Mrs Catherine Cobham, Lecturer
Contact Information
cmc1@st-andrews.ac.uk
Phone: 01334 463642
Office: Buchanan 108
Research and Teaching
Catherine Cobham’s research area is modern Arabic fiction. She has published papers on aspects of the writing of Naguib Mahfouz, Abdelilah al-Hamdouchi and Hanan al-Shaykh, among others. Over the last few years she has had a particular interest in Iraqi novels and short stories written by the generation of writers who came to prominence between the 1950s and 1970s, notably Gha’ib Tu’ma Farman, Fu’ad al-Takarli, and Mahdi Isa al-Saqr. Her work is distinguished by an emphasis on detailed textual analysis, by its understanding of the literary and cultural context of the works analysed (including the way they were received by contemporary critics in the Arab world), and by its ability to draw on modern literary critical themes and approaches. She has also translated numerous works by modern and contemporary Arab writers, including Mahmoud Darwish, Yusuf Idris, Naguib Mahfouz, Hanan al-Shaykh and Fuad al-Takarli.
She currently teaches both Arabic language (at the honours level) and modern Arabic literature, in the following modules: Advanced Arabic Language, Literary Arabic, Exile and Identity, the Arabic Novella. In the past she has also taught modules on the Postcolonial Arabic Novel in English translation and contributed to subhonours language and literature teaching.
PhD Supervision
Publications
Selected translations
A River Dies of Thirst, translation of Athar al-farasha, prose and poetry by Mahmud Darwish, London: Saqi, 2009; New York: Archipelago Books, 2009
Only in London, translation of Innaha Lundun, ya 'azizi by Hanan al-Shaykh (selected for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize; reprinted Bloomsbury 2010)
The Long Way Back, translation of al-Raj' al-ba'id by Fu'ad al-Takarli (American University in Cairo Press, 2001)
The Harafish, translation of al-Harafish by Naguib Mahfouz (American University of Cairo Press and Doubleday, New York, 1994)