Al Adab

''Al Adab'' (Arabic: مجلة الأداب; ''Majalla al ʾādāb''; "literary magazine") was an Arabic avant-garde existentialist literary print magazine published in Beirut, Lebanon, in the period 1953–2012. It was restarted in 2015 as an online-only publication. ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' describes it as one of the leading publications founded in the Arab countries in the latter half of the 20th century. Although the magazine was headquartered in Beirut, it was distributed all over the Arabic-speaking regions.

History and profile

''Al Adab'' was launched by Suhayl Idris, Mahij Uthman and Munir Al Baalbecki in Beirut in 1953. The publisher was Dar Al Adab which was also established by Suhayl Idris who was the editor-in-chief of the magazine from 1956 to 1992. ''Al Adab'' was inspired from ''Les Temps modernes'' and has a pan-Arab political stance.

The influence and popularity of ''Al Adab'' continued until the beginning of the civil war in Lebanon in 1975. The frequency of the magazine changed over time. It was started as a monthly and published on a monthly basis until 1980. Between 1980 and 2011 ''Al Adab'' appeared five times per year. The magazine was published four times in 2012 when it ceased its print version in Autumn 2012 after producing 60 volumes. ''Al Adab'' was relaunched as an online literary magazine in 2015.

Content and contributors

''Al Adab'' was under the influence of Jean-Paul Sartre and existentialism adhering to the concept of commitment literature (al-adab al-multazim) which is also termed as the literary commitment (iltizam al-adab). The commitment of the magazine was the encouragement of literary outcomes focusing on the Arab world-related politics and social causes. Therefore, it argued that the literary work produced in Arabic should function as a medium for the liberation of Arabs. The magazine was also a follower of the free verse approach in poetry.

The magazine featured articles on politics, poetry, short stories, film criticism, theater, and culture with a special reference to the Arab world. It also frequently contained literary criticism. As an avant-garde publication ''Al Adab'' covered all forms of novice literary techniques which were applied to all literary genres.

The contributors of ''Al Adab'' were from different political origins, but all were the supporters of the approaches given above. Some of them were Raif Khoury, Salama Moussa, Nazik Al Malaika and Taha Hussein. In the Spring 1968 issue of ''Al Adab'' the manifesto of Adunis, a Syrian poet, dated 5 June 1967 was published.

Although both were avant-garde publications and supported free verse movement, ''Al Adab'' was the main adversary of ''Shi'r'', a poetry magazine started in Beirut in 1968. Because the latter was an ardent opponent of the commitment literature. ''Al Adab'' was also critical of the cultural elites of the period due to their inactiveness in regard to the achievement of the liberation of the Arab countries.

The issues of ''Al Adab'' were archived by the American University of Beirut.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adab
1953 establishments in Lebanon
2012 disestablishments in Lebanon
Avant-garde magazines
Defunct literary magazines
Defunct magazines published in Lebanon
Existentialist works
Literary magazines published in Lebanon
Magazines published in Beirut
Magazines established in 1953
Magazines disestablished in 2012
Monthly magazines published in Lebanon
Online literary magazines
Online magazines with defunct print editions
Pan-Arabist media
Poetry literary magazines
Quarterly magazines