Essays in Arabic Literary Biography

II: 1350-1850

edited by Devin J. Stewart and Joseph E. Lowry

Book cover: Essays in Arabic Literary Biography

Extent: 440 pages

Publisher: Harrassowitz Verlag

Subjects: Islamic & Middle Eastern Studies

Series: Essays in Arabic Literary Biography

Series volume number: 2

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(August 2009)

ISBN: 9783447059336

6.65 x 9.45 inches

Price: $95.00

In stock

This volume contains biographical studies of thirty-eight Arabic literary figures who lived between 1350 and 1850, a neglected period of Arabic literary history. The essays situate the authors and their writings in local contexts of literary and cultural production, from Morocco to Iran, India and Indonesia, in many cases offering the first comprehensive assessments of their lives and works. What emerges from the collection as a whole is a period characterized by institutional change, competition, conspicuous virtuosity, and diversity – when Christian and Shiite writers also played important roles. Although modern scholarship has seen these centuries as mired in cultural decadence and decline, the literary figures in this volume display astonishing inventiveness, both in their understanding and appropriation of the Arabic literary tradition as well as in their many formal innovations.


The three volumes of Essays in Arabic Literary Biography contain entries by leading specialists in the field of Arabic literature studies devoted to the major representatives of the literary heritage of Arabic culture within three specific periods: 950-1350 (ed. Terri DeYoung); 1350-1850 (ed. Joseph E. Lowry and Devin Stewart); and 1850-1950 (ed. Roger Allen). Each volume attempts to refl ect larger movements of cultural development and change within the realms of literary production and commentary during the given period. While the major names associated with each period are to be found, a particular effort has also been made to reflect the geographical diversity of the Arabic-speaking regions in the different historical periods involved. This volume contains biographical studies of thirty-eight Arabic literary fi gures who lived between 1350 and 1850, a neglected period of Arabic literary history. The essays situate the authors and their writings in local contexts of literary and cultural production, from Morocco to Iran, India and Indonesia, in many cases offering the fi rst comprehensive assessments of their lives and works. What emerges from the collection as a whole is a period characterized by institutional change, competition, conspicuous virtuosity, and diversity – when Christian and Shiite writers also played important roles. Although modern scholarship has seen these centuries as mired in cultural decadence and decline, the literary figures in this volume display astonishing inventiveness, both in their understanding and appropriation of the Arabic literary tradition as well as in their many formal innovations.

  • Edited by Joseph E Lowry
  • Edited by Devin J Stewart