Description in Classical Arabic Poetry

Waṣf, Ekphrasis, and Interarts Theory
Erscheinungsjahr 2003
ISBN: 978-90-04-12922-1
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Arabisch, Englisch, Band 25, 258 Seiten, Format (B × H): 163 mm x 245 mm, Gewicht: 635 g

Reihe: Brill Studies in Middle Eastern Literatures

This volume deals with wasf or description which is one of the salient characteristics of the qasidah (classical Arabic poetry) tradition. The Introduction offers the theoretical background of wasf and ekphrasis ("verbal representation of non-verbal texts" in its modern sense) that can be considered a Western counterpart of wasf. The main part of the book examines descriptive passages in a selected group of Arabic qasidah from different ages (Jahili, Abbasid, Andalusian) with the motifs of horses, bees and honey-gathering, visual artifacts, performance of song, and architecture. Approaching the Arabic ode in light of modern Western critical theory, including the theories of ekphrasis and of interarts studies, this work is original and innovative, so it leads to a new understanding of a major form of traditional Arabic poetry.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Motoyoshi Sumi, Akiko

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturwissenschaft

Über Autor(innen)

Motoyoshi Sumi, Ph.D. (2001) in Arabic Literature, Indiana University, is Assistant Professor at Kyoto Notre Dame University, Japan. She has published a number of articles on classical Arabic poetry including "Poetry and Portraiture: A Double Portrait in an Arabic Panegyric by Ibn Zamrak"(JAL 30, no. 3, 1999).