| FA-55436-10 | Research Programs: Fellowships for University Teachers | Christina Elsa Civantos | "The Gathering Place of Secrets": The Critical Introduction and Translation of a Lebanese Novel | 8/1/2010 - 7/31/2011 | $50,400.00 | Christina | Elsa | Civantos | | | | University of Miami | Coral Gables | FL | 33146-2919 | USA | 2009 | Arabic Literature | Fellowships for University Teachers | Research Programs | 50400 | 0 | 50400 | 0 |
"The Gathering Place of Secrets" is a critical introduction and translation of the Arabic novel Majma` al-Asrar by distinguished Lebanese author Elias Khoury. With copyright permission, I am crafting the first English version of the novel in order to bring it to a broader readership. The novel, through fragmented structure and dialogue with a novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, depicts a love triangle, surrounded by secrets, in the midst of civil war. In my critical introduction, I place the novel within its historical, cultural, and literary context and I show that the novel points to humans' futile attempts at uncovering supposed secrets, at establishing ultimate truths,as a dynamic that can feed various forms of violence. Given the current strained relations between the English-speaking world and Arab-Islamic cultures, the introduction and translation of this novel offers both general readers and specialists a much needed window into the many facets of Arab culture and Arab creativity. |