The Emirati novel has enjoyed a growing and influential presence on the Arab cultural scene in recent years, driven by the accumulation of narrative experience, an expanding publishing landscape, and a notable showing in major literary prizes — most prominently the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF), known as the Arabic Booker.
This presence raises many questions about the nature of the relationship between the Emirati novel and literary prizes: Have the prizes contributed to the development of the Emirati novel? Have they changed writing styles and subjects? Or has the Emirati writer remained faithful to their creative distinctiveness, removed from the temptations and conditions imposed by prizes?
Al Bayan canvassed the views of Emirati women writers on the impact of prizes on the trajectory of the Emirati novel. They affirmed that it has succeeded in avoiding the pitfalls of sensationalism, retaining its distinctiveness while chronicling the transformations and developments within society and the self. The writers also confirmed that the Emirati novel has undergone a noticeable transformation in recent years in terms of artistic structure and narrative vision, as a result of accumulated experience and a multiplicity of creative voices — something that has enhanced its value, presence, and influence. It has become more mature and diverse, introducing new forms and styles of narration.
Writer Aisha Sultan said: "I cannot say that the Emirati novel has been shaped by the conditions of prizes, but I can say that, after many long years since the Emirati novel's emergence and the appearance of new generations and new experiences, the Emirati novel has become more mature and diverse, with new narrative forms and styles appearing within it."
She added: "But this does not necessarily mean that writers have begun writing according to what prizes seek, or according to specific criteria they impose. I believe that today we have many distinguished Emirati novels that have managed to present themselves with a clear distinctiveness in recent years."
She stressed that the novel, by its nature, is influenced by all the transformations around it, whether social, intellectual, or cultural, just as it is influenced by literary prizes and the movement and celebration of fiction they generate. She views the International Prize for Arabic Fiction — the Arabic Booker — as having contributed, in one way or another, to developing the tools of the Emirati novel, whether through the adoption of new narrative techniques or by broadening the range of subjects and issues it addresses.
For her part, writer and critic Dr. Maryam Al Hashimi said: "Of course, the Emirati novel, like any other novel, is influenced by everything — the transformations of society, the creative self, the writer's readings and attitudes towards life, the causes they champion, and even their personal setbacks, because the creative person is, in the end, a human being. The novel is also influenced by prizes, by the literary presence, and by the celebration of this literary genre, which has come to enjoy wide interest. The Emirati novel, like other Arab novels, has indeed been influenced."
She added: "This influence has manifested in the adoption of new narrative techniques and in the evolution of the treatment of human and social issues that were present in the early Emirati novel and remain present to this day, but with more advanced tools and styles. The world of the novel has changed and transformed. Yet the Booker Prize, beyond being a prize that was launched from this land and is concerned with the Emirati novel, the Emirati writer, and the Emirati reader, is in my view one of the most important prizes associated with the Arabic novel — perhaps the most cherished for the Arab novelist, not just the Emirati one."
Al Hashimi elaborated: "On the other hand, there are those who believe that the Emirati writer has not written for the sake of prizes so much as they have written from their intellectual and social convictions, remaining keen to express their local environment and the values of their society. Moreover, the Emirati works that have reached the longlists and shortlists of major prizes have maintained their distinctiveness and have not drifted towards breaking taboos or seeking sensationalism in order to attract the attention of judging panels."
Writer Nadia Al Najjar believes that the Emirati writer is no more concerned with pleasing prizes than with expressing what they believe in.
She continued: "Through my familiarity with the Emirati works that reached the longlist and shortlist, I found that writers such as Sultan Al Ameemi, Reem Al Kamali, Nadia Al Najjar, and Saleha Ghabish were expressing ideas they genuinely believed in, and were in harmony with the nature of the conservative Emirati society. There was no clear inclination to break religious, political, or sexual taboos in order to reach the prizes, even though some other Arab literary experiences may occasionally resort to that.
The Emirati writer has remained in harmony with their customs, traditions, and the nature of their society, and this consistency is one of the hallmarks of the Emirati novel, because it expresses its real society.
Why would I write in the manner of a writer from another country simply because they are more daring? I write as I am, according to my society, and if society is conservative, I see no problem in that."
She concluded: "I do not believe that judging panels view this as a criterion for assessing a work, whether the writer is a man or a woman. But prizes have, in one way or another, given the Emirati and Arab writer a greater incentive to create and to exert additional effort. The writer who reaches the longlist aspires to reach the shortlist, and the one who reaches the shortlist aspires to win."