| The Author and His Doubles: Essays on Classical Arabic Culture Contributor(s): Kilito, Abdelfattah (Author), Cooperson, Michael (Translator) |
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ISBN: 0815629311 ISBN-13: 9780815629313 Publisher: Syracuse University Press OUR PRICE: $18.95 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: November 2001 Annotation: In this exceptional volume, Abedlfattah Kilito argues that genre -- not authorship -- is at the heart of classic Arabic literature. Using simple yet lyrical language, he examines love poetry and panegyric, the Prophet's Hadith and the literary anecdote, as well as such recurring themes as memorization, plagiarism and forgery, and dream visions of the dead. Ultimately, he evokes these as an allegory for post-colonial Arab North Africa. An elegant translation faithfully captures the author's poetic finesse and makes the book easily accessible to English-speaking readers. Warmly received by critics and anthropologists, this volume is a must for scholars, students, and devotees of Arab culture. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Literary Collections | Essays - Literary Criticism | African - Literary Criticism | Middle Eastern |
| Dewey: 892.709 |
| LCCN: 2001049782 |
| Series: Modern Middle East Literature in Translation |
| Physical Information: 0.5" H x 5.57" W x 8.02" (0.43 lbs) 154 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Arab World |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Michael Cooperson's translation makes Abdelfattah Kilito's masterpiece available to English-speaking audiences for the first time. Called the most inventive and provocative critic of Arabic literature writing in the Middle East today, Kilito opens our perception with the same breadth of vision, seeking to define the traditional and historical forces that bind one writer to another and that inextricably link an author to a text. This volume benefits from Cooperson's accomplished translation. While rigorously precise, it also allows the wit and humor and the lyricism of Kilito's prose full expression. Drawing on major themes of classical Arabic literature, the essays use simple, poetic language to argue that genre, not authorship, is the single most important feature of classical works. Kilito discusses love poetry and panegyric, the Prophet's Hadith, and the literary anecdote, as well as offering novel readings of recurrent themes such as memorization, plagiarism, forgery, and dream visions of the dead. |