The Anthologist's Art
Abu Man?ur al-Tha?alibi and His Yatimat al-dahr
Published on 23. June 2016
Book
Hardback
292 pages
978-90-04-31629-4 (ISBN)
Description
Why did premodern authors in the Arabic-Islamic culture compile literary anthologies, and why were these works remarkably popular? How can an anthology that consists of reproduced material be original and creative, and serve various literary and political ends? How did anthologists select their material, then record and arrange it?
This book examines the life and works of Abu Man?ur al-Tha?alibi (350-429/961-1039), an eminent anthologist from Nishapur, paying special attention to his magnum opus, Yatimat al-dahr (The Unique Pearl), and its sequel, Tatimmat al-Yatima (The Completion of the Yatima). This book is a direct window on to an anthologist's workshop in the second half of the fourth/tenth century. It examines the methodological consciousness expressed in Tha?alibi's selection and arrangement, and his sophisticated system of internal references and cross-references to other works; how he selected from his contemporaries' oeuvres; how he sought, recorded, memorized, misplaced, and sometimes lost or forgot his selections; how he scrutinized the authenticity of material, accepting, questioning, or rejecting its attribution; and the errors and inconsistencies that resulted from this process.
This book examines the life and works of Abu Man?ur al-Tha?alibi (350-429/961-1039), an eminent anthologist from Nishapur, paying special attention to his magnum opus, Yatimat al-dahr (The Unique Pearl), and its sequel, Tatimmat al-Yatima (The Completion of the Yatima). This book is a direct window on to an anthologist's workshop in the second half of the fourth/tenth century. It examines the methodological consciousness expressed in Tha?alibi's selection and arrangement, and his sophisticated system of internal references and cross-references to other works; how he selected from his contemporaries' oeuvres; how he sought, recorded, memorized, misplaced, and sometimes lost or forgot his selections; how he scrutinized the authenticity of material, accepting, questioning, or rejecting its attribution; and the errors and inconsistencies that resulted from this process.
Reviews / Votes
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Alaa Kayali, al-Mashriq 91/2, July-December 2017
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Maryam Mishtawi, Al-Sharq al-Awsat, 21 June 2016, issue 13720
"The Anthologist's Art is a welcome contribution to our knowledge of literary anthologies and of adab in the fourth to the fifth/tenth to the eleventh centuries. It points the way to further inquiries into the networks through which adab circulated and the tastes that informed its evaluation."
Matthew L. Keegan, in: Al-Abhath 64 (2016)
"Bilal Orfail's study is an important work of literary scholarship. It is important both for its detailed account of al-Tha?alibi's career (his works, his methods, and his legacy) as well as for the attention it pays to an exemplar of a genre that has played a critical role in the development and perservation of classical Arabic poetic and literary traditions."
Adam Talib, Durham University, in: Journal of the American Oriental Society 139/1 (2019)
"The Anthologist's Art offers a truly comprehensive picture of the Yatimat al-dahr and Tatimmat al-Yatima. The amount of questions Orfali discusses makes it an important survey that has few equals in the history of Arabic literature. Its undoubted merit consists in contextualizing the enormous quantity of materials collected by Tha?alibi' within the broader socio-literary framework of the century in which he lived and within the type of works through which he chose to express himself. Ultimately, it offers a further, indispensable, piece of knowledge of a central activity for cultivating adab (not yet sufficiently appreciated) that was anthologizing."
Francesca Bellino, Universita degli Studi di Napoli "L'Orientale", in: Annali, sezione Orientale 79 (2019)
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Leiden
Netherlands
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 241 mm
Width: 163 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
544 gr
ISBN-13
978-90-04-31629-4 (9789004316294)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Bilal Orfali, Ph.D. (2009), Yale University, is associate professor of Arabic studies at the American University of Beirut. He is editor of In the Shadow of Arabic (Brill, 2011); Sufism, Black and White, with Nada Saab (Brill, 2012); The Comfort of the Mystics, with Gerhard Boewering (Brill, 2013); and The Book of Noble Character, with Ramzi Baalbaki (Brill, 2015).
Content
Preface
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
List of Illustrations
Note on Editions and Manuscripts of the Yatima and Tatimma
1. The Art of Anthology in Premodern Arabic Literature
Anthology and Adab
Approaches to the Study of Arabic Literary Anthology in Modern Scholarship
Motives for Anthologizing
A Map of Arabic Poetry Anthologies
2. Life and Legacy of Tha?alibi
Abu Man?ur al-Tha?alibi
Legacy of Tha?alibi
Bibliography of Tha?alibi
Printed Authentic Works
Printed, Authenticity Doubtful
Printed, Authenticity Rejected
In Manuscript, Authentic works
In Manuscript, Authenticity Uncertain
In Manuscript, Authenticity Rejected
Works Surviving in Quotations
Lost Works
3. An Anthologist at Work: The Organization and Structure of the Yatima and Tatimma
Organization
Prominent Litterateurs
Courts, Dynasties and Other Patrons
Cities and Sub-Regions
Critical Awareness in the Organization of the Yatima and Tatimma
Selection of Material
The Arrangement of Entries in a Chapter: Proximity and Resemblance
References and Cross-References
Cross-References
References in the Tatimma to the Yatima
References to the Earlier Version of the Yatima
References to Other Works by Tha?alibi
Later Additions to the Yatima
Authenticity and Misattribution
Forgotten, Lost, and Inconsistent Material
4. The Sources of Tha?alibi in Yatimat al-Dahr and Tatimmat al-Yatima
Written Sources
Diwans
Books
Other Written Media
Oral/Aural Sources
Main Guarantors in the Yatima
Main Guarantors in the Tatimma
Conclusion
5. Material within the Entry
Categorization and Arrangement of Material within Entries
The Biographical Summary
Dates
Deaths of Poets
Religious Views
Training and Education
Professions
Families of Litterateurs
Characterization of Litterateurs and Their Literary Oeuvres
Geographical Context
Social Context
Historical Context
Comparing Litterateurs
Knowledge of Persian
Relations between Contemporaries
Physical and Character Features
Patronage
Patron-Litterateur Relations
Admission to a Court
Meeting a Patron
Leaving a Court
Prison Incidents and Stories
Description of Courtly Majalis
Evaluating Literary Production
Conclusion
Appendix 1: Outline of the Yatima and Tatimma
Appendix 2: Sources of Yatimat al-Dahr
Appendix 3: Sources of Tatimmat al-Yatima
Appendix 4: Comparisons between Poets
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
List of Illustrations
Note on Editions and Manuscripts of the Yatima and Tatimma
1. The Art of Anthology in Premodern Arabic Literature
Anthology and Adab
Approaches to the Study of Arabic Literary Anthology in Modern Scholarship
Motives for Anthologizing
A Map of Arabic Poetry Anthologies
2. Life and Legacy of Tha?alibi
Abu Man?ur al-Tha?alibi
Legacy of Tha?alibi
Bibliography of Tha?alibi
Printed Authentic Works
Printed, Authenticity Doubtful
Printed, Authenticity Rejected
In Manuscript, Authentic works
In Manuscript, Authenticity Uncertain
In Manuscript, Authenticity Rejected
Works Surviving in Quotations
Lost Works
3. An Anthologist at Work: The Organization and Structure of the Yatima and Tatimma
Organization
Prominent Litterateurs
Courts, Dynasties and Other Patrons
Cities and Sub-Regions
Critical Awareness in the Organization of the Yatima and Tatimma
Selection of Material
The Arrangement of Entries in a Chapter: Proximity and Resemblance
References and Cross-References
Cross-References
References in the Tatimma to the Yatima
References to the Earlier Version of the Yatima
References to Other Works by Tha?alibi
Later Additions to the Yatima
Authenticity and Misattribution
Forgotten, Lost, and Inconsistent Material
4. The Sources of Tha?alibi in Yatimat al-Dahr and Tatimmat al-Yatima
Written Sources
Diwans
Books
Other Written Media
Oral/Aural Sources
Main Guarantors in the Yatima
Main Guarantors in the Tatimma
Conclusion
5. Material within the Entry
Categorization and Arrangement of Material within Entries
The Biographical Summary
Dates
Deaths of Poets
Religious Views
Training and Education
Professions
Families of Litterateurs
Characterization of Litterateurs and Their Literary Oeuvres
Geographical Context
Social Context
Historical Context
Comparing Litterateurs
Knowledge of Persian
Relations between Contemporaries
Physical and Character Features
Patronage
Patron-Litterateur Relations
Admission to a Court
Meeting a Patron
Leaving a Court
Prison Incidents and Stories
Description of Courtly Majalis
Evaluating Literary Production
Conclusion
Appendix 1: Outline of the Yatima and Tatimma
Appendix 2: Sources of Yatimat al-Dahr
Appendix 3: Sources of Tatimmat al-Yatima
Appendix 4: Comparisons between Poets
Bibliography
Index