Poetry and Storytelling: The Literature of the Near East Middle Period

1. Poetry and Storytelling: The Literature of the Near East (Middle Period) A Presentation for English 2332 Dr. Brenda Cornell Central Texas College

2. Overview In the two centuries following Mohammed's death, Islamic civilization would reach its peak under the first two dynasties, beginning with the Umayyads (661-750), in Damascus, who greatly expanded and unified their territory from Africa to Asia. Under the Abbasids (750-1258), the new capital of Baghdad became a world-renowned center of trade and cultural exchange where trade wealth provided generous patronage for art and scholarship

3. Overview continued In the seventh century, the Arab Empire rapidly expanded its territory well beyond the Arabian Peninsula. By 640, it had triumphed over the Persian Empire and Egypt, and although the empire would disintegrate by the thirteenth century, the highly developed civilization created by the Muslims would outlive the empire that gave birth to it.

4. Baghdad�s Importance Under the Abbasids (750-1258), the new capital of Baghdad became a world-renowned center of trade and cultural exchange where trade wealth provided generous patronage for art and scholarship. Harun al-Rashid (786-800) would rule so lavishly that Baghdad under his reign became the model for the Ottoman and Mamluk sultanates depicted in One Thousand and One Nights. Throughout the vast empire, a number of thriving cities (among them Cordoba, Granada, Basra, and Marrakesh) became vital centers for trade and cultural exchange. With the advent of paper manufacture in Baghdad, historians such as al-Mas'udi (896-956) began to record Arab history in writing for the first time.

5. The Arabic Language This sumptuously decorated fifteenth-century copy of Rumi's poems testifies to the work's popularity through the centuries. (The Art Archive/Bodleian Library, Oxford/The Bodleian Library) � By the eighth and ninth centuries, Arabic had become the primary international language used in the Middle East (and southern Mediterranean) and it exerted a powerful cultural influence over the entire empire, especially in the areas of architecture and art.

6. Literary Contributions One Thousand and One Nights (also known as The Arabian Nights) The Tamil Anthologies

7. One Thousand and One Nights Used an early literary device called �the frame story� (or �frame narrative�); several interconnected stories are joined loosely as part of one major story �frame� or device. Likely source is the book of Esther in the Old Testament.

8. More About One Thousand and One Nights Though an original manuscript has never been found several versions date the collection's genesis to somewhere between AD 800-900. What is common throughout all the editions of The Nights is the initial frame story of the ruler Shahryar (Persian: ??????) and his wife Scheherazade (Persian: ??????) and the framing device incorporated throughout the tales themselves. The stories proceed from this original tale; some are framed within other tales, while others begin and end of their own accord. Some editions contain only a few hundred tales, while others include 1001 or more stories and "nights." Well known stories from The Nights include "Aladdin," "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves," and "The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor.� http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_One_Thousand_and_One_Nights

9. The Tamil Anthologies Eight anthologies of Persian poetry called Ettuthokai form part of early Tamil literature known as Sangam literature written eighteen centuries ago. They consist of two thousand three hundred and seventy-one poems varying from small stanzas of three lines in Ainkurunuru to stanzas of forty lines in Purananuru. There are four hundred and seventy poets known either by their proper names or by casual names called from their works. Authors of longer works (100 or more lines) are not identified. The poets belonged to different parts of Tamilnad and to different professions. These works were not originally written down, but like other ancient works, were sung. Main characteristic: a general harmony prevails throughout these eight anthologies. The tone and temper of the age is reflected in all their poems with a singular likeness. They were composed according to certain literary traditions that prevailed in the Sangam age. Yet they reveal the individual genius of the poets who sang them. http://www.tamilnation.org/literature/anthologies.htm

10. Conclusions A great many other civilizations were influenced by their contact with the Arabic language; for example, although Persian poetry (the tradition from which Rumi's work arose) had a long oral tradition, it was first written down in Arabic script. Many of the ancient Greek and Latin texts (such as the works of Aristotle) were also translated by Arab scholars in madrasas (universities), long before they were known in Europe. Through this common language (and a shared belief in Islam, which was often adopted by conquered peoples), Arab culture was able to unify its empire over vast geographic distances, remaining the principal and stable influence that tended to override local traditions.

11. Works Cited Davis, et. al. The Bedford Anthology of World Literature: The Middle Period, 100 C.E. to 1450. NY: Bedford/St. Martins, 2004. http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/worldlit/default.asp?b=2&c=&r=&i= http://www.tamilnation.org/literature/anthologies.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_One_Thousand_and_One_Nights