Any recommendations for books on the history of Arab poetry? It seems like back then poetry was a lot more important in the Arab world. Basically almost fundamental to people’s sense of self and being back then. I remember hearing about this one family that lost a sort of “poetry battle” in ancient arabia to such an extent that they were so ashamed they had to change their own family name. Nowadays it doesn’t seem nearly as important. Of course there’s all the terrible things happening in the Arab world today but even before all that it seemed to lose steam in the 19th-20th century maybe even before that if you count the major borrowing of European styles during that time.
>>23545106https://youtu.be/l_zWkE9lvhw?si=O8_E6GUPRPZEbTV6
>>23545106The thing with pre-colonial 'Arab' literature in general, and more specifically historical literature, is that the works are either too exhaustive or too short. To take one small example, some guys used to write 2000 pages long books detailing the lives, thoughts, and circumstances of meeting every single student and teacher they've ever had. It's very difficult to navigate, even moreso for a foreigner. Nevertheless when it comes to the history of ancient poetry, there have been many attempts at condensing and contextualizing its development throughout the turbulent history of the region. There's a book called Where Mute Immortals Speak that would be a decent place to start.
>>23545182Damn who’s that guy you mentioned and do any of his works survive today? And thanks for the book
>>23547373His name was Ibn Samaani and his works do survive to this very day. His most notable book, Kitab al-ansab, did receive an English translation back in the orientalist days, though I cannot speak on its accuracy nor on its availability.
