Współczesna powieść saudyjska
Modern Saudi Novel

Summary/Abstract: The first ever Saudi novel, titled At-Taw’aman, was published in 1930 in Damascus, by Abd al- Quddus al-’Ansari. Subsequent attempts in writing novels were made in 1935 by Nur Muhammad Abd Allah al-Jawahiri (Al-Intiqa at-tabi’i), Ahamad as-Siba’i (Fikra) and Muhammad Ali al- Maghribi (Al-Ba’th) (both of 1948). It is clearly visible that the early Saudi novels were of a didactic and reformatory nature. They presented goals and ambitions of the writers, who aimed at achieving a better future. Saudi literature, to a large extent, was infl uenced by both Egyptian and European literature. The 1980s were a period when the Saudi novel gained its specifi c traits which began to distinguish it from other literatures of the Arab states. An outstanding author of this period, who became an integral part of Saudi literary history, was Hamid ad-Damanhuri. He published the novels: Thaman at-tadhiya and Marrat al-ayyam, which depict the environment of Mecca and Jeddah and the mentality of the people living there. The Saudi critics compare the work of ad-Damanhuri to other psychological novels, for example to James Joyce’s Ulysses. Also, a novel by Ibrahim Nasser, titled Thuqub fi rida ‘al-layl, appeared at this time. In their novels, Ad-Damanhuri and an-Nasir are trying to depict a specifi c environment and to get the reader interested in the characters, which are presented against the background of the economic and spiritual transformations in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi writers also started to take on topics related to the socio-political transformations. Here the work of ‘Abd ar-Rahman Munif. In 2010, the International Prize for Arabic Fiction was given to Abduh Khal for the novel Tarmi bi sharer and in 2011 Raja’ Alim for the novel Tawq al-hamam

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