From left to right: Gibran Khalil Gibran, Ameen Rihani, and Mikhail Naimy.
The pioneering Mahjar writing of first-wave Arab American literature has fascinated those in the diaspora community and their homelands for over a century. Modernist characteristics of this literature contributed to its fascination, as it developed earlier than modernism in Arabic literature.
The Mahjar modernist movement emerged in the early 20th century, rooted in romanticism and spiritual philosophy. Arab American poetry diverged from Arab poetry dramatically in form and theme, characterized by simple language, freedom from tradition in rhyme and meter, and the abandonment of stereotypes. This modernist literature was, in some ways, an antecedent to its Arab counterparts. Fascinatingly, while Arab literature did not embrace modernism until the late interwar period, members of the Arab American intellectual community readily adopted the literary movement.
The Mahjar era of Arab American literature gave rise to three icons whose influence continues today. Poet Gibran Khalil Gibran was regarded as the originator of modernity in Mahjar Arabic literature by Adonis, the dean of contemporary modernism in Arabic literature. In general, Mahjar members rejected classical and neo-classical Arabic poetry. Ameen Rihani, another literary icon, is best known for his criticisms of neo-classical Arabic poetry, challenging its “repetition, vulgarity, rudeness, realism, and immorality,” according to Moise A. Khayrallah in the Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies. As for the third literary icon, Mikhail Naimy went as far as to call for using the Lebanese vernacular language instead of Arabic in poetry.
This article is the second installment of a four-part series of articles about Arab American literature that covers the first wave (the Mahjar period), second wave, and third wave, the contemporary period. Subscribe to Al Jadid to access the first two parts of this series.
Subscribe to Al Jadid Digital for $15.95 to read the full article (5345 words). Subscribers gain access to Al Jadid’s online archive, which includes 18 years of Al Jadid Magazine issues and the last two years of Inside Al Jadid Reports: https://www.aljadid.com/content/digital-subscribe-0
If you are a student and your library is not subscribed to Al Jadid, contact your library to subscribe to Al Jadid’s institutional subscription:
If you are interested in purchasing print copies of Al Jadid Magazine (Nos. 42-75), contact us at aljadid@aljadid.com or by mail:
Al Jadid Magazine
5762 Lincoln Ave. #1005
Cypress, CA 90630
To read D. H. Melhem’s “Gibran’s ‘The Prophet’ Outside the Canon of American Literature,” click on the link below: https://www.aljadid.com/content/gibran%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%98-prophet%E2%80%99-outside-canon-american-literature
To read Steven Salaita’s “Vision: Arab-American Literary Criticism,” click on the link below:
To read Therí Alyce Pickens’ “Presently Reading the Past: A Look at Early Arab-American Literature,” click on the link below:
Copyright © 2023 by Al Jadid