or perhaps the aspiration for a different type of future.

— Max Shmookler, Biting their Mother-Tongue: Three Sudanese Short-Stories about Estrangement

s emerging male and female writers:

The first novel depicting the life of a working woman in Sudan was "Al-Faragh al-'arid" (The Wide Void). Written by the short story writer and novelist Malkat al-Dar Mohamed (1920-1969) in the early 1950s, it was only published after her death in 1969.[51] Another woman with a feminist perspective was Buthaina Khidir Mekki, who wrote novels and short stories dealing with negative stereotypes towards the education of young girls and the consequences of conflict and war for women.

Sudanese writer Tayeb Salih

Arguably the most notable Sudanese writer of the 20th century is

Banipal magazine's list of the 100 Best Arabic Novels,[53] and has been translated into more than twenty languages.[54]

Ibrahim Ishaq (1946–2021) was a Sudanese novelist and short story writer, whose narrative works are mostly set in his native Darfur region of western Sudan. From 1969 on, he published six novels and three collections of short stories, as well as academic studies about the history and literature of Africa. Through his subject-matter and elements of the local forms of language, he introduced the life and culture of Darfur to readers in other parts of the country.[55]

Fatima al-Sanoussi (born in the 1950s) worked both as journalist, writer and translator. She is known for her flash fiction that had a strong influence on writers of the 1980s and young readers. Her stories have been described as moving "across categories and outside the existing structures and genre constraints".[56]

Bushra Elfadil, a former lecturer of Russian literature at the University of Khartoum and now living in exile in Saudi Arabia,[57] won the Caine Prize in 2017 with "The Story of the Girl Whose Birds Flew Away", first published in The Book of Khartoum.[58]

Among other topics, Jamal Mohammad Ibrahim (b. 1959) treated the complex Sudanese identity of African and Arab heritage: In his Nuqṭat talāshī (A Point of Disappearance, 2008) by describing one of his characters as “a perfect and typical Sudanese, who has taken something from each background: he has taken his pleasant brown color from Africa, and his loquacity from the Arabs.”[35] In Dafātir Kambālā (The Kampala Notebooks, 2009), he explored the African roots of Sudan through a “philosophical journey” in Uganda. Based on this literary approach, he was described as one of the Sudanese writers who included "African names, realistic descriptions of traditions and beliefs, and even words in African languages.[35]

Born in Cairo of Sudanese parents in 1959, Tarek Eltayeb has been living in Vienna, Austria, since 1984. In addition to seven books in Arabic, he has also published his poetry, novels and short stories in German translation.[59] His novel Cities Without Palms tells the story of a young man from Sudan, who first migrated to Egypt and then further on to Europe.[60]

A Sudanese writer of international recognition is Amir Taj al-Sir (born 1960). He has published more than a dozen books, including poetry and nonfiction. His first novel Karmakul came out in 1988, and his novel The Hunter of the Chrysalises was shortlisted for the 2011 International Prize for Arabic Fiction,[61] mentored by the Booker Prize Foundation in London.[62]

Ishraga Mustafa Hamid (born 1961) is a poet, literary translator and human rights activist of Sudanese origin, living in Austria since 1993. Writing both in Arabic and German, her literary works encompass poetry and prose, often reflecting her own or the experiences of other migrants in Austria.[63] Until 2017, she had published seven works in German,[64] and as many in Arabic.[65]

Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin (born 1963) has written several popular novels and collections of short stories, including The Jango,[66] which deals with the conditions in a women's prison and won the Al-Tayeb Salih Award for Creative Writing.[67] His books were initially sold in local bookstores, but later confiscated and banned by the Sudanese authorities and were subsequently only available outside of Sudan.[68] His novel The Messiah of Darfur, which takes place in the context of the civil war in Darfur,[69] was translated into French and German. Since 2012, Baraka Sakin has lived in exile in Austria and has been invited to a number of literary festivals in Africa, France and Germany.[70]

Mansour El Souwaim, (born 1970), has released two novels and two collections of short stories. His second novel, titled Memories of a Bad Boy, received the Tayeb Salih Award for Creative Writing in 2005.

Hamed al-Nazir (born 1975), a Sudanese journalist and novelist living in Qatar, has published three acclaimed novels.[71] Two of them, The Waterman's Prophecy and The Black Peacock were longlisted for the prestigious International Prize for Arabic Fiction.

Najlaa Eltom (born 1975) is a Sudanese writer, poet and translator who became known for her poetry in Sudan and abroad during the early 2000s. In 2012, she went to Sweden for a degree in English literature at Stockholm University and has lived there since.[72]

Naguib Mahfouz Prize in 2014 and was also nominated for the 2015 International Prize for Arabic Fiction. This novel and several of his stories have appeared in English translation, including in the anthology The Book of Khartoum (Comma Press, 2016) as well as in Banipal magazine.[73]

Stella Gaitano, born in Khartoum of parents from southern Sudan in 1979, has published both short stories and a novel in Arabic that have been translated into English. She grew up and studied in Khartoum, and writes stories often dealing with the harsh living conditions of people from southern Sudan, who have endured discrimination and military dictatorship, or war and displacement in the northern part of Sudan.[74]

Rania Mamoun (born 1979) is another contemporary female writer, who has written novels and short stories, translated as Thirteen Months of Sunrise.[75] Several of her stories have appeared in English translation, including in The Book of Khartoum, Banthology[76] and in Banipal literary magazine.[77]

Sabah Sanhouri (born 1990), is a cultural essayist and literary author from Khartoum, who writes prose as well as poetry. Her story "Isolation" won the Al-Tayeb Salih Award for Creative Writing in 2009 and was published both in Arabic, and later in a French and English translation.[78] Mirrors, her first collection of short stories, came out in Egypt and Sudan in 2014,[79] and in 2019, she published her first novel, entitled Paradise.[80]

In 2021, Muhammad Ismail won the first prize of the Katara Award for the Arabic Novel for his short story “The Brothers of Yusuf”, selected from more than 400 entries.[81]

In 2023, Reem Gaafar won the South African Island Prize for a Debut Novel from Africa for the manuscript of her novel A Mouth Full of Salt. She is the first novelist from Sudan to be distinguished by this award.[82]

In May 2022,

ArabLit magazine published several articles by and about Sudanese women writers, as well as other articles on literary works from Sudan in English translation.[83][84]

Literature in English by writers with Sudanese roots

The earliest records of a writer from Sudan using the English language are the

October 1964 revolution.[86]

Taban Lo Liyong, who was born in southern Sudan in 1939 and studied in the 1960s in the United States, is one of Africa's well-known poets, writers of fiction and literary criticism. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, "Liyong wrote highly imaginative short narratives, such as Fixions (1969), and unorthodox free verse,( ...) His nonfiction output consists of argumentative and amusing personal essays and bold literary criticism (...), presenting challenging new ideas in an original manner."[87] After teaching positions in several countries, including Sudan, he became professor of English at the University of Juba.

Sudanese writer Leila Aboulela

Leila Aboulela, who was born in 1964 in Cairo, Egypt, to an Egyptian mother and a Sudanese father, and grew up in Khartoum, is a Sudanese writer who lives in Scotland and writes in English. Her poems, short stories and novels have received international acclaim[88] and have been translated into other languages, including Arabic.[89]

Sudanese Revolution of 2018/19 came to its final stage, he gave the following assessment of the limitations for writers, publishers and readers:[75]

The last 30 years have been difficult for Sudanese artists of all kinds – among them musicians and painters, but particularly writers. The 1989 coup triggered an exodus. People left to settle in Cairo and the Gulf, North America and Europe, even Japan and Australia. Inside the country, a new generation of writers has since grown up in the shadow of repression. Despite these difficulties writers have continued to work and publish, both within the country and abroad. In a climate where newspapers are regularly censored, journalists detained and print runs seized, books have remained cherished items to be passed around with reverence.

— Jamal Mahjoub, Top 10 books about Sudan. The Guardian, May 2019

A representative of young writers of Sudanese origin, living in the worldwide Sudanese

Callaloo, the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-day series, and in anthologies, such as The BreakBeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop and Women of Resistance: Poems for a New Feminism. Her collection of poetry The January Children (2017) refers to the children born in Sudan under British occupation, whose date of birth was often indiscriminately recorded as 1 January.[90][91]

Emtithal Mahmoud, who was born in Darfur in 1992, moved with her parents to the United States as a child. She became known as a spoken word poet and activist for refugees. In 2015, she won the Individual World Poetry Slam championship and has since published her first collections of poems in English, entitled Sisters' Entrance.[92][93]

K. Eltinaé is a Sudanese poet of Nubian descent, based in Spain. His work has appeared in magazines such as World Literature Today and the African American Review, as well as in The Ordinary Chaos of Being Human: Tales from Many Muslim Worlds, among other publications. His debut collection The Moral Judgement of Butterflies won the 2019 International Beverly Prize for Literature.[94] He is the recipient of the Visionary Arts Memorial Reza Abdoh Poetry Prize 2021.[95] He also co-won the 2019 Dignity Not Detention Prize.[96][97]

Daoud Hari, who was born as a tribesman in the Darfur region of Western Sudan, wrote an autobiographical memoir in English about life and people in Darfur, entitled The Translator: A Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur. Through his story, he tried to bring further international attention to the plight of his people and country.[98]

In 2008, the autobiographical memoir about women's experiences with genocide and

Tears of the Desert, was published by Halima Bashir. This Sudanese medical doctor chose her fictitious name in order to stay anonymous. The book was co-authored by British journalist Damian Lewis and published after Halima Bashir had found asylum in the U.K.[99]

novel for young adults, titled You Must Be Layla.[101]

Sudanese-American writer Fatin Abbas based her 2023 debut novel Ghost Season on her personal experience of working for an NGO in the border region between northern and southern Sudan. The story is set in the fictitious village Saaraya, a "flashpoint in the civil war between the Southern rebel movement and the Northern government based in Khartoum."[102]

Memoirs by former slaves and 'Lost Boys'

Based on their painful experiences of

displaced or orphaned during the Second Sudanese Civil War (1987–2005). After emigrating to the U.S. or the U.K., these refugees from Sudan published their stories, usually with co-editors in their country of refuge.[105]

Works for young readers and graphic storytelling

Modern literature for children and young adults has been written, among others, by authors and illustrators such as Abdel-Ghani Karamallah

Salah El-Mur.[107] Also, the poet Mahmoud Sharif[108] published a collection of short stories for children entitled Zeinab and the Mango Tree. Another book for children called Kadisa (Sudanese expression for cat) was written in 2017 by Sudanese-American elementary teacher Rasha Hamid and illustrated by Sharhabil Ahmed, a well-known musician and graphic artist.[109]

In the 1950s and up to the mid-1990s, the Ministry of Education published comics magazines such as Al-Sabyan (Boy's Journal), Maryud and Sabah (Morning) in order to develop children's literacy.[110] But because of diminishing support, the numbers of such magazines and children's books decreased from 30.000 copies a week of the most popular magazine to a much lower number of such publications.[111]

In the 21st century, Sudanese comic strips and graphic storytelling have been enjoying a growing audience. They are mainly published on social media, but also in the form of magazines or during national comic competitions.[112]

As a political cartoonist living in the Sudanese diaspora, Khalid Albaih has become known for his social and political caricatures in Arab and international online media.[113]

Traditional and modern forms of Sudanese theatre

Rituals and theatre-like performances, such as the zār rituals, have been described by modern studies as part of ancient and traditional civilisations in Sudan.[114] During the 1930s, Ibrahim al-Abadi (1894 -1980) created a play about an important Sudanese resistance fighter against the Turkish army, El Mek Nimr, and Khaled Abu Al-Rous wrote a play about a village love story called Tajouj.[115] Along with other Sudanese or foreign plays, they were produced at the National Theatre of the time.[116]

In a period of flourishing cultural life in Sudan from the 1960s and up to the restrictions of many public activities by the Public Order Laws since 1989, foreign and Sudanese theatre plays in the modern sense enjoyed a certain amount of popularity in Khartoum.[117] Nevertheless, the College of Music and Drama of the Sudan University of Science and Technology has been offering studies and degrees since 1977,[118] and together with the Sudanese Dramatists Union has organized theatre festivals and workshops at the National Theatre, opened in 1959 in Omdurman.[119]

Anthologies of Sudanese literature

After the 2009 collection of short stories in French translation, Nouvelles du Soudan, several anthologies in English, such as I Know Two Sudans: An Anthology of Creative Writing from Sudan and South Sudan,[120] The Book of Khartoum,[48] Literary Sudans: An Anthology of Literature from Sudan and South Sudan[121] or Modern Sudanese Poetry: An Anthology[122] have made contemporary literature from Sudan and South Sudan accessible to readers in translation. In addition, Banipal literary magazine published a special issue in 2016 on Sudanese literature today.[123] In 2020, The Common literary magazine published eleven short stories by Sudanese authors in English translation.[124]

Apart from those names already mentioned above, writers featured in these compilations are Mohammad Jamil Ahmad, Emad Blake, Nur al-Huda Mohammed Nur al-Huda, Ahmed Al Malik, Dan Lukudu, Agnes Ponilako, Kenyi A. Spencer, Mamoun Eltlib[46] and others.

In his introduction to Literary Sudans: An Anthology of Literature from Sudan and South Sudan, Taban Lo Liyong wrote:[125]

In this collection most writers are rebels against the system or fighting a kind of existential war. [...] Third World artists during the decades of African independence from 1950 to 1970 were to assist the politicians in pushing for Cultural Revolution and independence, but after seeing how the politicians play loose with the blank check we gave them, it is high time the artists echoed the aspirations to democracy, respect for human rights and true nationalistic independence with emphasis on economic independence and welfare for us all.

— Taban Lo Lyiong

Academic scholarship on Sudanese literature and Arabic language

An outstanding Sudanese

Abdallah al-Tayyib (1921–2003). His primary field of study was the Arabic language and its creative use in poetry. One of his most notable works is A Guide to Understanding Arabic Poetry, a massive opus written over thirty-five years. Some of his collection of folk stories from Sudan and Africa have been translated into English. Al-Tayyib was also president of the Arab Language League of Sudan and a member of the Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo. Through his radio programmes on literature, he contributed also to a wider appreciation of literature for people without access to written sources.[126]

Another notable scholar on language and culture in Sudan was Awn Alsharif Qasim (1933–2006). Among many other works, he authored the Sudanese Encyclopedia of Tribes and Genealogies in seven volumes and 2628 pages, a pioneer, state of the art series of books about place or personal names and Sudanese tribes, their roots and origins.[127]

Several departments of the University of Khartoum, like the Faculty of Arts, the Institute of Asian and African Studies or of Islamic Studies, publish academic scholarship relating to the history and present of culture in Sudan.[128]

Nonfiction and cultural journalism by Sudanese writers

The

nonfiction, as another important form of narrative writing, includes authors like Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im[129] or Sadiq al-Mahdi,[130] known for their contributions to such topics as Islamic thought, politics or social issues in Sudan. Addressing Sudanese and other Arab readers, these are published in Arabic, although some publications, such as essays, academic scholarship, interviews or other journalistic texts, have also been translated into English.[131]

One of the Sudanese online magazines focussing on Sudanese culture and the close relationship of life in Sudan and South Sudan, as well as with other East African neighbours, is the bilingual online Andariya Magazine.[132][133]

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ On the notion of a modern national literature in Africa, compare the following definition by Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe: "A national literature is one that takes the whole nation for its province and has a realized or potential audience throughout its territory. An ethnic literature is one which is available to one ethnic group within the nation." Chinua Achebe. Morning Yet on Creation Day (New York: Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1976), p. 75.
  2. ^ "Meroitic script". www.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  3. ^ Hoyland, Robert (2015). In God's Path: The Arab Conquest and the Creation of an Islamic Empire. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 77.
  4. ^ "Introduction", Arabic Literature of Africa Online, Brill, 6 April 2016, retrieved 19 August 2022
  5. ^ Ibn Ḍayf Allāh, Muḥammad al-Nūr, and Yusuf Fadl Hassan. (ed.) 1992. Kitāb al-ṭabaqāt fī khuṣūṣ al-awliyāʼ wa-al-ṣāliḥīn wa-al-ulamāʼ wa-al-shuʻarāʼ fī al-Sūdān. Kharṭūm: Dar al-Taʼlīf wa-al-Tarjamah wa-al-Nashr, Jāmiʻat al-Kharṭūm.
  6. S2CID 162091334
    .
  7. ^ Tūnisī, Muḥammad ibn ʻUmar, Humphrey T. Davies, R. S. O'Fahey, and Anthony Appiah. (2020) In Darfur: An Account of the Sultanate and Its People. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 9781479804450.
  8. ^ "Some of the other major languages of the Sudan which possess both oral literature and written material, either in grammars, dictionaries, or recently compiled dual language folkloric text are Dinka, Fur, Nuer, Shilluk, Azande and Bari." Berkley 1981
  9. OCLC 1268934247
    .
  10. ^ The article about 'Sudan - The arts' in the Encyclopedia Britannica online states: "The major language with a written literature in traditional Sudanese society is Arabic. The most widely known Sudanese literary works in this language are associated with Islam and its scholarship and include a large body of literature describing the lives and virtue of holy men. These works are best known through recitations on special anniversaries associated with pious persons. The combination of oral and written literature remains of major importance to both traditional and Westernized segments of Sudanese society." Source: Encyclopedia Britannica Sudan, accessed on 13 March 2021.[1]
  11. ISSN 2579-0528
    .
  12. ^ a b El-Nour 1997, p. 150.
  13. ISBN 978-9004112735
    .
  14. ^ "Oral and written narratives in the Horn of Africa more often than not problematize what is committed to the nation's official memory. They take cognizance of how "events" are formulated, or "made to happen", and make sense of what is or is not in the social imaginary. The literatures of the Horn of Africa shed light on the aspirations, hopes, consternations, and fears of the storytellers and, by extension, the people whose lives shape and give meaning to the stories." Abstract by Leiden University Library for Ahmed, Ali Jimale & Taddesse Adera (eds.) 2008. The road less traveled: reflections on the literatures of the Horn of Africa
  15. ^ Majdhūb, ʻAbd Allāh al-Ṭayyib. 1966. Heroes of Arabia. Cambridge [England]: University Press.
  16. ^ al-Majdhūb, 'Abd Allāh al-Tayyib, and Michael West. 1975. Stories from the sands of Africa. London: Longman.
  17. ^ a b El-Nour 1997, p. 155.
  18. ISBN 978-1-4962-1563-5
    .
  19. ISBN 978-1-84701-115-2
    .
  20. doi:10.17192/meta.2015.5.3520
    .
  21. ^ "Legend of Sudanese revolutionary singer Mohammad Wardi lives on". Al Arabiya English. 11 November 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  22. ^ "Al-Hakamat :Queens of popular media in Western Sudan * Khartoum Star". Khartoum Star. 12 September 2019. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  23. ^ "Female Singers Stir Blood in Darfur". Institute for War and Peace Reporting. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  24. doi:10.17159/tl.v48i2.2262
    .
  25. ^ "10 Hip Hop Tracks From The Sudanese Revolution". www.scenenoise.com. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  26. ^ "The revolution is on the curriculum". BBC News. 28 December 2019. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  27. ^ Berkley 1981, pp. 113–114.
  28. ^ Muhammad Abd al-Hayy, Conflict and Identity: The Cultural Poetics of Contemporary Sudanese Poetry. Khartoum University Press, 1976, p.21, quoted after Berkeley, 1981.
  29. ^ El-Nour 1997, p. 151.
  30. ^ El-Nour 1997, p. 154.
  31. ^ a b Berkley 1981, p. 116.
  32. ^ a b Luffin 2017, p. 422.
  33. ^ "The novel of the period prior to Independence dedicated itself to the search for an effective combative identity at the individual and the collective level. The post-Independence novel has attempted to grant us our profound and deeply rooted historical identity, with its negative and positive sides." El-Nur Osman Abkar, The post-Independence novel: The Search for an Historical cultural identity with El Tayeb Salih and Ibrahim Ishaq, al-Ayyam newspaper (18 February 1977), quoted after Berkley 1981, p. 117.
  34. ^ رحيل الشاعر السوداني النور عثمان أبكر أحد مؤسسي مدرسة «الغابة والصحراء», أخبــــــار. archive.aawsat.com (in Arabic). Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  35. ^ a b c d Luffin 2017, p. 426.
  36. ^ "The novel of the period prior to Independence dedicated itself to the search for an effective combative identity at the individual and the collective level. The post-Independence novel has attempted to grant us our profound and deeply rooted historical identity, with its negative and positive sides." El-Nur Osman Abkar, The post-Independence novel: The Search for an Historical cultural identity with El Tayeb Salih and Ibrahim Ishaq, al-Ayyam newspaper (18 February 1977), quoted after Berkley 1981, p. 117
  37. ^ The Daily Star (27 April 2015). "Sudanese poet Muhammad al-Fayturi dies in Rabat". The Daily Star, Lebanon. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  38. JSTOR 41716840
    .
  39. ^ Luffin 2017, p. 424.
  40. ^ Luffin 2017, pp. 424–425.
  41. ^ Luffin 2017, p. 425.
  42. ^ Polonsky, Naomi (2 November 2018). "The Expansive Literary Output of Sudan and South Sudan, on Display". Hyperallergic. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  43. ^ a b El Gizouli, Magdi (3 April 2014). "Mahjoub Sharif: a secular prophet". sudantribune.com. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  44. ^ Miraya (17 August 2009) Sudanese Writers Union launches a new House after 20 years
  45. ^ "Sudanese Writers Union celebrates return with cultural festival". Radio Dabanga. 8 January 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  46. ^ a b Gilbert, Alia (12 February 2015). "'Where are the libraries?' The literary radical fighting Sudan's crackdowns". the Guardian. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  47. ^ Lynx Qualey, Marcia (2 July 2016). "Beating — or joining — literary piracy in Sudan". ARABLIT & ARABLIT QUARTERLY. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  48. ^ a b Cormack, Ralph; Shmookler, Max (eds.). "The Book of Khartoum". Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  49. ^ a b Shmookler, Max (December 2013). "Biting their Mother Tongue: Three Sudanese Short Stories about Estrangement". Words Without Borders. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  50. ^ Sanhouri, Sabah Babiker Ibraheem (December 2013). "Isolation". Words Without Borders. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  51. ISBN 978-977-416-146-9
    .
  52. ^ GradeSaver. "Season of Migration to the North Study Guide | GradeSaver". www.gradesaver.com. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  53. ^ "The 100 Best Arabic Novels (2018)". www.banipal.co.uk. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  54. ^ Mahjoub, Jamal (20 February 2009). "Obituary: Tayeb Salih". the Guardian. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  55. ^ "Adieu… Great Novelist Ibrahim Ishaq| Sudanow Magazine". sudanow-magazine.net. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  56. ^ Shammat, Lemya (11 March 2019). "The Microfictions of Sudanese Writer Fatima As-Sanoussi". ARABLIT & ARABLIT QUARTERLY. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  57. ^ "Bushra El Fadil". www.banipal.co.uk. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  58. ^ "Story exploring freedom wins Caine Prize for African Writing | The Bookseller". www.thebookseller.com. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  59. ^ "Tarek ELTAYEB | The International Writing Program". iwp.uiowa.edu. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  60. ^ "Tarek Eltayeb – Arab Literature – Works". www.eltayeb.at. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  61. ^ "Shortlist announced for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction 2001". www.banipal.co.uk. 9 December 2010. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  62. ^ "The International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) is one of the most prestigious and important literary prizes in the Arab world". arabicfiction.org. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  63. ^ "Ishraga Mustafa". Words Without Borders. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  64. ^ "Results for 'Ishraga Mustafa Hamid' [WorldCat.org]". www.worldcat.org. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  65. ^ "Results for 'إشراقة مصطفى حامد' [WorldCat.org]". www.worldcat.org. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  66. ^ Obank, Margaret. "Book review: The Jungo: The Stakes of the Earth". www.banipal.co.uk. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  67. ^ "Abdel Aziz Baraka Sakin – Comma Press". commapress.co.uk. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  68. ^ "Censor confiscates ten books at Sudanese Writers Union fair". Radio Dabanga. 13 February 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  69. ISBN 978-0-19-934980-7
    .
  70. ^ "Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin — internationales literaturfestival berlin". www.literaturfestival.com. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  71. ^ "Hamed el-Nazir". www.banipal.co.uk. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  72. ^ Poetry Foundation (30 August 2022). "Najlaa Osman Eltom". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  73. ^ "Hammour Ziada". www.banipal.co.uk. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  74. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  75. ^
    ISSN 0261-3077
    . Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  76. ^ "Banthology – Comma Press". commapress.co.uk. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  77. ^ "Rania Mamoun – Comma Press". commapress.co.uk. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  78. ^ PEN International (4 March 2016). "International Women's Day: PEN talks to Sudanese journalist Sabah Sanhouri". Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  79. ^ "Sabah Sanhouri | The International Writing Program". iwp.uiowa.edu. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  80. ^ "Sabah Sanhouri ~ Home". Sabah Sanhouri. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  81. ^ "Katara announces the winners of the short story competition". DCCIW. Archived from the original on 13 August 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  82. ^ Malec, Jennifer (15 June 2023). "Sudanese writer Reem Gaafar wins 2023 Island Prize for 'compelling, profound and brilliant' debut novel A Mouth Full of Salt". The Johannesburg Review of Books. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  83. ^ "Women Recommend: Sudanese Women Writers". ArabLit & ArabLit QUARTERLY. 25 April 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  84. ^ "Arablit & Arablit Quarterly". Arablit & Arablit Quarterly. 5 April 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  85. ^
    ISSN 2051-543X. Archived
    (PDF) from the original on 1 October 2020.
  86. ^ El-Nour 1997, p. 158.
  87. ^ "Taban lo Liyong | South Sudanese and Ugandan writer". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  88. ^ "Leila Aboulela – Literature". literature.britishcouncil.org. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  89. ^ "Leila Abulela, international novelist - ليلي أبو العلا، الكاتبة الروائية العالمية". BBC News عربي (in Arabic). 2 September 2009. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  90. ^ Nebraska Press. "The January Children". www.nebraskapress.unl.edu. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  91. ^ Forbes Africa (4 June 2018). "Under 30 Creatives". Forbes Africa. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  92. ^ "Emtithal Mahmoud and the poetry of resilience". The World from PRX. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  93. ^ "You searched for 9781449492793". Andrews McMeel Publishing. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  94. ^ Group, The Black Spring Press (24 March 2020). "Our Winner - The 2019 International Beverly Prize for Literature". The Black Spring Press Group. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  95. ^ "Reza Abdoh 2021 Prize Winners". My Site. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  96. ^ "Winners of the #DignityNotDetention Poetry Prizes 2019 – Poetry International Online". Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  97. ^ Rakha, Youssef (12 March 2021). "Memories of displacement: Sudanese poet K. Eltinae on writing 'verses in the sky'". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  98. ISBN 978-1-58836-737-2
    .
  99. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  100. OCLC 951650673
    .
  101. OCLC 1089827087
    .
  102. ^ Ajayi, Angela (13 January 2023). "Review: 'Ghost Season,' by Fatin Abbas". Star Tribune. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
  103. ISBN 978-0-312-30623-6
    .
  104. ^ "BBC - Radio 4 - Woman's Hour - Mende Nazer". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  105. ^ See also the list of such books in the Wikipedia article Lost Boys of Sudan - Books, films and plays.
  106. ^ The Common literary organization (27 April 2020). "The Creator". The Common. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  107. ^ "Scattered Thoughts, Salah Elmur | Artspace.com". Artspace. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  108. ^ "Mahjoub Sharif: a secular prophet – Sudan Tribune: Plural news and views on Sudan". sudantribune.com. 21 July 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  109. ^ "Kadisa: A new children's book written in collaboration with children by Ola Diab". Andariya. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  110. ^ "Sharhabil Ahmed". lambiek.net. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  111. ^ Fayez, Yasser. "Publishing for the Children of Sudan… Readers vs Regime | Nasher News". nasher-news.com. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  112. ^ "Khartoum Comic Con Bringing Together Sudan's Comic Fans". 500 Words Magazine. 24 December 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  113. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  114. OCLC 149988928
    .
  115. ^ This play was based on the romantic story Tajouj by Osman Mohamed Hashim, considered by some as the first Sudanese novel, according to Eiman El-Nour, 1977, p. 156. In 1977, this story was turned into the feature film Tajouj by prominent filmmaker Gadalla Gubara .
  116. ^ "Sudan for all". sudan-forall.org. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  117. ^ "Sudanese theatre enjoys revival after years of war". Reuters. 4 April 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  118. ^ "Home – College of Music and Drama". drama.sustech.edu. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  119. ^ "Theatre in Sudan now". 19 August 2009. Archived from the original on 19 August 2009. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  120. ^ Magid, Djamela; et al. (eds.). "I Know Two Sudans: An Anthology of Creative Writing from Sudan and South Sudan". Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  121. ^ "Review | Literary Sudans: An Anthology of Literature From Sudan and South Sudan". Brittle Paper. 9 January 2017. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  122. ^ Babikir, Adil (ed.). "Modern Sudanese Poetry: An Anthology". www.nebraskapress.unl.edu. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  123. ^ "Sudanese literature today". www.banipal.co.uk. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  124. ^ "The Common: Issue 19". The Common. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  125. ^ Shringarpure, Bhakti et al. (2016), Literary Sudans: An Anthology of Literature from Sudan and South Sudan. Trenton: The Red Sea Press, pp. 4–6.
  126. ^ "King Faisal Prize | Professor Abd Allah Al-Tayyeb". Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  127. ^ Hassan, Yahya (9 March 2020). "Sudan: Prof. Awn Alsharif Qasim – a Life Story of Changing Fates". allAfrica.com. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  128. ^ "University Of Khartoum Electronic Journals System". onlinejournals.uofk.edu. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  129. ^ WorldCat identities. "Naʻīm, ʻAbd Allāh Aḥmad 1946–". worldcat.org.
  130. ^ WorldCat identities. "Sadiq al-Mahdi – مهدي، الصادق".
  131. ^ See, for example, Abdallah al-Tayyib's Heroes of Arabia and his Stories from the sands of Africa.
  132. ^ "Arabnet | Andariya Wants to Help Put the Sudans on the Digital Map". www.arabnet.me. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  133. ^ Andariya Magazine. "About us". Retrieved 1 July 2020.

Works cited

Further reading

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sudanese_literature&oldid=1218926122"