Aswat Muʿasira: Short Stories for Advanced Arabic

An engaging collection of contemporary short stories from various Arabic countries develops students’ mastery of literary analysis and cultural awareness

Aswat Mu’asira introduces advanced level students to contemporary short stories from across the Middle East. Fifty-five stories in Arabic from twenty countries engage students with current topics and literary approaches that open the door to discovering both established and emerging authors and literary traditions. The book includes voices from often overlooked Arabic-speaking countries and peoples, giving readers the opportunity to broaden their understanding of Arabic cultures.

While most Arabic literature textbooks include only excerpts of longer works, the short stories in this collection are designed to be read in one sitting, giving students the opportunity to immerse themselves in a complete piece of literature. Stories are organized into chapters based on their country of origin. Each story is preceded by an author biography and followed by exercises to help students practice vocabulary and comprehension, explore the literary tradition, and master literary analysis.

Scholars of Arabic literature will also welcome these new stories, many of which are available outside the Middle East for the first time in this collection and expand the understanding of the short story and of contemporary literature from this important region.

Jonas Elbousty is the director of undergraduate studies and of the Arabic Summer Abroad Program at Yale University. He has worked extensively with the Defense Language Institute and other organizations to provide training and testing services. Elbousty is the author of Media Arabic: Journalistic Discourse for Advanced Students of Arabic, the coauthor of Advanced Arabic Literary Reader, and coauthor of Vitality and Dynamism: Interstitial Dialogues of Language, Politics, and Religion in Morocco’s Literary Tradition.