The Role of Women Writers in Shaping Genre of Short Stories in the Arab Literature (20th Century)

The aim of this thesis is to determine the contribution of women writers to the development of the short story genre in Arabic literature of the twentieth century. The object of the study is the short story genre in Arabic literature of the twentieth century. The subject is the features of Arabic short stories of the twentieth century written by women writers. In order to achieve the aim of the study, the following tasks were fulfilled. In the first chapter, the main periods of the formation of Arabic literature were identified, with emphasis on the key genres, developmental factors and gender specificity of the work of the writers of that time. The socio-economic, political, and cultural preconditions for the emergence of women writers on the twentieth-century Arab literary scene were also identified. The second chapter studied the genre of the short story, its evolution and role in the Arab literary tradition, with emphasis on the main stages of development and the contribution of individual authors. In the third chapter, the most significant Arab female writers were identified, and the features of their work were analysed, taking into account their biographies. On the basis of this information, conclusions were drawn about the general trends in the works of the female writers under study, which made it possible to relate this to the characteristic features of the Arabic short story as a whole and to identify the special role of women writers. Historical, comparative and text analysis methods were used as research methods. As a result, it was found that women writers have made a significant contribution to the development of the short story genre in twentieth-century Arabic literature. Keywords: Arab Women Writers, Short Story, 20th Century Literature, Arabs, Middle East, Literary History