ARABIC-L: LIT: Fiction; Web Publishing Discussion

[Dilworth B. Parkinson]

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Arabic-L: Wed 31 Mar 1999
Moderator: Dilworth Parkinson <dilworth_parkinson at byu.edu>
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1) Subject: Fiction; Web Publishing Discussion

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1)
Date: 31 Mar 1999
From: Michael Fishbein <FISHBEIN at humnet.ucla.edu>
Subject: Fiction; Web Publishing Discussion

In response to Andrew Freeman's question about works to include in a corpus of
Classical Arabic, I have some questions about the list of genres that he
proposes. To
begin with the first, fiction is not a well-defined category of pre-modern
Arabic
prose. There is much narrative prose in older Arabic literature, but most
of it
occurs within works of history, geography, biography, and (for want of a
better term)
adab. So I would rework the fiction category into a series of categories
closer to
those used in classical Arabic.

Kalila wa Dimna, which is a close translation from a Pahlavi original,
itself a
translation from Sanskrit, is not a typical work of Arabic literature. Ibn al-
Muqaffa' was heavily influenced in his syntax and idioms by the original.

The 1001 Nights would be interesting. However, it belongs to what can best
be called
Middle Arabic, not to Classical Arabic.

As for including technical works (grammar, exegesis, jurisprudence, theology,
philosophy, medicine, etc.), I think it is a bad idea, because one will be
comparing
apples and oranges. Each of these fields has its own vocabulary of
technical terms
and its own conventions of presentation and argumentation. I would avoid
technical
literature entirely and concentrate on classical texts of history, biography,
geography (travels), and adab. As for authors, round up "the usual
suspects"--Ibn
Hisham, the Aghani, Jahiz, Tabari, Mas'udi, Tawhidi, Yaqut, Ibn Khallikan, Ibn
Khaldun. Do, however, try to do examples the mainstream of non-technical
prose first.

********************
Michael Fishbein
Dept. of Near Eastern Languages & Cultures
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1511

(310) 206-2229 (office, 389A Kinsey Hall))
(310) 206-6456 (fax)
fishbein at humnet.ucla.edu
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End of Arabic-L: 31 Mar 1999