Ricerc@Sapienza

The emergence of Science Fiction in Arabic can be traced back to the second part of the 19 th century, but this genre has often been neglected by critics and academics. Nowadays we can recognize an increasing popularity of this literary production, with a large number of publications from Egypt, Lebanon, and even Yemen and Saudi Arabia. In last April the literary panorama of the Arab world has been upset by the releasing of a novel, surprisingly coming from Saudi Arabia.

al-Qārūrah (The Bottle, 2004) is one of the best-known novels written by the Saudi author Yūsuf al-Muḥaymīd (1964). Set in the timeline of the Gulf War (1990-91), the novel mainly reconstructs the life of Munīrah al-Sāhī, the female protagonist. Symbol of the general climate of violence towards women in her country, she decides to record women’s stories on pieces of paper that she places in the bottle given to her by her grandmother. Feminism, struggles for women empowerment and historical critique are – as one would expect – the central aspects of this novel.