Abdul-Nabi Isstaif (born 1952) is a professor of Comparative Literature

Comparative literature

Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the literature of two or more different linguistic, cultural or national groups...

, Critical Theory

Critical theory

Critical theory is an examination and critique of society and culture, drawing from knowledge across the social sciences and humanities. The term has two different meanings with different origins and histories: one originating in sociology and the other in literary criticism...

 and Translation

Translation

Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...

 at Damascus University.

Educated at the University of Damascus and St. Antony's College, University of Oxford

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

, (where he received his D.Phil. in comparative criticism in 1983), he is specialist in modern Arabic literature

Arabic literature

Arabic literature is the writing produced, both prose and poetry, by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is adab which is derived from a meaning of etiquette, and implies politeness, culture and enrichment....

 and criticism with special reference to Western influences. Professor Isstaif has taught at the University of Oxford (U.K

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

), Sanaa University (Yemen

Yemen

The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....

), King Saud University

King Saud University

King Saud University is a public university located in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It was founded in 1957 by King Saud bin Abdul Aziz as Riyadh University, as the first university in the kingdom not dedicated to religious subjects. The university was created to meet the shortage of skilled workers in...

 (Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

), New College of the University of South Florida

University of South Florida

The University of South Florida, also known as USF, is a member institution of the State University System of Florida, one of the state's three flagship universities for public research, and is located in Tampa, Florida, USA...

 and Roger Williams University

Roger Williams University

Roger Williams University, commonly abbreviated as RWU, is a private, coeducational American liberal arts university located on in Bristol, Rhode Island, above Mt. Hope Bay. Founded in 1956, it was named for theologian and Rhode Island cofounder Roger Williams...

 (U.S.A.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

), University of Jaumi I (Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

), Deakin University

Deakin University

Deakin University is an Australian public university with nearly 40,000 higher education students in 2010. It receives more than A$600 million in operating revenue annually, and controls more than A$1.3 billion in assets. It received more than A$35 million in research income in 2009 and had 835...

 (Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

), Al-Baath University

Al-Baath University

Al-Baath University , founded in 1979, is a public university located in the city of Homs, Syria, 180 km north of Damascus. It is Syria's fourth largest university.-Overview:...

 (Homs

Homs

Homs , previously known as Emesa , is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is above sea level and is located north of Damascus...

, Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

) as well as the Academy of Dramatic Arts, the Higher Institute of Technology and Applied Sciences and the Higher Institute of Interpreting and Translation in Syria. He is also interested in Anglo-American

Anglosphere

Anglosphere is a neologism which refers to those nations with English as the most common language. The term can be used more specifically to refer to those nations which share certain characteristics within their cultures based on a linguistic heritage, through being former British colonies...

 Orientalism

Orientalism

Orientalism is a term used for the imitation or depiction of aspects of Eastern cultures in the West by writers, designers and artists, as well as having other meanings...

 and in the Euro-Arab cultural relations in medieval and modern times, publishing several books in Arabic

Arabic language

Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

, and over 900 articles, papers, reviews and translations in both Arabic and English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 in more than 90 periodicals in Syria, the Arab World, Europe and the United States of America.

Twice Vice-Dean for Academic Affairs, and a former Chairman of Arabic Department at the University of Damascus, Professor Isstaif founded the Syrian General Organization of Books and was its first General Director (2006-8). He was also a member of the founding team which established the Higher Institute for Interpreting and Translation at the University of Damascus.
A former Editor in Chief

Editor in chief

An editor-in-chief is a publication's primary editor, having final responsibility for the operations and policies. Additionally, the editor-in-chief is held accountable for delegating tasks to staff members as well as keeping up with the time it takes them to complete their task...

 of the Damascus University Journal for Literatures and Humanities, Professor Isstaif is also a consultant editor of several Arabic and English scholarly journals in both the Arab World ( Al-Mutarjim and Semiotique, Unversite d'Oran, Algrie) and the United Kingdom (Journal of Islamic Studies, Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

, and Journal of Islamic Jerusalem Studies, Dundee

Dundee

Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...

).
Representing Syria (particularly the University of Damascus) in many regional, pan-Arab and International conferences, meetings and cultural weeks, Professor Isstaif has participated in tens of academic, cultural and literary conferences and symposia all over the Arab World and beyond, and has lectured widely in many Arab, Eastern and Western Universities on Arabic literature relations with the literatures of the World, Arabic culture, Orientalism and Edward Said

Edward Said

Edward Wadie Saïd was a Palestinian-American literary theorist and advocate for Palestinian rights. He was University Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University and a founding figure in postcolonialism...

, and on World Civilizations and their Interrelations.

Publications

In addition to his many articles in The Arab Encyclopaedia (in Arabic), and the Encyclopaedia of Arabic Literature (in English), Professor Isstaif has published the following books:

• Towards A New Orientalism (Routledge, London & New York, 2010), forthcoming.
• Syria: The Ancient Realm of Writings (Ministry of Information, Damascus, 2004), (in both Arabic and English).
• الحركة الأدبية في بلاد الشام: المجلد الأول تاريخ (منشورات الأمانة العامة لاحتفالية دمشق عاصمة الثقافة العربية، دمشق، 2008م)؛ تحرير وإشراف على النشر بالاشتراك مع محمود ربداوي ووهب رومية وعلي أبوزيد وفوزية زوباري.
• The Literary Movement in Greater Syria: Vol. 1- A History (The Chief Editor and Contributor of the Introduction and two Major Chapters), Damascus: The Capital of Arab Culture, Damascus, 2008), (in Arabic).
• الحركة الأدبية في بلاد الشام: المجلد الثاني مختارات (منشورات الأمانة العامة لاحتفالية دمشق عاصمة الثقافة العربية، دمشق، 2008م)؛ تحرير وإشراف على النشر بالاشتراك مع محمود ربداوي ووهب رومية وعلي أبوزيد وفوزية زوباري.
• The Literary Movement in Greater Syria: Vol. 2- Selections (The Chief Editor and Contributor of a Major Chapter), Damascus: The Capital of Arab Culture, Damascus, (2008),(in Arabic).

• صورة النبي محمد (ص) في الكتابات الأنكلو-أمريكية (الهيئة العامة السورية للكتاب، دمشق، 2008)؛
• The Image of the Prophet Muhammad in the Anglo American Writings (the Syrian General Organization of Books, Damascus, 2008, (in Arabic).

• من الأندلس إلى أمريكا: الموشحات الأندلسية وأثرها في الشعر الغنائي الغربي، (الهيئة العامة السورية للكتاب ودار البعث، دمشق، 2007)؛
• From Andalusia to America: The Andalusian-Arabic Muwashshahs (strophic poetry) and their Impact on Western Lyrical Poetry (the Syrian General Organization of Books, Damascus & Dar al-Baath, 2007), (in Arabic).

• العرب والأدب المقارن (الهيئة العامة السورية للكتاب، دمشق، 2007).
• The Arabs and Comparative Literature (the Syrian General Organization of Books, Damascus, 2007), (in Arabic).
• سورية: مملكة الكتابة العريقة (بالعربية والإنكليزية) (وزارة الإعلام، دمشق، 2004)؛
• Syria: The Ancient Realm of Writings (Ministry of Information, Damascus, 2004).

• نقد ثقافي أم نقد أدبي؟ (بالاشتراك مع د.عبد الله الغذامي)، (دار الفكر، دمشق، 2004)؛
• Cultural Criticism or Literary Criticism? (in Collaboration with Abdullah al-Ghadhdhami),(Dar al-Fikr, Damascus & Beirut, 2004)
• في النقد الأدبي العربي الحديث، جزءان، (منشورات جامعة دمشق، دمشق، ط1، 1990،ط2، 2003 م، ط3 2005م)؛
• On Modern Arabic Literary Criticism: Prefaces, Entries, Texts, 2 Volumes (Damascus University Press, 1990, 2003 & 2005).

He was also the main contributor to several text books written for the Teachers Training Institutes and Universities in Syria.