"Arab Society and Culture" is an essential reference for Middle Eastern Studies students and anyone interested in Middle Eastern literature and culture. It provides supplementary readings and wide-ranging essays that examine various dimensions of social and cultural change in Arab societies, paying particular attention to how local cultures adapt to global and post-modern transformations. The selections are informed by an effort to reconcile the largely analytical and empirical explorations of the social sciences with the more intuitive sensibilities of the literary imagination.