The Arabic Prose Poem

Huda J. Fakhreddine explores the ‘new genre’ of the Arabic prose poem as a poetic practice and a critical lens. This poetic form gave rise to a profound, contentious and continuing debate about Arabic its definition, its limits and its relation to its readers. Fakhreddine examines the history of the prose poem, its claims of autonomy and distance from its socio-political context, and the anxiety and scandal it generated.