Immagini del XIX secolo nel romanzo storico saudita: Gedda e il massacro del 1858
(Images of the 19th century in the Saudi historical novel: Jeddah and the 1858 massacre)
in La rivista di Arablit, a. VIII, n. 16, dicembre 2018, pp. 45-59.
This paper focuses on two novels, Fitnat Ǧuddah (2010) by Maqbūl al-‘Alawī, and Maqām Ḥiǧāz (2011) by Muḥammad Ṣādiq Diyāb, which deal with Jeddah’s history and, in particular, with the episode known as the “Massacre of Jeddah” (1858). Each writer has his own special way of narrating this tragic event; however, they both offer a captivating image of Eighteenth-century Jeddah and the Hijaz region’s mood. Moreover, not only are these novels interesting per se, but also because they serve as an evidence of the fact that historical fiction is practised in Saudi Arabia, despite all the difficulties this literary sub-genre seems to undergo in the country.
