The Cambridge History of Arabic Literature: Volume 6: Arabic Literature in the Post-Classical Period

469 Pages·2006·2.14 MB·English

by  Roger Allen

the cambridge history of arabic literature
arabic literature in the post-classical period
The sixth and final volume of The Cambridge History of Arabic Literature explores
the Arabic literary heritage of the period from the twelfth to the beginning of the
nineteenthcentury.Traditionalistshavetendedtocharacterizethisperiodasoneof
‘decadence’ and, having done so, to skip over its several centuries in the quest for
moreimmediatelyinterestingmaterialstimulatedbythere-encounterwiththeWest
fromtheendoftheeighteenthcentury.Eventhoughitwasduringthistimethatone
of the most famous Arabic works of all time – A Thousand and One Nights – was
created,thishasnotprovokedawide-ranginginvestigationoftheperiod’sliterature
in general, whether elite or popular, and the period in question has continued to
be viewed negatively. This volume seeks to rectify the situation. Roger Allen and
D. S. Richards bring together some of the most distinguished scholars in the field
to record as much as is known about the literary movements and aesthetic trends
of this period. The volume is divided into parts with the traditions of poetry and
prosecoveredseparatelywithinboththeir‘elite’and‘popular’contexts.Thelasttwo
partsaredevotedtodrama,itsoriginsandtentativedevelopment,andtheindigenous
tradition of literary criticism. As the only work of its kind in English covering the
post-classical period, this book promises to be a unique resource for students and
scholarsofArabicliteratureformanyyearstocome.
Roger Allen is Professor of Arabic and Comparative Literature at the University of
PennsylvaniainPhiladelphia.HeistheauthorofTheArabicNovel(1982,1995)and
TheArabicLiteraryHeritage(1998).Hecurrentlyservesinaneditorialcapacityforthe
journalMiddleEasternLiteraturesandtheArabicLiteratureSeriesoftheDictionary
ofLiteraryBiography.
D.S.RichardsisEmeritusFellowofStCrossCollege,Oxford,andUniversityLecturer
inArabic(retired).HispublicationsincludeMamlukJerusalem(1987)andnumerous
articlesonmedievalIslamichistory.HeisthetranslatorofIbnShaddad’sLifeofSaladin
(2001)andTheAnnalsoftheTurks(2002).
Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008
Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008
ARABIC LITERATURE IN
THE POST-CL ASSICAL
PERIOD
edited by
ROGER ALLEN
UniversityofPennsylvania
and
D. S. RICHARDS
UniversityofOxford
Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008
cambridge university press
Cambridge,NewYork,Melbourne,Madrid,CapeTown,Singapore,Sa˜oPaulo
CambridgeUniversityPress
TheEdinburghBuilding,Cambridgecb22ru,uk
PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyCambridgeUniversityPress,NewYork
www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9780521771603
(cid:2)C CambridgeUniversityPress2006
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithout
thewrittenpermissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2006
PrintedintheUnitedKingdomattheUniversityPress,Cambridge
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationData
Arabicliteratureinthepost-classicalperiod/[editedby]RogerAllen,D.S.Richards.–1sted.
p. cm.–(TheCambridgehistoryofArabicliterature)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn0-521-77160-9–(hardback)
1.Arabicliterature–1258-1800–Historyandcriticism. I.Allen,RogerM.A.
II.Richards,D.S.(DonaldSidney),1935– III.Title. IV.Series.
pj7558.a73 2006
892.7(cid:3)09–dc22 2005020119
isbn-13 978-0-521-77160-3hardback
isbn-10 0-521-77160-9hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyofurlsforexternalor
third-partyInternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication,anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontenton
suchwebsitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate.
Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008
CONTENTS
Notesoncontributors page vii
Listofabbreviations x
Thepost-classicalperiod:parametersandpreliminaries 1
byRoger Allen
part i Elite poetry
1 Arabicpoetryinthepost-classicalage 25
bySalma Khadra Jayyusi
2 Poeticcreativityinthesixteenthtoeighteenthcenturies 60
byMuhammad Lutfi al-Yousfi
3 Arabicreligiouspoetry,1200–1800 74
byTh. Emil Homerin
4 Theroleofthepre-modern:thegenericcharacteristics
oftheband 87
by‘Abdullah Ibrahim
part ii Elite prose
5 Pre-modernbelletristicprose 101
byMuhsin al-Musawi
6 Theessayanddebate(al-risa¯laandal-muna¯z.ara) 134
byJaakko Ha¨meen-Anttila
7 Themaqa¯ma 145
byDevin Stewart
8 Mamlukhistoryandhistorians 159
byRobert Irwin
v
Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008
vi contents
9 HistoriographyinArabicduringtheOttomanperiod 171
byMichael Winter
part iii Popular poetry
10 Popularpoetryinthepost-classicalperiod,1150–1850 191
byMargaret Larkin
part iv Popular prose
11 Popularproseinthepost-classicalperiod 245
byDwight F. Reynolds
12 AThousandandOneNights:ahistoryofthetextand
itsreception 270
byDwight F. Reynolds
13 S¯ırat (cid:2)AntaribnShadda¯d 292
byRemke Kruk
14 S¯ıratBan¯ıHila¯l 307
byDwight F. Reynolds
15 Others¯ırasandpopularnarratives 319
byPeter Heath
16 Popularreligiousnarratives 330
byKamal Abdel-Malek
part v Drama
17 Dramainthepost-classicalperiod:asurvey 347
byRosella Dorigo Ceccato
18 Pre-moderndrama 369
byPhilip Sadgrove
part vi Criticism
19 Criticisminthepost-classicalperiod:asurvey 387
byWilliam Smyth
Bibliography 419
Index 459
Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008
NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
KamalAbdel-MalekteachesArabicliteratureattheAmericanUniversity
ofSharjah,UAE.HehaspublishedseveralbooksonEgyptianpopular
literature,ArabattitudestoAmericans(AmericainanArabMirror,2000)
andIsraelis(Arab–JewishEncountersinPalestinianLiteratureandFilm,
forthcoming).
RogerAllen,ProfessorofArabicandComparativeLiteratureatthe
UniversityofPennsylvaniainPhiladelphia.HeistheauthorofThe
ArabicNovel(1982,1995)andTheArabicLiteraryHeritage(1998).He
currentlyservesinaneditorialcapacityforthejournalMiddleEastern
LiteraturesandtheArabicLiteratureSeriesoftheDictionaryofLiterary
Biography.
RosellaDorigoCeccato,since1983ProfessoreAssociatoofArabicLanguage
andLiteratureandrecentlyVice-Directorofthenewdoctoralprogrammein
StudiOrientaliattheUniversityCa’FoscariofVeniceandamemberofthe
editorialboardofthereviewQuadernidiStudiArabi.Herscholarlyactivity
hasbeenmainlydevotedtotheanalysisofArabicliterature,withaparticular
attentiontodrama.HerresearchisdirectedtowardsSyria,Jordan,Egypt,
Tunisia,MoroccoandtheSultanateofOman.
JaakkoHa¨meen-Anttila,ProfessorofArabicandIslamicStudies,University
ofHelsinki.HismaininterestslieinmedievalArabicliterature,classical
Arabiclanguage,andpaganisminIraq.Hismainworksinclude:Materialsfor
theStudyofRagˇazI–III(1993–6)andMaqama:AHistoryofaGenre(2002).
PeterHeath,ProvostoftheAmericanUniversityinBeirut.Aspecialistin
Arabicliterature,heistheauthorofAllegoryandPhilosophyinAvicenna(Ibn
Sina)(1992)andTheThirstySword:Sirat‘AntarandtheArabicPopularEpic
(1996).
Th.EmilHomerin,ProfessorofReligionattheUniversityofRochester.
HispublicationsincludeFromArabPoettoMuslimSaint(2001),Ibn
al-Farid:SufiVerse,SaintlyLife(2001)andTheWineofLoveandLife(2005).
vii
Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008
viii notes on contributors
(cid:2)AbdullahIbrahimhastaughtatuniversitiesinIraq,LibyaandQatar.He
currentlyservesasCulturalAdvisertotheNationalCouncilforCulturein
Qatar.Amonghisrecentpublicationsareal-Sardiyyatal-(cid:2)arabiyyaal-h.ad¯ıtha
(ModernArabicNarratology,2003)andal-Mu.ta¯baqawa’l-ikhtila¯f
(IdentificationandDifference,2004).
RobertIrwin,aSeniorResearchAssociateoftheHistoryDepartmentofthe
SchoolofOrientalandAfricanStudies,LondonUniversity.Hismostrecent
booksareNightandHorsesandtheDesert:AnAnthologyofClassicalArabian
Literature(1999)andTheAlhambra(2004).
SalmaKhadraJayyusi,Palestinianpoetandcritic,DirectorofEast–West
NexusandtheProjectfortheTranslationofArabic(PROTA),bothofwhich
havepublishedtranslationsandscholarlyworksconcerningAraband
MiddleEasternculture.Sheistheauthor,amongmanyotherworks,of
TrendsandMovementsinModernArabicPoetry(1977).
RemkeKruk,ProfessorofArabicLanguageandCultureatLeiden
University,TheNetherlands.Shehaspublishedonavarietyoftopics.Her
mainresearchfield,apartfrompopulars¯ıra,isthetransmissionandreception
ofGreeknaturalphilosophy,inparticularbiology,intheArabictradition.
MargaretLarkin,ProfessorofArabicLiteratureattheUniversityof
California,Berkeley.SheistheauthorofTheTheologyofMeaning:(cid:2)Abd
al-Qa¯hiral-Jurja¯n¯ı’sTheoryofDiscourse(1995),aswellasarticlesonclassical
andmodernArabicliteratureinliteraryandcolloquialArabic.
Muhsinal-Musawi,ProfessorofArabicatColumbiaUniversityinNew
Yorksince2004,afteralengthyteachingcareerinIraq,Yemen,Tunisand
Sharjah.HeistheauthorofnumerousstudiesofArabicliteratureinboth
ArabicandEnglish,mostrecentlyThePostcolonialArabicNovel(2003).
DwightF.Reynolds,ProfessorofArabicLanguageandLiteratureinthe
DepartmentofReligiousStudiesattheUniversityofCalifornia,Santa
Barbara.Hepublishesonfolklore,literatureandmusicoftheArabMiddle
East.
D.S.Richards,EmeritusFellowofStCrossCollege,UniversityofOxford,
andUniversityLecturerinArabic(retired).JointauthorofMamluk
Jerusalem(1987),translatorofIbnShaddad’sLifeofSaladin(2001)andThe
AnnalsoftheTurks(2002),andauthorofnumerousarticlesonmedieval
Islamichistory.
PhilipSadgrove,Head,MiddleEasternStudies,UniversityofManchester.
HeistheauthorofTheEgyptianTheatreintheNineteenthCentury(1996),
Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008
notes on contributors ix
co-authorwithProfessorShmuelMorehofJewishContributionsto
Nineteenth-CenturyArabicTheatre(1996)andeditorofHistoryofPrinting
andPublishingintheLanguagesandCountriesoftheMiddleEast(2005).
WilliamSmythhasaBAinClassicsfromStanfordUniversityandaPhDin
NearEasternLanguagesfromNewYorkUniversity.Hehaswrittenand
lecturedonthedevelopmentofrhetoricandliterarytheoryintheEuropean
andIslamicMiddleAges.
DevinStewartteachesArabicandIslamicStudiesatEmoryUniversityin
Atlanta,Georgia.Heistheauthor,amongotherstudies,ofTwelverShi‘i
Jurisprudence(1991)andIslamicLegalOrthodoxy(1998).
MichaelWinter,ProfessorEmeritusoftheHistoryoftheMiddleEast,Tel
AvivUniversity.HeistheauthorofbooksandarticlesontheArabcountries
undertheMamluksandOttomans,socialaspectsofSufismandeducation
intheMiddleEast,including(asco-editorwithAmaliaLevanoni)The
MamluksinEgyptianandSyrianPoliticsandSociety(2004).
MuhammadLutfial-Yousfi,ProfessorofArabicLiteratureattheUniversity
ofTunis,Mannouba.Heistheauthorofamajorstudyofthedevelopment
ofArabicliterarygenresandthemodesoftheiranalysis,Fitnat
al-mutakhayyal(2002).
Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008