Exploring Arab Folk Literature

ISBN-13: 9780748640867 / Angielski / Twarda / 2011 / 256 str.

Opis

The character and range of Arab folk literature are investigated by Pierre Cachia in this collection of his pioneering essays in the field. Arranged into three sections, Cachia looks first at historical developments in the relationship between Arab folk literature and that of the elite, the gradual elaboration of certain genres, and the producers of folk literature. He then devotes a substantial section to the consideration of single or related texts. Finally he searches for evidence of social and cultural implications and for differences of attitudes of folk and elite towards sensitive issues.This book represents a major contribution to our understanding of Arab folk literature and will be of relevance to anyone with an interest in Arab literary creativity.

Spis treści

Foreword; The Transcription Of Arabic; Part I: Fact Finding; 1. Arabic Literatures, "Elite" and "Folk" - Junctions and Disjunctions; 2. The Egyptian Mawwal: its Ancestry, its Development, and its Present Forms; 3. The Nahda's first stirrings of interest in Alf Layla; 4. The Career of Mustafa Ibrahim 'Ajaj; Part II: Texts; 5. The Prophet's Shirt: three Versions of an Egyptian Narrative Ballad; 6. An Uncommon Use of Nonsense Verse in Colloquial Arabic; 7. An Early Example of Narrative Verse in Colloquial Arabic; 8. An Incomplete Egyptian Ballad on the 1956 War; 9. Three Versions of an Egyptian Narrative Ballad; 10. Pulp Stories in the Repertoire of Egyptian Folk Singers; 11. Karam il-Yatim; 12. Of Loose Verse and Masculine Beauty; 13. A Zajal on the Mi