The Written Word in the Medieval Arabic Lands: A Social and Cultural History of Reading Practices

ISBN-13: 9780748677344 / Angielski / Miękka / 2013 / 304 str.

Konrad Hirschler

Opis

Winner of the 2012 BRISMES book prize. How the written text became accessible to wider audiences in medieval Egypt and Syria. Medieval Islamic societies belonged to the most bookish cultures of their period. Using a wide variety of documentary, narrative and normative sources, Konrad Hirschler explores the growth of reading audiences in a pre-print culture.The uses of the written word grew significantly in Egypt and Syria between the 11th and the 15th centuries, and more groups within society started to participate in individual and communal reading acts. New audiences in reading sessions, school curricula, increasing numbers of endowed libraries and the appearance of popular written literature all bear witness to the profound transformation of cultural practices and their social contexts.

Spis treści

List of Illustrations; List of Tables; Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. Reading and Writerly Culture; 2. A City is Reading: Popular and Scholarly Reading Sessions; 3. Learning to Read: Popularisation and the Written Word in Children’s Schools; 4. Local Endowed Libraries and their Readers; 5. Popular Reading Practices; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.