Arabic Poetics: Aesthetic Experience in Classical Arabic Literature

318 Pages·2020·2.844 MB·English

by  Lara Harb

ArabicPoetics
What makes language beautiful? Arabic Poetics offers an answer to
whatthispertinentquestionlookedlikeattheheightoftheIslamic
civilization.Inthisnovelargument,LaraHarbsuggeststhatliterary
qualitydependedontheabilityoflinguisticexpressiontoproducean
experience of discovery and wonder in the listener. Analyzing the-
oriesofhowrhetoricalfigures,simile,metaphor,andsentencecon-
structionareabletoachievethiseffectofwonder,Harbshowshow
this aesthetic theory, first articulated at the turn of the eleventh
century CE, represented a major paradigm shift from earlier Arabic
criticism, which based its judgment on criteria of truthfulness and
naturalness. In doing so, this study poses a major challenge to the
misconceptioninmodernscholarshipthatArabiccriticismwas“tra-
ditionalist”or“static,”exposinganelegant,widespreadconceptual
framework of literary beauty in the post-tenth-century Islamicate
world that is central to poetic criticism, the interpretation of
Aristotle’sPoeticsinArabicphilosophy,andtherationaleunderlying
discussionsabouttheinimitabilityoftheQuran.
LaraHarbisAssistantProfessorofNearEasternStudiesatPrinceton
UniversitywhereshespecializesinclassicalArabicliterature.Sheis
theauthorofarticlesinjournalssuchasJournalofAmericanOriental
Society and Middle Eastern Literatures. Her PhD was awarded the
S. A. Bonebakker Prize for the best thesis in Classical Arabic
Literaturein2014.
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Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization
EditorialBoard
ChaseF.Robinson,Freer|Sackler,SmithsonianInstitution(generaleditor)
MichaelCook,PrincetonUniversity
MaribelFierro,SpanishNationalResearchCouncil
AlanMikhail,YaleUniversity
DavidO.Morgan,ProfessorEmeritus,UniversityofWisconsin-Madison
IntisarRabb,HarvardUniversity
MuhammadQasimZaman,PrincetonUniversity
Othertitlesintheseriesarelistedatthebackofthebook.
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Arabic Poetics
Aesthetic Experience in Classical Arabic
Literature
LARAHARB
PrincetonUniversity
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Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781108490214
DOI:10.1017/9781108780483
©LaraHarb2020
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
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Firstpublished2020
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Names:Harb,Lara,1981–author.
Title:Arabicpoetics:aestheticexperienceinclassicalArabicliterature/LaraHarb.
Description:Cambridge,UK;NewYork,NY:CambridgeUniversityPress,2020.|
Series:CambridgestudiesinIslamiccivilization|Includesbibliographical
referencesandindex.
Identifiers:LCCN2019051666(print)|LCCN2019051667(ebook)|ISBN
9781108490214(hardback)|ISBN9781108780483(ebook)
Subjects:LCSH:Poetics–History–To1500.|Arabicpoetry–750–1258–History
andcriticism.|Arabicpoetry–1258–1800–Historyandcriticism.|Arabic
language–Versification–History.
Classification:LCCPN1049.A7H372020(print)|LCCPN1049.A7(ebook)|
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Tomyparents
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Contents
Preface pagexi
Acknowledgments xv
NoteonDates,Translations,Transliterations,andNames xvii
Introduction 1
Wonder 6
ClassicalArabicLiteraryTheory 12
PoeticCriticismandBad¯ıʿ 13
AristotelianArabicPoetics 16
EloquenceandBaya¯n(Elucidation) 18
TheMiracleoftheQuran 19
Al-Jurj¯an¯ıandtheScienceofEloquence(Bal¯agha) 19
TheNewAesthetic 22
1 Wonder:ANewParadigm 25
I TheOldSchoolofLiteraryCriticism 30
NaturalnessandArtificiality 31
TheFundamentsofPoetry(ʿAmu¯dal-shiʿr) 34
TruthandFalsehood 35
EarlyDefensesoftheNewStyle 42
II TheNewSchoolofCriticism 44
Make-Believe(Takhy¯ıl) 45
TheAestheticsofMake-Believe 53
Hyperbole 58
TheAestheticsofBad¯ıʿ 63
Conclusion 73
vii
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viii Contents
2 WonderinAristotelianArabicPoetics 75
Background 78
Al-F¯ar¯ab¯ı:TheBeginnings 81
IbnS¯ın¯a:ANewConceptionofthePoetic 88
Takhy¯ıl 89
Muh¯ak¯at 92
˙
Muh¯ak¯atandWonder 93
˙
TheWaysofProducingTakhy¯ıl:Muh¯ak¯atandBad¯ıʿ 97
˙
IbnRushdandthePoeticsofAlteration 101
Alteration(Taghy¯ır) 101
WhyIsAlterationPoetic? 108
WhataboutMuh¯ak¯at? 108
˙
TheRelationshipbetweenMuh¯ak¯atandTaghy¯ır
˙
(Alteration) 110
Al-Qart¯ajann¯ı:Strange-MakingandReception 111
˙
PrimaryandSecondaryTakhy¯ıl 112
Muh¯ak¯atandWonder 114
˙
TheArtsof“Strange-Making” 119
BelievabilityandReception 122
Al-Sijilm¯as¯ı:Truth–FalsehoodRevisited 124
Takhy¯ılandDiscovery 126
ReturntotheTruth–FalsehoodDebate? 128
Conclusion 132
3 DiscoveryinBaya¯n 135
SimileasBaya¯n 138
Al-Jurj¯an¯ıandtheWondersofDiscovery 140
Discovery 141
Effort 144
TheDistanceFormula 144
Strangeness 147
SimileandtheScienceofBay¯an 152
ThePurposeofSimile:DiscoveryandNovelty 153
Strangeness 156
Conclusion 170
4 MetaphorandtheAestheticsoftheSign 171
ʿAbdal-Q¯ahiral-Jurj¯an¯ıandtheEloquenceoftheWord 172
Metaphor,FigurativeSpeech,andMetonymy 174
Simile,Analogy,andMetaphoricalAnalogy 176
IndirectSignificationandEloquence 179
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Contents ix
WhatMakesOneMetaphorBetterthanAnother? 180
ʿIlmal-Baya¯n(TheScienceofElucidation) 185
DefinitionoftheScienceofElucidation
(ʿIlmal-Baya¯n) 185
SignificationandDeduction 186
ʿIlmal-Baya¯nandEloquence 189
VariationinBaya¯n 192
SimileasIndirectSignification? 200
Conclusion 201
5 Nazm,Wonder,andtheInimitabilityoftheQuran 203
˙
TheMiracleoftheQuran 203
TheMiracleandWonder 206
EarlyArguments 210
ʿAbdal-Q¯ahiral-Jurj¯an¯ı 212
Nazm 213
˙
FigurativenessinNazm 215
˙
TheMeaningsofSyntaxvs.theMeaningofMeaning 217
SentenceConstruction(Nazm)andEloquence 219
˙
NazmandWonder 232
˙
Nazmafteral-Jurj¯an¯ı 233
˙
TheScienceofMeanings(ʿIlmal-Maʿ¯an¯ı) 233
TheNewConceptualizationofNazm 237
˙
TheUnexpected 239
TheScienceofMeaningsandEloquence 246
Conclusion:TheMiracle 248
Epilogue:Fasa¯ha,Bala¯gha,andPoeticBeauty 252
˙ ˙
Conclusion 257
TimingofNewAesthetic 260
ArtforArt’sSake? 261
IsItforEveryone? 262
BeyondArabicLiterature 263
Bibliography 265
Index 283
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