Description
This course looks at the early odes known as al-Mu‘allaqāt which are central for the conception of canonic poetry in Arabic. Through close readings of these poems and of their long history of critical reception, the course explores the history of the formation and reformation of this canon. Special attention is paid to questions of discrepancy in this canon between the Islamic East and Islamic West, as well as to the particular literary, ethical and historical concerns encoded in them. The course also touches on the transformation of the genre across time and languages, especially Farsi and Ottoman Turkish.