DIGIMYTH · Digital Mythology and Arabic Literature: A Digital Archive to Study the Dynamics of the Reception of Greek Myths in Modern Arabic Literature

Digital Mythology and Arabic Literature: A Digital Archive to Study the Dynamics of the Reception of Greek Myths in Modern Arabic Literature

The reception of the Greek classics and mythology in modern Arabic literature is part of the process of cultural interaction between Europe and the Arab world that fueled the 19th-20th-century cultural renaissance, known as the nahḍah. The modern Arab interest in ancient Greek literature, influenced by the European “Hellenomania” of those years, was driven by the belief that Greek classics were essential for joining world literature. At the same time, the very assimilation of the category of “classics” led to the revivification of the Arab heritage, which included the translation and the re-elaboration of Greek knowledge chiefly during the Abbasid rule. Unlike the medieval focus on Greek philosophy and science, Arab modernity engaged more directly with Greek literature and mythology. Although much has been written about the transmission of Greek knowledge to Arab sciences and philosophy during the first centuries of Arab-Islamic history, less attention has been paid to the reception of Greek literature and mythology in modernity, especially before the 1950s. With a few exceptions, most existing studies focus on later phases of reception, when Greek myths were already integrated into Arabic literary traditions. They therefore do not explain how, when, why, and which Greek myths made their way into Arabic literature, which one of the many meanings of the myth is conveyed by each text, and which is the impact of the extra-textual world on the re-configurations of the myths in each rewriting. DIGIMYTH aims to fill this gap by examining the period from 1850 to 1950, expanding the focus beyond poetry to include lectures, translations, essays, encyclopedias, journal articles, drama, and school and university curricula. The project’s main objective is to create an open-access digital archive of Arabic texts referencing Greek myths, through which it analyzes the dynamics of their reception in Arabic literature. Additionally, DIGIMYTH seeks to foster academic discussions on the reception of Greek myths in non-European literatures and to stimulate a reflection in civil society about the concept of Greek mythology as a shared cultural heritage along the shores of the Mediterranean.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз