Modern Emirati Literature written by Woman Writers

• Published in: Studia Litteraria Universitatis Iagellonicae Cracoviensis 2013, Vol.8 (4), p.145-157
• Main Author: Michalak-Pikulska, Barbara
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Literary Texts
• ISSN: 1897-3035

The development of prose in the United Arab Emirates occurred much later than in other Gulf Countries. The local press started to develop only at the end of the 1960s. ‘Abd Allah Saqr Ahmad was the author of a short story Qulub la tarham (Merciless Hearts) published at the end of the 1960s and the first collection of short stories in the history of Emirate literature entitled al-Khashaba (A Piece of Wood). The first literary attempts of the young generation of Emirate writers were published within the pages of the following periodicals: an-Nasr, az-Zamalik, ash-Shabab, al-Ahli. On the market appeared the journal al-Ittihad, the weekly Akhbar Dubayy and the monthly al-Majma’. The first stage of modern Emirate literature is constituted by a group of writers who started to publish their works in the years 1972–1975. Among them: ‘Ali ‘Ubayd ‘Ali, Muhammad ‘Ali al-Mirri, ‘Abd al-Aziz Khalil as well as ‘Abd al-Hamid Ahmad and Muhammad al-Murr. In the Emirates women publish their works alongside men. The most renowned names include: Shaikha Mubarak an-Nakhi, Salma Matar Yusuf, Layla Ahmad, Maryam Jam‘a Faraj or Amina ‘Abd Allah Bu Shihab. New generation is represented by: Basima Muhammad Yunis, Su‘ad al-‘Arimi, Asma’ az-Zar‘uni, Ibtisam al-Mu‘alla and Rawda al-Balushi. Their short stories concern social matters i.e. the marriage of underage girls, the lack of respect for the opinions and aspirations of the young. What is more, in those stories we notice attempts at new topics connected with the introduction of a new life style which in turn is related to the economic and financial changes caused by the discovery of crude oil.