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This edition of an anonymous work of fiction reads as a transnational literary whodunnit. How did this hybrid text, blending the Arabic genres of the popular s¿ra and the Udhr¿; love story with the western fairy tale, come to life? And why was it misconstrued as history in the 19th century? Hammond offers up an intriguing case file.
List of contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- A Note on Transliteration and Terminology
- A Note on the Manuscripts and Published Editions
- A Note on the (Incorrect) Attribution of the Tale to ?Umar b. Shabba
- Key Dates
- 1: From Fiction to History and Back: The Tale, its Versions and its Afterlives
- 2: The Tale of al-Barr¿q Son of Raw¿¿n and Layl¿ the Chaste, in English translation
- 3: The Narrative, Its Components and its 'Novelisation'
- Bibliography
- Appendix: The Arabic Text
About the author
Marlé Hammond is currently Senior Lecturer in Arabic Popular Literature and Culture at SOAS University of London, where she has taught courses on Arabic literature and Middle Eastern Cinema. Previously she was British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow (2007-2010) and St. John's College Research Centre Fellow (2002-2006) at Oxford University. She was raised in Albany, New York, and studied under Pierre Cachia, George Saliba and Magda Al-Nowaihi at Columbia University in New York City. From June 1990 to June 1991, she was a Center for Arabic Study Abroad Fellow at the American University in Cairo. She now resides in Oxford with her husband and two teenage children.
Summary
This edition of an anonymous work of fiction reads as a transnational literary whodunnit. How did this hybrid text, blending the Arabic genres of the popular sira and the Udhri; love story with the western fairy tale, come to life? And why was it misconstrued as history in the 19th century? Hammond offers up an intriguing case file.
