Subota I. The evolution of Arabic short story in the Arabian Gulf in the 20 – early 21st century

Thesis for a Candidate Degree in Philology. Speciality 10.01.04 – “Literature of foreign countries” Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. – Kyiv, 2020. This thesis examines the evolution of the short story genre in Arabian Gulf literature in the 20th – the early 21st century. As part of the investigation of the scientific problem, we examined the definition of the short story genre in Ukrainian, English, and Arabic studies of literature. The scholars refer to distinctive features of the short story genre its laconicism, lyricism, psychological component; the author’s immersion in the world of internal reflections, the tension of the plot. In Arabic studies of literature, the Arabic term al-qiṣṣah al-qaṣīrah (literally ‘short story’) corresponds to the English term short story. The formation of this term took place at the beginning of the 20th century. After studying the definitions of the genre al-qiṣṣah al-qaṣīrah given by Arab literary critics, we have convinced that it has the same features as the short story genre in English and Ukrainian literature. It is worth mentioning that Arab writers rely on the works of European literary critics when defining the features of the short story genre. We considered it necessary to examine the definitions of a new genre in Arabic literature – al-qiṣṣah al-qaṣīrah ğiddan (literally ‘very short story’) given by Arabic scholars. One should distinguish al-qiṣṣah al-qaṣīrah ğiddan from the short story despite some similarities between these two genres of modern Arabic literature. Among distinguishing features of this genre are its small volume (from half a page to several sentences) and the wide use of tropes and allegorical images. The study of Arabic narrative tradition showed that the short story in Modern Arabic literature has been developing on a rich ground. One can find in Medieval Arabic literature some prose genres that we can consider them the forerunners of the modern short story: musāmarah, ḥikāyah, nawādir, sīrah, qiṣṣah, makāmah. We should admit that the use of the makāmah form by modern Arab writers became the first step to the formation of the Arabic short story.