Arabic Literary Salons in the Islamic Middle Age – Poetry, Public Performance, and the Presentation of the Past

“Ali provides a compelling analysis of the role Arabic literary salons played in developing historical narrative and interpreting tradition in the Islamic Middle Ages. The author approaches key literary texts of the Abbasid period as dynamic rhetorical articulations rotated and rehearsed in the salons. Advanced scholars will benefit from Ali’s interdisciplinary approach and from his refreshing reading of al-Buhturi’s poems.” 

“The book . . . is about the power of poetry as illustrated by events, and accounts of a particular event. It also looks at the interplay between prose and poetry in classical Arabic literary culture. Furthermore, it contributes to the long-standing debate between historians and historians of literature about how best to select and utilize material which is branded as literary for the purpose of reconstructing the past. Finally, it discusses in detail some third/ninth century poetry .  .  . This book has the great merit of stressing an aspect of Arabic literary culture which modern scholarship tends to disregard, and will be thought-provoking to many readers.” 

“More than a mere study of a medieval literary institution, Samer Ali has written a book that is sure to spur enthusiasm for the study of Arabic literature even among the most die-hard non-Arabists. . . . In comparing medieval literary salons to their ancient Greek and Middle Eastern precursors, he explains their influence on politics, social class, gender dynamics, religion, and—of course—the presumed connection between good manners (adab) and literature (ababiyyat).” 
 

“Samer M. Ali’s book Arabic Salons in the Islamic Middle Ages traces the growth and spread of literary salons, or the mujalasat, from the pre-Islamic Middle East through the Abbasid Caliphate and beyond. . . . Highly recommended for anyone interested in this time period, Arabic literature’s development and history, the relationship of Islam to the development of the arts, and in reading a general historical book. It is certain to be an important part of medieval Middle Eastern studies and the development of academic interest and scholarship in this time period and region.” 

Samer M. Ali is associate professor of Arabic Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.