Joachim Kolb (Trinity College, Dublin)
Building a National Literature:
the Case of the UAE (1971–2014)
Since its formation, the UnitedArab Emirates (UAE) have faced the challenge of
reconciling rapid economic growth, practically unfettered immigration, and a rapid
development of the physical infrastructure that allowed new lifestyles to emerge with
the proclaimed continuity of an autochtonous culture that is at onceliving heritage,
a projection of the current political order into the past, and a reinvention of the latter
under conditions of globalized acculturation.
This talk gives an overview of the organizational support, as well as the chal-
lenges for the emergence of a national literature in the UAE. It documents the role
of Arabic and specifically Arabic literature as a core element in building soft power
in the region, as well as in reinforcing the ties that bind Emirati society internally.
Finally, the field of Emirati prose literature is scrutinized, and some preliminary
conclusions are drawn as to its themes, motives and protagonists. Here, a period-
ization of Emirati prose literature is attempted on the basis of the thematic structure
of the literary works, the biographies of their author, and their social and economic
embedding in existing mechanisms of social exchange and patronage in the UAE.
In so doing, particular attention is given to the emergence of a new generation
of Emirati authors, who have come to take conditions and material affluence for
granted, but also articulate the voice of a dominant minority population in a country
where the sheer numbers of resident foreigners tend to limit their participation and
their sheer presence. Emergent literary and thematic conventions are explored, as are
the institutions that have come to support the incipient literary activity in the UAE.
Секция XIV.
Литература стран Азии и Африки
Literatures of Asia and Africa
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