The Unmaking of the Arab Intellectual ─ Prophecy, Exile and the Nation

The depiction of Arab intellectuals in literature has transformed from their 19th-century representation as promoters of aesthetic modernism and emancipation ideologies to the current questioning of such figures as knowledge producers and disseminators. The deep ideological ruptures that have marked the end of the 20th century have led to these challenging depictions of the intellectual witness, and this has implications for the ways in which we understand both the contemporary movement and the legacy of the Arab enlightenment era. Zeina Halabi identifies the 1990s as a critical historical juncture in which Arab writers displaced the archetype of the modernist, secular, nationalist and exilic intellectual. She argues instead for a political critique that she sees to be inherent in contemporary Arabic literature, thereby opening this literary and intellectual corpus for reconsideration.

Zeina G. Halabi is Assistant Professor of Arabic Literature and Culture at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research interests encompass the area of Arabic literature, history, and pop culture. She has published articles in the Journal of Arabic Literature and Environment and Urbanization.