| Description |
1 online resource (x, 334 pages) |
| Contents |
Introduction: is there an Islamic context for the Thousand and one nights? -- The Islamic factor in global times -- The unifying Islamic factor -- The age of Muslim empire and the burgeoning of a text -- The changing order: the role of the public in the Thousand and one nights -- Nonreligious displacements in popular tradition -- The public role in Islamic narrative theorizations -- Scheherazade's nonverbal narratives in religious contexts -- Conclusions |
| Summary |
In this fascinating study, Muhsin J. al-Musawi shows how deeply Islamic heritage and culture is embedded in the tales of The Thousand and One Nights (known to many as the Arabian Nights) and how this integration invites readers to make an Islamic milieu. Conservative Islam dismisses The Thousand and One Nights as facile popular literature, and liberal views disregard the rich Islamic context of the text. Approaching the text with a fresh and unbiased eye, al-Musawi reads the tales against Islamic schools of thought and theology and recovers persuasive historical evidence to reveal the cultural and religious struggle over Islam that drives the book's narrative tension and binds its seemingly fragmented stories. Written by a number of authors over a stretch of centuries, The Thousand and One Nights depicts a burgeoning, urban Islamic culture in all its variety and complexity. As al-Musawi demonstrates, the tales document their own places and periods of production, reflecting the Islamic individual's growing exposure to a number of entertainments and temptations and their conflict with the obligations of faith. Aimed at a diverse audience, these stories follow a narrative arc that begins with corruption and ends with redemption, conforming to a paradigm that concurs with the sociological and religious concerns of Islam and the Islamic state. By emphasizing Islam in his analysis of these entertaining and instructional tales, al-Musawi not only illuminates the work's consistent equation between art and life, but he also sheds light on its underlying narrative power. His study offers a brilliant portrait o |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 307-317) and index |
| Notes |
Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212 MiAaHDL |
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digitized 2010 HathiTrust Digital Library committed to preserve pda MiAaHDL |
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Print version record |
| SUBJECT |
Arabian nights. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n80008548
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Arabian nights. fast (OCoLC)fst01356541 |
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Alf laila wa-laila gnd |
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Alf laila wa-laila. swd |
| Subject |
Islam in literature.
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Arabic literature -- Islamic influences
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Arabic literature -- History and criticism
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RELIGION -- Islam -- History.
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SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Folklore & Mythology.
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Arabic literature -- Islamic influences.
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Islam in literature.
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Islam
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Arabic literature.
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Islam.
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| Genre/Form |
Criticism, interpretation, etc.
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| ISBN |
9780231519465 |
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023151946X |
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