Download or read book The Mute Immortals Speak written by Suzanne Pinckney Stetkevych and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2010 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Mute Immortals Speak will be important for students and scholars in the fields of Middle Eastern literatures, Islamic studies, folklore, oral literature...
Download or read book Abundance from the Desert written by Raymond Farrin and published by Syracuse University Press. This book was released on 2011-03-29 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abundance from the Desert provides a comprehensive introduction to classical Arabic poetry, one of the richest of poetic traditions. Covering the period roughly of 500–1250 c.e., it features original translations and illuminating discussions of a number of major classical Arabic poems from a variety of genres. The poems are presented chronologically, each situated within a specific historical and literary context. Together, the selected poems suggest the range and depth of classical Arabic poetic expression; read in sequence, they suggest the gradual evolution of a tradition. Moving beyond a mere chronicle, Farrin outlines a new approach to appreciating classical Arabic poetry based on an awareness of concentric symmetry, in which the poem’s unity is viewed not as a linear progression but as an elaborate symmetrical plot. In doing so, the author presents these works in a broader, comparative light, revealing connections with other literatures. The reader is invited to examine these classical Arabic works not as isolated phenomena—notwithstanding their uniqueness and their association with a discrete tradition—but rather as part of a great multicultural heritage. This pioneering book marks an important step forward in the study of Arabic poetry. At the same time, it opens the door to this rich tradition for the general reader.
Download or read book The Poetics of Islamic Legitimacy written by Suzanne Pinckney Stetkevych and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2002-10-17 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "... transcends the realm of literature and poetic criticism to include virtually every field of Arabic and Islamic studies." -- Roger Allen Throughout the classical Arabic literary tradition, from its roots in pre-Islamic Arabia until the end of the Golden Age in the 10th century, the courtly ode, or qasida, dominated other poetic forms. In The Poetics of Islamic Legitimacy, Suzanne Stetkevych explores how this poetry relates to ceremony and political authority and how the classical Arabic ode encoded and promoted a myth and ideology of legitimate Arabo-Islamic rule. Beginning with praise poems to pre-Islamic Arab kings, Stetkevych takes up poetry in praise of the Prophet Mohammed and odes addressed to Arabo-Islamic rulers. She explores the rich tradition of Arabic praise poems in light of ancient Near Eastern rites and ceremonies, gender, and political culture. Stetkevych's superb English translations capture the immediacy and vitality of classical Arabic poetry while opening up a multifaceted literary tradition for readers everywhere.
Download or read book Sacred Scents in Early Christianity and Islam written by Mary Thurlkill and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2016-07-26 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Medieval scholars and cultural historians have recently turned their attention to the question of “smells” and what olfactory sensations reveal about society in general and holiness in particular. Sacred Scents in Early Christianity and Islam contributes to that conversation, explaining how early Christians and Muslims linked the “sweet smell of sanctity” with ideals of the body and sexuality; created boundaries and sacred space; and imagined their emerging communal identity. Most importantly, scent—itself transgressive and difficult to control—signaled transition and transformation between categories of meaning. Christian and Islamic authors distinguished their own fragrant ethical and theological ideals against the stench of oppositional heresy and moral depravity. Orthodox Christians ridiculed their ‘stinking’ Arian neighbors, and Muslims denounced the ‘reeking’ corruption of Umayyad and Abbasid decadence. Through the mouths of saints and prophets, patriarchal authors labeled perfumed women as existential threats to vulnerable men and consigned them to enclosed, private space for their protection as well as society’s. At the same time, theologians praised both men and women who purified and transformed their bodies into aromatic offerings to God. Both Christian and Muslim pilgrims venerated sainted men and women with perfumed offerings at tombstones; indeed, Christians and Muslims often worshipped together, honoring common heroes such as Abraham, Moses, and Jonah. Sacred Scents begins by surveying aroma’s quotidian functions in Roman and pre-Islamic cultural milieus within homes, temples, poetry, kitchens, and medicines. Existing scholarship tends to frame ‘scent’ as something available only to the wealthy or elite; however, perfumes, spices, and incense wafted through the lives of most early Christians and Muslims. It ends by examining both traditions’ views of Paradise, identified as the archetypal Garden and source of all perfumes and sweet smells. Both Christian and Islamic texts explain Adam and Eve’s profound grief at losing access to these heavenly aromas and celebrate God’s mercy in allowing earthly remembrances. Sacred scent thus prompts humanity’s grief for what was lost and the yearning for paradisiacal transformation still to come.
Download or read book The Case of Rhyme Versus Reason written by Robert C. McKinney and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2004 with total page 677 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the life and times and poetry of the extremely prolific and versatile 'Abb?sid poet Ibn al-R?m? (d. 283/896). Particular attention is devoted to tracing the influences in his distinctive poetic style and themes.
Download or read book Music and Musicians in the Medieval Islamicate World written by Lisa Nielson and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2021-04-22 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the early medieval Islamicate period (800–1400 CE), discourses concerned with music and musicians were wide-ranging and contentious, and expressed in works on music theory and philosophy as well as literature and poetry. But in spite of attempts by influential scholars and political leaders to limit or control musical expression, music and sound permeated all layers of the social structure. Lisa Nielson here presents a rich social history of music, musicianship and the role of musicians in the early Islamicate era. Focusing primarily on Damascus, Baghdad and Jerusalem, Lisa Nielson draws on a wide variety of textual sources written for and about musicians and their professional/private environments – including chronicles, literary sources, memoirs and musical treatises – as well as the disciplinary approaches of musicology to offer insights into musical performances and the lives of musicians. In the process, the book sheds light onto the dynamics of medieval Islamicate courts, as well as how slavery, gender, status and religion intersected with music in courtly life. It will appeal to scholars of the Islamicate world and historical musicologists.
Download or read book Tradition and Modernity in Arabic Language And Literature written by J R Smart and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-12-16 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Covers a range of literary and linguistic subjects from pre-Islamic times to the twentieth century.
Download or read book The Rhetoric of Sobriety written by Kathryn Kueny and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 2001-08-09 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explains the prohibition of alcohol in Islam using a wide range of materials from the early Islamic period.
Download or read book The Emergence of Arabic Poetry written by Nathaniel A. Miller and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2024-08-13 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No detailed description available for "The Emergence of Arabic Poetry".
Download or read book The Immortals of Tehran written by Ali Araghi and published by Melville House. This book was released on 2021-04-13 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A highly recommended literary page-turner worth a second reading; fans of Gabriel García Márquez will delight in this fantastical—and fantastic novel.”—Library Journal, starred review "Impactful . . . Araghi’s skillful combination of revolutionary politics and magical realism will please fans of Alejo Carpentier."—Publishers Weekly A sweeping, multigenerational epic, this stunning debut heralds the arrival of a unique new literary voice. As a child living in his family's apple orchard, Ahmad Torkash-Vand treasures his great-great-great-great grandfather's every mesmerizing word. On the day of his father's death, Ahmad listens closely as the seemingly immortal elder tells him the tale of a centuries-old family curse . . . and the boy's own fated role in the story. Ahmad grows up to suspect that something must be interfering with his family, as he struggles to hold them together through decades of famine, loss, and political turmoil in Iran. As the world transforms around him, each turn of Ahmad's life is a surprise: from street brawler, to father of two unusually gifted daughters; from radical poet, to politician with a target on his back. These lives, and the many unforgettable stories alongside his, converge and catch fire at the center of the Revolution. Exploring the brutality of history while conjuring the astonishment of magical realism, The Immortals of Tehran is a novel about the incantatory power of words and the revolutionary sparks of love, family, and poetry--set against the indifferent, relentless march of time.
Download or read book Of Dishes and Discourse written by Geert Jan van Gelder and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-04-04 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Considers how Arab and Islamic culinary culture may be represented in literary forms. Scholars of the medieval Islamic period are keenly aware of the importance of food and wine as themes in literature. Van Gelder's witty and subtle approach teases the most out of texts as well as enabling the reader to enjoy a panorama of medieval Arabo-Islamic culture from a most unexpected, yet immediately appreciable, perspective.
Download or read book Close Relationships written by Geert Jan van Gelder and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2005-03-24 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Close Relationships is Geert Jan van Gelder's groundbreaking and comprehensive study of the diverse facts and opinions concerning incest and close-kin marriage found in literary and non-literary pre-modern Arabic texts. The pre-Islamic Arabs knew about the dangers of inbreeding; the Qur'an formulates the basic principles of marriage impediments in Islam, which were elaborated by generations of jurists. Incest is a motif found in lampoons, anecdotes, stories, legends, dream interpretation, and polemics with other religions, in particular the Zoroastrians, who in pre-Islamic times allegedly recommended next-of-kin marriage. Many of the relevant passages are presented as English translations in this richly documented book.
Download or read book Transforming Loss Into Beauty written by Marlé Hammond and published by American Univ in Cairo Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The contributors to this wide-ranging work of scholarship and analysis include mentors, colleagues, friends, and students of the late Magda al-Nowaihi, an outstanding scholar of Middle East studies whose diverse interests and energy inspired numerous colleagues. The book's first part is devoted to Arabic elegy, the subject of an unfinished work by al-Nowaihi from which this volume takes its title. Included here is a previously unpublished lecture on elegy delivered by al- Nowaihi herself. Other contributors examine this poetic form in both classical and modern contexts, from a number of angles, including the partial feminization of the genre, making this volume perhaps the most comprehensive resource on the Arabic elegy available in English. The book's second half features essays relating to al-Nowaihi's other research interests, especially the modern Arabic novel and its transgressive and marginalized status as literature. It deals with authors as varied as Tawfiq al-Hakim, Latifa al-Zayyat, Bensalem Himmich, and Sonallah Ibrahim. Broad in its scope and rigorous in its scholarship, this volume makes a fitting tribute to an inspiring scholar. Contributors: Roger Allen, Dina Amin, Michael Beard, Jonathan P. Decter, Alexander E. Elinson, Marlé Hammond, András Hámori, Mervat Hatem, Wolfhart Heinrichs, Richard Jacquemond, Lital Levy, Mara Naaman, Magda al-Nowaihi, Dana Sajdi, and Christopher Stone.
Download or read book God s Other Book written by Mohammad Salama and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2024 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In God's Other Book: The Qur'an between History and Ideology, Mohammad Salama presents a powerful critique of the ways we study and analyze early Islam and its sacred text, filling a glaring hole in our understanding of this formative environment. Interrogating the ideological framework of late antiquity, Salama exposes hidden assumptions that prevent scholars from truly placing Islam in its socio-historical and cultural milieu. He also offers an alternative theoretical and practical model focused on pre-Islamic Arabic cultural production. Foregrounding the indigenous Arab community of seventh-century Hijaz, Salama demonstrates how the Qur'an played an organic role in commenting on, interacting with, and taking sides concerning matters of ethnicity, ethics, dress codes, and social habits. While the study delves into the past, it carries implications for the future: only with renewed attention to the Qur'an itself, in all of its splendor and intricacy, can Western readers engage thoughtfully and ethically not only with Islamic studies but also with the cultures and traditions of those who live according to another book"--
Download or read book Women Imagine Change written by Eugenia C. DeLamotte and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 1997 with total page 566 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of the words of women spaning some 26 centuries from every corner of the earth and from many cultures.
Download or read book Visible Writings written by Marija Dalbello and published by Rutgers University Press. This book was released on 2011-03-15 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Exploring the concept and history of visual and graphic epistemologies, this engrossing collection of essays by artists, curators, and scholars provides keen insights into the many forms of connection between visibility and legibility. With more than 130 color and black-and-white photographs, Visible Writings sheds new light on the visual dimensions of writing as well as writing's interaction with images in ways that affect our experiences of reading and seeing. Multicultural in character and historical in range, essays discuss pre-Colombian Mesoamerican scripts, inscriptions on ancient Greek vases, medieval illuminations, Renaissance prints, Enlightenment concepts of the legible, and the Western "reading" of Chinese ideograms. A rich array of modern forms, including comics, poster art, typographic signs, scribblings in writers' manuscripts, anthropomorphic statistical pictograms, the street writings of 9/11, intersections between poetry and painting, the use of color in literary texts, and the use of writing in visual art are also addressed. Visible Writings reaches outside the traditional venues of literature and art history into topics that consider design, history of writing, philosophy of language, and the emerging area of visual studies. Marija Dalbello, Mary Shaw, and the other contributors offer both scholars and those with a more casual interest in literature and art the opportunity, simply stated, to see the writing on the wall.
Download or read book Early Islamic Poetry and Poetics written by Suzanne Pinckney Stetkevych and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-05-15 with total page 590 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume brings together a set of key studies on classical Arabic poetry (ca. 500-1000 C.E.), published over the last thirty-five years; the individual articles each deal with a different approach, period, genre, or theme. The major focus is on new interpretations of the form and function of the pre-eminent classical poetic genre, the polythematic qasida, or Arabic ode, particularly explorations of its ritual, ceremonial and performance dimensions. Other articles present the typology and genre characteristics of the short monothematic forms, especially the lyrical ghazal and the wine-poem. After thus setting out the full poetic genres and their structures, the volume turns in the remaining studies to the philological, rhetorical, stylistic and motival elements of classical Arabic poetry, in their etymological, symbolic, historical and comparatist dimensions. Suzanne Pinckney Stetkevych's Introduction places the articles within the context of the major critical and methodological trajectories of the field and in doing so demonstrates the increasing integration of Arabic literary studies into contemporary humanistic scholarship. The Selected Bibliography complements the Introduction and the Articles to offer the reader a full overview of the past generation of Western literary and critical scholarship on classical Arabic poetry.
