Arabic Poetics: Aesthetic Experience in Classical Arabic Literature (Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization)

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Ancient Arabic literature is a realm of poetry; prose literary forms emerged rather late, and even then remained in the shadow of poetic creative efforts. I show that the magazine dealt with the poetic process by broadening the space of the sources that inspired it with their poetics. In addition, the book analyzes the extent of the magazine’s effect on poetic Arab modernism and its significance in view of the development of Arabic literature, which is imbued with a ‘modernism’ that was either its contemporary or has been developing from its vision till the present day. I will be asking my colleagues in Arabic studies to provide criticism and addition, and so at the time of posting (late March 2013) the list should be considered a draft (as of August 2015 I am making additions in the comments section below).

Amidst a stormy national and literary atmosphere that was confused regarding future paths, the magazine initially tried to establish a different kind of poetic and literary activity that stressed the individual during the period of Arab nationalism, as it sought collective and common harmonizing elements among the people.

The result showed that there was a comprehensive aesthetic across disciplines in post-10 th-century works of literary theory that viewed the evocation of wonder as the main criterion of linguistic beauty. This chapter supports Harb’s claim of an underlying aesthetic of wonder by showing that Arabic Aristotelean philosophers held the same conception in their reception of Aristotle’s Poetics, suggesting common cultural attitudes of poetic beauty.

This chapter also looks at the literary path the magazine took and how this led to fierce debates with Majallat al-Ādāb (Magazine of Literatures) and other literary and journalistic bodies. Challenging centuries of Eurocentric projections, including the restrictive understanding of genre that has impaired our ability to engage with non-European literatures on literary terms, Rashwan has introduced a set of tools for reading ancient Egyptian that scholars prior to him have by and large ignored. Through analysing ancient and classical Arabic literature, including the Qur'an, from within the Arabic literary tradition, this book provides an original interpretation of poetics, and of other important aspects of Arab culture. Providing ample examples with clear and thorough analysis, Harb offers a coherent and convincing theory of Arabic poetics as reasoned by numerous medieval Arabic literary theorists, critics, and philosophers spanning varied intellectual traditions.Arabic Poetics should be read by upper-level undergraduate and master’s students who study Arabic literature or medieval Islamic scholarship as Harb speaks clearly about her ideas and presents a clear argument (mostly) unencumbered by heavy technical language or burdening conceptual density . She then introduces the book with a set of questions guiding her inquiry and reiterates that an aesthetic of wonder underlies classical Arabic literary theory. From my conversations with colleagues outside Arabic, Abu Deeb does not seem to have succeeded (though this should not be taken as criticism of his analyses). The magazine’s interactions apply to both levels as I relate to both its historical impact on Arabic literature during its publication and following its closure, and with the degree of its effectiveness in outlining the characteristics of modern Arabic poetics following its popularity in the Arabic literary arena.