Sayed Elsisi
Sayed Elsisi
Assistant Professor
Arabic: Modern Arabic Language and Literature Theories of Modernity Comparative Literature Film Studies Islam in the Middle East Arabian Nights Folkloric Studies
Dr. Sayed Elsisi is a specialist in Arabic literature, culture, and cinema.
He taught as an assistant professor of Arabic literature and culture at the University of Maryland (2010 – 2019). Prior to that, he taught at Harvard University (2007-2010), The American University in Cairo (2000-2007). He also worked as a researcher and an editorial assistant for Alif (Journal of Comparative Poetics) 2000-2007.
Current Research
His present research endeavors to explore the overlooked genres within the realm of Arabic criticism, while also critically examining the established Poetics in the discourse of Arabic criticism.
The latest scholarly undertaking he is engaged in involves the authoring of a monograph that delves into a fresh Sufi perspective on the theme of eroticism as depicted in The Arabian Nights.
Selected Publications
Books Authored:
- Mā baʻda Qaṣīdat an-nat̲hr - Naḥwa kḫiṭāb ǧadīd li-š-šaʻrīya al-ʻarabīya, (Post Prose Poem – Towards a New Discourse of Arabic poetics), The Arab Institute for Research and Publishing, Lebanon & Jordan, October 2016.
- Ghiwāyat al Naṣṣ wa Qura’at al La’ib – Istratijiyyat al Ghiyāb fi Shiʻr Saʻdi Yussuf (Alluring Text and Playful Reading – Strategy of Absence in Sa’di Yussuf’s Poetry), The Supreme Council of Culture، Cairo, 2005.
Books Translated
The Prose Poem in France, Theory and Practice, Edited by Mary Ann Caws and Hermine Riffaterre, (translation into Arabic), The National Project of Translation, Cairo. (Forthcoming)
Books Co-Authored:
Miṣṣr - al Thaqafa wa al Mugtamaʻ (Egypt: Culture and Society), with Nevenka Korica, (in Arabic) textbook for the CASA program, American University Press, 2006.
Chapters in Books:
- Cinematography in Modern Arabic Poetry: Redefining the Philosophy and Dynamics of Poetic Imagery, The Routledge Handbook of Arabic Poetry, 2023.
“Divine in Carnal Mirrors: Unveiling Sacred Through Love and Eroticism in The Arabian Nights”, a chapter in the book “Love in Large” (forthcoming 2025).
"ألف شهرزاد وشهرزاد – الميتاقص وسحر الليالي في مسرح وسينما العالم"، فصل من كتاب الأدب المقارن، تحرير: سيزا قاسم وطارق النعمان، (forthcoming 2025).
“Al Ru’ya al Ṣufiyya lil lugha fi shiʻr Ṣalah ʻabdul Ṣabour” (Sufi Vision to the Poetic Language in Salah Abdul Sabour's Poetry), "Salah Abdulsabour Conference,” Supreme Council of Culture, Cairo, 2003, pp. 289-309.
Refereed Journal Articles:
"النهضة الموؤودة في الطوق والأسورة – مقاربة تناصية وبصرية للرواية والفيلم"، مجلة فصول ع 108، الهيئة المصرية العامة للكتاب، القاهرة خريف 2022.
“Renaissance Buried Alive in „The Collar and the Bracelet”, New Middle Eastern Studies 11 (2), 2021. pp. 88-104.
“The Erotic in the Modern Arabic Poetry: Sufi-Eroticism vs. Cynicism.” (21 pages, in English – in progress - Editing)
“The (Self-) subversive poetics of the Arabic prose poem.” (24 pages, in English - Submitted)
قصيدة النثر من الحداثة إلى ما بعد الحداثة “Qaṣidat al Nathr min al ḥadatha ila ma baʻd al ḥadātha” (Arabic Prose Poem – From Modernism to Postmodernism), Fussoul - Journal of Arabic Criticism, General Egyptian Book Organization, Cairo, Spring 2015, pp. 38-78.
ذئب عاشق لا يعتذؤ عن القنص“Zi’b ʻashiq la yaʻtazir ʻan al qanṣ - qira’a fi shiʻr Usama al Dīnṣāữri” (A Wolf in love, who does not apologize for predation- reading in Osama Al-Dinasoory's poetry), Nizwa Journal, Issue 52, Oman, 2007, pp 103 – 118.
استراتيجية الغياب في شعر سعدي يوسف – مدخل تناصي"Istratijiyyat al Ghiyāb fi Shiʻr Saʻdi Yussuf – Madkhal tanaṣṣi” (Absence as Strategy in Sa'di Yussuf's Poetry: An Intertextuality Approach), ALIF - Journal of Comparative Poetics, Issue 21, American University Press, 2001, pp 88-109.
"The Realism in Conjuncture of AlـArd Novel", Adab Wa Naqd, Issue 104, Cairo, April 1994, pp 56-78.
Translation:
- Vision and Textuality - الرؤية والنصية (مقدمة)، ستيفن ميلفل و بيل ريدينجز، مجلة فصول - العدد 62 - القاهرة 2003.
- قراءة الثوابت في قصيدة النثر - هيرمن ريفاتير، مجلة نزوى (عمان) العدد 40 2004.
Courses Taught
Courses he taught:
The Arabian Nights and The Art of Storytelling
Readings in Arabic Literature
Theocratic and Secular discourses in the Arab Renaissance
Arab Cinema - Breaking the Taboos
Folklore and Modernism in Arabic Film and Literature
The Image of Women in Arab Cinema
Egyptian Cinema and the Shaping of Modern Egypt
Advanced MSA & EQA
Recent Presentations
- Renaissance buried alive in “The Collar and the Bracelet" reading the novel and the film, The Catholic University, Milan, Italy 2019
- The Future of Arabic studies in the Western Academia, Kuwait 2018
- The Erotic Face of Divine Love –Sufi (Mystical) interpretation of The Erotic stories in The Arabian Nights, Library of Congress (2017)
In the Media
https://georgetown.app.box.com/s/4pu5ji6qva0szv2jib4g1pp144fk2dgp
https://al-ain.com/article/critical-studies-arts-cheikh-zayed-award
https://www.jarirbooksusa.com/41490.html
https://arablit.org/2016/10/31/sayed-elsisis-book-post-prose-poem-reportedly-banned-in-lebanon/
https://www.jadaliyya.com/Details/33762
https://aawsat.com/home/article/757041/تحولات-قصيدة-النثر-العربية-والغربية