Negotiating Boundaries in Arabic Literature

This dossier aims to fit into the broad field of research about boundaries to give a specific contribution to the domain of Arabic literature from the pre-modern era to the contemporary. Our purpose is to draw attention to the literary modes of construction, deconstruction, and performance of boundaries. Literature is particularly effective in providing an alternative point of view because, as Carla Benedetti explains, it is part of those “unsupervised zones of thought and invention, which have been and still are in collision with the most established habits of the mind.” Because of its peculiar ability to resist disciplining discourses, literature is suitable for opening up beyond boundaries, to shift our view of the world beyond the patterns of habitual realities, to awaken forgotten resources, expand our faculties and make present humanity carry out a true metamorphosis.”