I Yacoubians hus

Peter Q. Rannes: “In Yacoubian’s Building”In his article Peter Q. Rannes examines the unexpected international bestseller status the novel The Yacoubian Building by the Egyptian writer Alaa al-Aswany has achieved. Through a short review of the Arab literary history it is argued that the modern Arabic prose literature traditionally has been dominated by an “epic unwillingness” which explains its poor international distribution.Demonstrating how The Yacoubian Building structurally and technically manages to overcome the epic limitations of the Mahfouz’ian collective novel form which the novel employs, an understanding of Yacoubians Building not only as an international bestseller but also as a genuine Arabic prose breakthrough is revealed.