Humanities & Film Librarian
261 Richmond Way
University of Richmond, VA 23173
Literary Reflections
"Islam has long provided a source of inspiration through which Muslims experience, understand, and guide their everyday lives. The readings for this theme can be seen as literary reflections on Muslim piety and communal concepts such as ethics, governance, knowledge, and identity. Each one reveals transformations in faith and identity, as Muslims living at different times and in different places have interpreted Islamic traditions to meet their distinctive cultural realities and spiritual needs.
From formal poetry and the oral tradition of public storytelling to the more contemporary forms of memoir and the novel, many Muslim authors have posed questions about Muslim piety and identity. What does it mean to be a good Muslim? What does Islam require of women and men? How should a good Muslim behave within society? Does Islam promote specific political norms or practices?
The readings for this theme can be seen as literary reflections on questions such as these. Islam has long provided a source of inspiration through which Muslims experience, understand, and guide their everyday lives. In the works featured here, answers to these questions differ from one reading to the other, as each reflects the society in which it is written. Together they reveal how Muslims living at different times and in different places have interpreted Islamic traditions to meet their distinctive cultural realities and spiritual needs.
Still there are common threads that tie the readings together. The Arabian Nights, for example, is a cultural touchstone, serving in many subsequent literary works of the Muslim world as a source of inspiration for navigating between tradition and modernity, as the sanctuary of an idealized past in troubled times, or as a foil for exploring tensions between a secular establishment and the cultural revival of the Islamic faith in a globalized world. And, as each of these books considers various, contrasting, pathways toward transcendent faith and worldly identity, the mystical overtones of Muslim Sufi philosophy serve to complement formal religious requirements and local conditions."
Developed by Leila Golestaneh Austin, Johns Hopkins University.
- Literary Reflections Essay (PDF) - Available Feb 14.Prof. Leah Golestaneh Austin discusses the theme and how each of the books in the Muslim Journeys collection explores and expands on the theme.
Books from the Bridging Cultures Bookshelf
The Arabian Nights by Call Number: PJ7715.M87 2010Norton Critical Edition
Minaret by Call Number: PR6051.B68M56 2005Twenty years ago, Najwa then at university in Khartoum, would never have imagined that one day she would be a maid. An upper-class, westernised Sudanese, her dreams were to marry well and raise a family. But Najwa's days of innocence ended when a military coup forced the young woman and her family into political exile in London. Then Najwa meets Tamer, the intense, lonely younger brother of her employer. They find a common bond in faith and slowly, silently, begin to fall in love. Minaret is a portrait of a woman given a second chance at life, and a unique look at the life of a devout Muslim woman in England.
The Conference of the Birds by Call Number: PK6451.F4 M2813 1984
Snow by Call Number: PL248.P34 K36513 2011"Returning to Turkey from exile in the West, Ka is driven by curiosity to investigate a surprising wave of suicides among religious girls forbidden to wear their head scarves in school. But the epicenter of the suicides, the eastern border city of Kars, is also home to the radiant and newly divorced Ipek, a friend of Ka's youth, whom he has never forgotten and whose spirited younger sister is a leader of the rebellious schoolgirls. As a fierce snowstorm descends on Kars, violence between the military and local Islamic radicals begins to explode, and Ka finds his sympathies drawn in unexpected and dramatic directions."
Dreams of Trespass by Call Number: CT2678.M47 A3 1994"I was born in a harem in 1940 in Fez, Morocco..." So begins Fatima Mernissi in the exotic and rich narrative of a childhood behind the iron gates of a domestic harem. In Dreams of Trespass, Mernissi weaves her own memories with the dreams and memories of the women who surrounded her in the courtyard of her youth--women who, deprived of access to the world outside, recreated it from sheer imagination. This book is the provocative story of a girl confronting the mysteries of time and place, gender and sex in the recent Muslim world.
Other Resources on Muslim Literature
- Arab American Book AwardsYearly award in categories of Fiction and Poetry (as well as non-fiction), including many Muslim authors.
- Al-Bab: LiteratureLinks to sites on pre-Islamic and classical Arabic prose. Use links at right to see additional information on folk and modern literature.
- Al-Bab: PoetryLinks to site on Islamic poetry. Use links at right to see sections on meter, rhyme, classical and modern poetry, and poetry websites, books, and articles.