Libyan literature has its roots in
Antiquity, but contemporary
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
n writing draws on a variety of influences.
The
Arab Renaissance (''Al-Nahda'') of the late 19th and early 20th centuries did not reach Libya as early as other Arab lands, and Libyans contributed little to its initial development. However, Libya at this time developed its own literary tradition, centred on
oral poetry, much of which expressed the suffering brought about by the
Italian colonial period. Most of Libya's early literature was written in the east, in the cities of
Benghazi and
Derna: particularly
Benghazi, because of its importance as an early Libyan capital and influence of the universities present there. They were also the urban areas closest to Cairo and Alexandria - uncontested areas of Arab culture at the time. Even today, most writers - despite being spread throughout the country, trace their inspiration to eastern, rather than western, Libya.
Libyan literature has historically been very politicized. The
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
n literary movement can be traced to the
Italian occupation of the early 20th century.
Sulaiman al-Barouni, an important figure of the Libyan resistance to the Italian occupation, wrote the first book of Libyan poetry as well as publishing a newspaper called ''The Muslim Lion''.
After the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
defeat in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, the focus of Libyan literature shifted to the fight for independence. The 1960s were a tumultuous decade for Libya, and this is reflected in the works of Libyan writers. Social change, the distribution of oil-wealth and the
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 Ju ...
were a few of the most discussed topics. Following the
1969 coup d'etat which brought
Muammar Gaddafi to power, the government established the Union of Libyan Writers. Thereafter, literature in the country took a much less antagonistic approach towards the government, more often supporting government policies than opposing.
As very little Libyan literature has been translated, few Libyan authors have received much attention outside of the
Arab World
The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...
. Possibly Libya's best-known writer,
Ibrahim Al-Koni, is all but unknown outside the
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
-speaking world.
History
Early Libyan works
Prior to Italian invasion, Libyan literary journals were primarily concerned with politics. Journals of this period included ''al-'Asr al–Jadīd'' (The New Age) in 1910 and ''al–Tarājim'' (The Translations) in 1897. It wasn't until the brutality of the Italian invasion that Libyan consciousness exposed itself in the form of the short story.
Wahbi Bouri argues in the introduction of ''al-Bawākir'' (The Vanguard), a collection of short stories he wrote from 1930 to 1960, that the Libyan short story was born in reaction to Italian occupation and Egyptian literary renaissance in Cairo and Alexandria. Specifically, copies of poems such as
Benghazi the Eternal helped to sustain Libyan resistance.
Italian policy of the time was to suppress indigenous Libyan cultural aspirations - therefore quelling any publications showing local literary influence. Perhaps the only publication of the time that had any Libyan roots was the Italian financed, Libya ''al-Muṣawwar'' (Illustrated Libya). While beginning as Italian propaganda, the magazine included work by
Wahbi Bouri, considered the father of Libyan short stories.
Libyan poet
Khaled Mattawa
Khaled Mattawa (born 1964) is a Libyan poet, and a renowned Arab-American writer, he is also a leading literary translator, focusing on translating Arabic poetry into English. He works as an Assistant professor of creative writing at the Univers ...
remarks:
:''"Against claims that Libya has a limited body of literature, classicists may be quick to note that ancient Greek lyric poet
Callimachus
Callimachus (; ) was an ancient Greek poet, scholar and librarian who was active in Alexandria during the 3rd century BC. A representative of Ancient Greek literature of the Hellenistic period, he wrote over 800 literary works in a wide varie ...
and the exquisite prose stylist
Sinesius were Libyan. But students of
Libyan history and literature will note a vast time gap between those ancient luminaries and the writers of today.
..Libya has historically made a limited contribution to
Arab literature
Arabic literature ( ar, الأدب العربي / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is '' Adab'', which is derived from a ...
"''.
Many of
Aesop
Aesop ( or ; , ; c. 620–564 BCE) was a Greek fabulist and storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as ''Aesop's Fables''. Although his existence remains unclear and no writings by him survive, numerous tales c ...
's fables have been classified as part of the 'Libyan tales' genre in literary tradition although some scholars argue that the term "Libya" was used to describe works of Non-Egyptian territories in
ancient Greece
Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of Classical Antiquity, classical antiquity ( AD 600), th ...
.
[Lobban, Richard Andrew, Was Aesop a Nubian Kummaji (Folkteller)?, Northeast African Studies - Volume 9, Number 1, 2002 (New Series), pp. 3]
1950 -1960
With the withdraw of European forces, a period of optimism was born ushered in by the return of educated Libyans who had lived in exile in Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon. Among the 1950s generation were famed writers
Kamel Maghur,
Ahmed Fagih
Ahmed Ibrahim al-Fagih (Arabic: أحمد إبراهيم الفقيه ''’áħmad 'Ibrāhīm al-faqīh'') (December 28, 1942 – April 30, 2019) was a Libyan novelist, playwright, essayist, journalist and diplomat. He began writing short stories ...
, and
Bashir Hashimi who all wrote with a sense of optimism reflecting the spirit of independence
Libyan literature began to bloom in the late 1960s, with the writings of
Sadeq al-Neihum,
Khalifa al-Fakhri,
Kamel Maghur (
prose
Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the ...
),
Muhammad al-Shaltami and
Ali al-Regeie (
poetry
Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...
). Many Libyan writers of the 1960s adhered to
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
,
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...
and generally
progressive views. Some writers also produced works resenting the entry of American oil companies as an attack on their country. This period also simultaneously began to cast Americans (with their oil companies) and Jews (because of Israel's foundation in 1948) as outsiders as well as occasionally in the positive light of facilitators.
1969-1986, Revolutionary Years
In 1969, a
military coup
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
brought
Muammar Gaddafi to power. In the mid-1970s, the new government set up a single publishing house, and authors were required to write in support of the authorities. Those who refused were imprisoned, emigrated, or ceased writing. Authors like
Kamel Maghur and
Ahmed Fagih
Ahmed Ibrahim al-Fagih (Arabic: أحمد إبراهيم الفقيه ''’áħmad 'Ibrāhīm al-faqīh'') (December 28, 1942 – April 30, 2019) was a Libyan novelist, playwright, essayist, journalist and diplomat. He began writing short stories ...
who had dominated the cultural landscape of the 1950s and 1960s continued to be the source of most literary production.
The New Libyan writers: Today
Censorship laws were loosened, but not abolished, in the early 1990s, resulting in a literary renewal. Some measure of dissent is expressed in contemporary literature published within Libya, but books remain censored and self-censored to a certain extent. In 2006 with the opening of Libya to the United States the nature of the novel changed. Internationally recognized Libyan writers include
Laila Neihoum,
Najwa BinShetwan, and
Maryam Salama. Libyan short-story writer and translator
Omar al-Kikli names
Ghazi Gheblawi,
Mohamed Mesrati (known as Mo. Mesrati) and
Mohamed Al-Asfar and six others as the Libyan short-story writers "who have gained most prominence in the first decade of the new century."
Themes
Contemporary Libyan literature is influenced by "local lore, North African and Eastern Mediterranean Arab literatures, and world literature at large" (K. Mattawa). Émigré writers have also contributed significantly to Libyan literature, and include
Ibrahim Al-Kouni,
Ahmad Al-Faqih and Sadeq al-Neihum.
A contemporary Libyan group was formed in the late 20th century called FC, with a leading pioneer named Penninah.
See also
*
Libyan writers
Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. The ...
*
Culture of Libya
Sources
*
Khaled Mattawa
Khaled Mattawa (born 1964) is a Libyan poet, and a renowned Arab-American writer, he is also a leading literary translator, focusing on translating Arabic poetry into English. He works as an Assistant professor of creative writing at the Univers ...
, "Libya", ''in'' ''
Literature from the "Axis of Evil"'' (a
Words Without Borders
''Words Without Borders'' (''WWB'') is an international magazine open to international exchange through translation, publication, and promotion of the world's best writing and authors who are not easily accessible to English-speaking readers. The ...
anthology), , 2006, pp. 225–228.
{{Libya topics