The widespread conservatism in the Middle East impacts the authors writing young adult literature for adolescents in primarily Arabic-speaking countries. One issue is that many of the authors of young adult literature in the Middle East are not able to write novels amidst the fear of backlash due to the inclusion of controversial topics relating to relationships. An article titled “YA literature treads carefully in the Arab world” by Marcia Lynx Qualey explores this topic within authorial and publishing perspectives. One author’s perspective that Qualey includes is Taghreed Najjar who has written a young adult novel titled Sitt al-Khol. Najjar explains a young adult literature struggle compared to children’s literature: “there are too many taboos on what to write and how to write it— it’s easier to sell books for younger children under the guise of educating them or strengthening their moral fibre— but YA has to appeal to young adults to sell well, hence the dilemma” (Qualey “YA fiction treads carefully in the Arab world”). Najjar hints at this notion that young adult literature in the Arab world suffers from lacking in the more controversial topics many adolescents may search for in their literature. Thus, when the literature shies away from certain topics to uphold conservative ideals, the market for young adult literature suffers from a lack of adolescent engagement. Najjar also explains how the male-female relationship in her novel has caused adolescent readership to ask questions concerning whether or not the relationship was truly chaste (Qualey). Another young adult author, Hadil Ghoneim echoes this sentiment of young adult’s aversion to literature that does not include taboo writing: “maybe we tend to be on our best behavior when we write for kids. And maybe they don’t appreciate that and don’t read too much because of that” (Qualey “YA literature treats carefully in the Arab world”). In this way, these two authors’ perspectives express a common thread of adolescent readership in Arabic-speaking countries being disappointed with young adult book offerings which lessen the market’s ability to publish successes. Qualey also includes a publishing personnel’s perspective from Aisha al-Kaabi of the IQRani publishing house explains that adolescent readers are moving the market towards: “shallow romantic stories or books written by social-media celebrities” (Qualey “YA treads carefully in the Arab world”). This then shows a commonality among the young adult literature market in the Middle East which notes a shift towards less conservative values and relationships included which goes against the interest of adolescent readers. This is important to understand the ways in which widespread values such as conservatism impact the young adult literary market in Middle Eastern countries. Furthermore, allowing for international readers of young adult literature to understand the contexts surrounding the markets and trends resulting from issues in other countries.
Works Cited
Qualey, Marcia Lynx. “YA Fiction Treads Carefully in the Arab World.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 21 Nov. 2014, www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/nov/21/ya-fiction-arab-world-young-adu.