On February 11, Mohamed Mechbal, a professor of rhetoric and literary criticism at the university of Abdelmalek Essaadi in Tetouan, won the King Faisal International Prize for Arabic Language Literature.
The jury of the King Faisal International Prize for Arabic Language and Literature awarded the Moroccan professor with the prize in recognition of his project that focused on the theme “The New Rhetoric,” .
The New Rhetoric project of Mohamed Mechbal aims to connect rhetorical research with the fields of literature, language, communication, as well as with theoretical and procedural foundations of the beginning of modern Arab rhetoric, said the jury.
Mohamed Mechbal works’ are characterized by his depth, relevance, originality as well as theoretical and realistic mixing, added the jury of the prize.
The King Faisal Foundation initiated the award in 1977. The award recognizes the exceptional contributions of five groups of individuals and institutions. These include, service to Islam, Islamic Studies, Arabic language and literature as well as medicine, and science.
The prize’s goal is “to benefit Muslims in their present and future, to inspire them to engage in all facets of society, to enrich human knowledge and to grow humanity,” noted the King Faisal Foundation.
In addition to the new award, professor Mechbal has won many other awards, including the 2018 Sheikh Zayed Prize for Critical Studies and the 2018 Katara Prize for Critical Studies, for his contributions in the field of literary criticism.
Mechbal has published several academic papers and studies specializing in rhetoric and criticism.
The professor’s literary and academic works include “On the Rhetoric of Argumentation: An argumentative Rhetorical Approach to Discourse Analysis”, “On Modern Arab Rhetoric”, “Towards an Extended Rhetoric” as well as “The Novel & Rhetoric: Towards an Expanded Rhetorical Approach to the Arabic Novel.”
