Rami Abu Shihab

Rami Abu Shihab
Born	1974 (age 50–51) Jordan
Occupation	Writer academic critic
Education	Institute of Arab Research and Studies (PhD) Hashemite University (MSc) Mutah University (B.A.)
Literary movement	Critical theory Postcolonial discourse Cultural criticism Cinema
Notable awards	Sheikh Zayed Book Award (2014)

Rami Abu Shihab (born 25 July 1974) is a Palestinian-Jordanian writer and academic critic specializing in literary criticism, cultural studies and post-colonial discourse.

His book, Al-Rasis wa Al-Mukhatala fi Al-Naqd Al-Arabi Al-Mu'asir (Ambivalence and Subversion in Contemporary Arab Criticism) played a pivotal role in advancing postcolonial studies within Arab criticism. Published in 2013, it was one of the first works to systematically introduce postcolonial theory in Arab literary critique. Similarly, his book, Al-Mamar Al-Akhir: Sardiyat Al-Shatat li-Filastini (The Last Passage: Narratives of Palestinian Diaspora) established a foundation for studies of diaspora in Arabic literature. Shihab exploration of trauma literature in the Arab world was further enriched by his work, Kitab Al-Dhahiyya: Adab Al-Sadma-Al- Trauma (The Book of the Victim: Literature of Shock and Trauma).

His research research spans diverse fields of knowledge and critical methodologies, with notable contributions to postcolonial discourse, diaspora studies and cultural criticism.

In 2019, he served as a jury member for the Almultaqa Prize for the Arabic Short Story in Kuwait.

Since 2014, he has written a weekly column for Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper in London. He has participated in conferences and seminars in various countries including the United States, Cambridge University in England, Algeria, Egypt, Kuwait, Jordan, Qatar and Tunisia.

Early life and education

Shihab was born in 1974 in Jordan, seven years after the Naksa, the displacement of Palestinians following the Six-Day War. He completed his primary and secondary education in Jordan, and earned a Bachelor's degree in Arabic Language and Literature from Mutah University, where he developed an early appreciation for the role of language in exploring identity and addressing marginalization. He obtained a Master's degree from the Hashemite University in Jordan and in 2012, he earned his PhD from Institute of Arab Research and Studies in Cairo.

Works

His works includes global cinema, folklore, heritage studies and critical reviews of various books and scholarly studies.

Books

• Bina' Al-Shakhsiyya Al-Ramziya fi Al-Riwaya Al-Arabiya fi Al-Urdun 1967-2003 [The Construction of Symbolic Character in the Arabic Novel in Jordan (1967–2003)]. Amman: Cultural Circle. 2008.
• Al-Raseeswa Al-Mukhatala: Khitab Ma Ba'd Al-Kuloniyaliya fi Al-Naqd Al-Arabi Al-Mu'asir; Al-Nazariyawa Al-Tatbiq [The Residual and the Evasive: Postcolonial Discourse in Contemporary Arab Criticism; Theory and Application]. Beirut: Arab Foundation for Studies and Publishing. 2013. ISBN 9786144191583.
• The Structure of the Folktale: Model and Reception. Doha: Ministry of Culture. 2015. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |notes= ignored (help)
• Cultural Patterns in Contemporary Qatari Short Stories. Doha: Center for Research and Studies. 2016. ISBN 9786144199435.
• Fi Al-Mamar Al-Akhir: Sirdiyat Al-Shatat Al-Filastini; Manzur Ma Ba'dKuloniyali [In the Last Passage: The Narrative of Palestinian Diaspora; A Postcolonial Perspective]. Beirut: Arab Foundation for Studies and Publishing. 2017. ISBN 9786144197882.
• Al-Anwat Al-Mushawaha: Maqarabat fi Al-Tanwir wa Al-Ma'rifawa Al-Lugha [Distorted Selves: Approaches in Enlightenment, Knowledge, and Language]. Beirut: Arab Foundation for Studies and Publishing. 2019. ISBN 9786144860069.
• Khitab Al-Wa'i Al-Mu'salab fi Al-Riwaya Al-Arabiya: Maqarabat fi Al-Naqd Al-Thaqafi; Ma Ba'd Al-Kuloniyaliya, Al-Naqd Al-Nasawi, Al-Tarikhaniya Al-Jadida [The Discourse of Ideologized Consciousness in the Arabic Novel: Approaches in Cultural Criticism—Postcolonialism, Feminist Criticism, New Historicism]. Beirut: Arab Foundation for Studies and Publishing. 2021. ISBN 9786144861837.
• Kitab Al-Dhahiya: Adab Al-Sadma (Al-Trauma) [The Book of the Victim: Trauma Literatures]. Arab Foundation for Studies and Publishing. 2024. ISBN 9786144864852.

Poetry collections

• I Have Returned After a Brief Death. Amman: Fada’at Publishing and Distribution. 2007.
• As for Me, I Am Not Made of Clay. Beirut: Arab Foundation for Studies and Publishing. 2019.

Chapters

• "Chapter 3: Qatari Folktales from a Morphological Perspective". Studies in Qatari Folklore. Vol. 2. 2012.
• "Toward a Palestinian Diaspora Discourse: Writing in Times of Migration". The Palestinian Cause and the Future of the National Project: Identity, Resistance, and International Law. Doha: Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies. 2015.
• Oudah, Issa; Azhiya, Raedah Akho, eds. (2018). In the Fever of the Text: Research and Studies Dedicated to Professor Dr. Mustafa Alyan. Amman: Al-Mamoun Publishing.
• "The Dialectics of Uprooting and Trauma". Palestine in the Mirrors of Thought and Creativity. Vol. 11. Beirut: Arab Report for Cultural Development, Arab Thought Foundation. 2020.
• "The Discourse and Its Other". The Story Keeper: Studies Dedicated to Faisal Darraj. Amman: Al-Ahlia Publishing. 2021.

Academic research

• "Arab Feminist Cybernetics: Concepts, Questions, and Challenges". Tajseer Journal. 5 (1). Ibn Khaldun Center, Qatar University. 2023-06-22.
• "Postcolonialism: Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi—Textual Extensions and the Echo Effect". The Arab American University Research Journal. 8 (2). Jenin. 2022. Archived from the original on 23 May 2024.
• "Trauma Discourse: Transformation and Form in Mahmoud Darwish's 'The Butterfly Effect". Yarmouk University Journal for Research. 29 (3). Jordan. 2020.
• "Historical Fiction: Intentions and Imagination in the Novel The Pirate". Journal of Arts and Sciences. 12 (2). Oman: Sultan Qaboos University. December 2021.
• "Cultural Criticism: Concept and Representation" Published in Journal of Humanities and Literature, University of Haj Lakhdar, Algeria, Volume 14, Issue 1, 2012.
• "The Nakba in Ibrahim Nasrallah's Novel *Time of White Horses*: Consciousness and Historical Imagination". The Arab Journal for Humanities (151). Kuwait University. Summer 2020.
• "Postcolonial Criticism: Methodological Perspectives". Apuleius Journal for Languages and Literature. 6 (2). Algeria: Mohamed Seddik Benyahia University. June 2019.
• "Jerusalem: The Discourse of Fixation and Displacement—From Western Travelogues to Digital Narratives". Ru'yaFikriya Journal (9). Algeria: University of Souk Ahras. April 2019.
• "The Ideologized Identity in Assia Djebar's Gate of Memory". Journal of Language and Literature (29). University of Algiers II. December 2019.
• "Audience Rhetoric: Concepts, Applications, Epistemological and Methodological Challenges". Journal of Linguistics and Discourse Analysis (6). Algeria: University of M’Sila. January 2019.
• "Value Discourse in Contemporary Qatari Short Stories". Ansaaq Journal (2). Qatar University. October 2017.
• "Language and History: Which Betrays the Other?—Analysis and Critique of Nicholas Ostler's Empires of the Word". Tabayyun Journal for Cultural Studies (7). Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies. March 2014.
• "Feminist Discourse: Strategies of Estrangement and Transcendence in the Modern Qatari Short Story". Apuleius Journal. 8 (1). January 2021.

Awards

• 2014 Sheikh Zayed Book Award for Permanence and Deception: Post-Colonial Discourse in the Contemporary Arab Criticism. The award committee stated that the book represents a new step in tracing the impact of postcolonial studies on the landscape of contemporary Arab criticism.
• Research Grant from the Ministry of Culture and Arts in Qatar, 2015.