Arab History and Tewfik Al-Hakim’s Theatre: Accounting for paucity of Dramaturgy

Abstract

This paper examines the historical and cultural configuration that shaped the theatrical sensibilities and ultimately the performance pattern on which Tewfik Al-Hakim’s Arabic theatre is predicated. An exposition of how drama fits within the context of cultural Islamization requires an account of the historical matrix which shows the synthesis of Islam and indigenous culture as well as the hybridity brought to the convergence by the harsh realities of colonization. In order to grasp the basis of the dramaturgy in Al-Hakim’s theater, a limited survey of his selected text is necessary.