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Arabic Poetics: Aesthetic Experience in Classical Arabic Literature PDF

318 Pages·2020·2.844 MB·English
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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. Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. New York University, on 25 Apr 2020 at 17:02:14, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/70E2B513F5154009368117431904E26C 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. Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. New York University, on 25 Apr 2020 at 17:02:14, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/70E2B513F5154009368117431904E26C Arabic Poetics Aesthetic Experience in Classical Arabic Literature LARAHARB PrincetonUniversity Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. New York University, on 25 Apr 2020 at 17:02:14, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/70E2B513F5154009368117431904E26C UniversityPrintingHouse,CambridgeCB28BS,UnitedKingdom OneLibertyPlaza,20thFloor,NewYork,NY10006,USA 477WilliamstownRoad,PortMelbourne,VIC3207,Australia 314–321,3rdFloor,Plot3,SplendorForum,JasolaDistrictCentre, NewDelhi–110025,India 79AnsonRoad,#06–04/06,Singapore079906 CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge. ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof education,learning,andresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence. www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781108490214 DOI:10.1017/9781108780483 ©LaraHarb2020 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublished2020 PrintedintheUnitedKingdombyTJInternationalLtd,PadstowCornwall AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. 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)| DDC808.10917/5927–dc23 LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2019051666 LCebookrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2019051667 ISBN978-1-108-49021-4Hardback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyof URLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain, accurateorappropriate. Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. New York University, on 25 Apr 2020 at 17:02:14, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/70E2B513F5154009368117431904E26C Tomyparents Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. New York University, on 25 Apr 2020 at 17:02:14, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/B82297235139FCEA4DBD95A2671B1E0B Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. New York University, on 25 Apr 2020 at 17:02:14, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/B82297235139FCEA4DBD95A2671B1E0B 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 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. New York University, on 25 Apr 2020 at 17:02:15, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/18656ECE5FA386CD95185169AE61CFB7 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 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. New York University, on 25 Apr 2020 at 17:02:15, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/18656ECE5FA386CD95185169AE61CFB7 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 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. New York University, on 25 Apr 2020 at 17:02:15, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/18656ECE5FA386CD95185169AE61CFB7 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. New York University, on 25 Apr 2020 at 17:02:15, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/18656ECE5FA386CD95185169AE61CFB7

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