Modern Arabic Criticism and Rhetoric: Transformation, Rupture, and Continuity in the Thought of Mustafa Nasif

Abstract

This study explores the key transitional phases in modern Arabic literary criticism, focusing on the shift from classical Arabic rhetoric to contextual methodologies, and subsequently to textual approaches. It investigates the dynamics of rupture and continuity, emphasizing the theoretical and methodological transformations while highlighting the persistent connection between tradition and modernity in the works of many Arab critics. The research adopts the critical experience of Mustafa Nasif as a representative model, with reference to other relevant voices in the field. The study underscores the challenges posed by the departure from traditional rhetorical and linguistic frameworks, especially in the absence of consensus on the adoption of Western critical terminology and literary theory. The paper is divided into an introduction, a conclusion, and three main sections: the first addresses the transition from rhetoric and classical criticism to contextual and then textual methodologies; the second examines the theoretical foundations of Nasif’s critical project; and the third presents applied analytical models that characterize Nasif’s distinctive "second reading" of Arabic literature. The study concludes that the early enthusiasm for contextual methodologies as modern tools of analysis eventually declined, with many Arab critics returning to rhetorical principles, often integrating them with stylistic and poetic analysis.