Evolution of Travel Genre in Arabic literature

The book examines the literary and historical back-grounds pertaining to the evolution of the travel genre in Arabic literature. It's main objective is to pursue the literary, historical, and sociopolitical proofs that the travel genre in the Arab Islamic culture, did not only provide the medium of self expression and identity since the early beginnings of the Arabic culture, but eventually evolved into becoming an integral part in the creation of the modern Arabic literary forms. Arabic literary figures from the pre-Islamic Imru al-Qais to the 1988 Nobel Laureate Najib Mahfuz employed the travel genre to infuse their narratives with themes of personal and universal magnitudes thus immensely contributing to the development of the contemporary Arabic literature particularly novels and short stories.