Narratives of Illness in Modern Arabic Literature

In Illness Narratives in Modern Arabic Literature, Dr. Fatima Al-Quraan explores an emerging interdisciplinary domain within Arabic literary criticism that intersects with Medical Humanities. The book investigates how physical and mental illness is transformed from a purely medical condition into a potent narrative tool and a rich metaphor for personal, social, and political trauma.

Through a meticulous examination of various modern Arabic novels, Al-Quraan analyzes how Arab writers deploy the trope of the ailing body to address themes of political oppression, marginalization, social decay, and existential anxiety. The study highlights how writing about illness becomes an act of reclamation—allowing the sufferer to structure chaotic pain into a coherent narrative, resist institutional dominance, and articulate human vulnerability.

Because it offers a fresh and insightful interdisciplinary lens combining literature and medicine, explaining how narrative helps reshape our understanding of physical suffering and human vulnerability.

Literary critics, researchers in cultural studies and medical humanities, students of modern Arabic literature, and readers fascinated by the philosophy of the body and narrative psychology.