Overview
- Examines the foundations of aesthetics in Arabic literature via the Qur’an
- Considers classic Arabic literature through philological, historical, philosophical, and linguistic discourses
- Studies questions of translation and context for reading adab
Part of the book series: Literatures and Cultures of the Islamic World (LCIW)
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About this book
This book approaches the Qur’an as a primary source for delineating the definition of ugliness, and by extension beauty, and in turn establishing meaningful tools and terms for literary criticism within the discipline of classical Arabic literature (adab). Focusing on the aesthetic dimension of the Qur’an, this methodology opens up new horizons for reading adab by reading the tradition from within the tradition and thereby examining issues of “decontextualisation” and the “untranslatable.” This approach, in turn, invites Comparatists, as well as Arabists, to consider other means and perspectives for approaching adab besides the Bakhtinian carnival. Applying this critical strategy to literary works as diverse as One Thousand and One Nights and The Epistle of Forgiveness, Sarah R. bin Tyeer aims to prove two major points: how Bakhtin’s aesthetics is anachronistic and therefore theoretically inappropriate when applied to certain literary works and how ultimately this literary methodology is sometimes used as a proxy for ungrounded and, sometimes, unfair arguments by other scholars.
Foreword by Angelika Neuwirth, Professor of Quranic studies, Freie University, Berlin, Germany.
Foreword by Angelika Neuwirth, Professor of Quranic studies, Freie University, Berlin, Germany.
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Keywords
Table of contents (11 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Popular Literature: Thousand and One Nights
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Reviews
"In this complex book the author adopts a bold approach, shows a willingness to take some risks, and undertakes a lively engagement with the material ... . The Qur’an and the Aesthetics of Premodern Arabic Prose remains a highly original work that creatively combines attention to key qurʾānic concepts with the interpretation of Arabic literary texts." (Devin J. Stewart, Review of Qur'anic Research, Vol. 7 (7), 2021)
“The Qur’an and the Aesthetics of Premodern Arabic Prose is a brilliant book. It enriches the field at the theoretical level and proposes original, well-informed, and highly plausible readings of premodern Arabic prose. It also illustrates the problems and dangers of decontextualized, anachronistic, and atomistic readings and offers efficient remedies to them.In so doing, the book joins other efforts to herald a new era in Arabic literary criticism which promises deeper appreciation of the tradition’s intellectual legacy.” (Sarra Tlili, Journal of Arabic Literature, Vol. 50, 2019)
“Bin Tyeer shows persuasively that ‘Islam’ has often been reduced to a caricature of puritanism, and that such a view has prevented people from considering the cultural bounty of the Middle East as owing to Islam, not being in spite of it. ... Islam, contrary to its stereotyped depictions in mainstream Western media, does have a rich tradition of creativity, humor, and complicatedness. Recognizing this reality should, says Bin Tyeer, be the starting point for a more generous view of the Islamic cultural tradition.” (Kevin Blankinship, Marginalia Review of Books, July, 2018)
“Sarah R. bin Tyeer makes a significant and welcome contribution to adab studies, providing another line of analysis and documentation to enhance continuity in literary production as it burgeons not only in pre-Islamic Odes, but also in the Qur’an. This book traces the binary aesthetic of beauty and ugliness through a number of works that signify a central drive and trend…An invaluable source in adab studies and for further research.” (Muhsin al-Musawi, Professor of Arabic Literature, Columbia University, USA)
“A pioneering work on classical Arabic aestheticism. Sarah R. bin Tyeer re-examines the foundations of Arabic aesthetic theory as it was fashioned by the paradigm shift that the Qur’an occasioned. This is a must read for those interested in literary medieval theory and adab in general. Those working on the Qur’an will find it extremely relevant.” (Walid Saleh, Professor of Islamic Studies, University of Toronto, Canada)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Sarah R. bin Tyeer is a Research Associate in the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, UK. Her recent publications include essays in the volumes: Qur’an and Adab: The Shaping of Classical Literary Tradition, The Beloved in Middle East Literature: The Culture of Love and Languishing, and The City in Premodern and Modern Arabic Literature.
Foreword by Angelika Neuwirth, Professor of Quranic studies, Freie University, Berlin, Germany.
Foreword by Angelika Neuwirth, Professor of Quranic studies, Freie University, Berlin, Germany.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: The Qur’an and the Aesthetics of Premodern Arabic Prose
Authors: Sarah R. bin Tyeer
Series Title: Literatures and Cultures of the Islamic World
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59875-2
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan London
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media Studies, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Macmillan Publishers Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2016
Softcover ISBN: 978-1-349-95601-2Published: 27 June 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-1-137-59875-2Published: 10 September 2016
Series ISSN: 2945-705X
Series E-ISSN: 2945-7068
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XV, 306
Number of Illustrations: 1 illustrations in colour
Topics: Postcolonial/World Literature, Middle Eastern Literature, Literary History