Creationism in the Arabic drama

Abstract

Arabic drama as a collection of written texts belongs to the so-called “new” Arabic literature, which has been developing since the 19th century. Prior to this date, in the period of Arabic classical literature, only few dramas had been written. On the other hand, inspired by religion and folklore, numerous forms of theatrical plays developed (theatre of shadows, farce theatre, epic performances etc.). All of these forms were improvised and-in the second half of the 19th century-were replaced by the theatre based on the concept of dramatic text adopted from Europe. Egypt, where Egyptians, Libyans and Syrians (mainly political emigrants) founded numerous theatrical ensembles, has come to be the centre of Arab theatre. Due to their tours to the Middle East and Maghreb, the concepts of the theatre and drama have developed homogeneously in the whole Arab world. These concepts have been formed under the influence of European pat- terns: numerous plays have appeared which were borrowings from European works, especially dramas. However, Arabic drama, which created a synthesis of the native and alien patterns, has been shaped as a new quality. The contemporary Arabic drama comprises thousands of plays. I divided this huge output to the three main directions which I called neoclassicism, realism and creationism.