Nobel Prize in Literature 1988

Naguib Mahfouz

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The Nobel Prize in Literature 1988 was awarded to Naguib Mahfouz "who, through works rich in nuance - now clear-sightedly realistic, now evocatively ambiguous - has formed an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind"

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MLA style: The Nobel Prize in Literature 1988. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach 2025. Fri. 5 Dec 2025. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1988/summary/>

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