Early Islamic Poetry and Poetics

The collection of 13 previously published articles offers a one-stop resource to the emblematic works of the field, spanning 40 years, from James T. Monroe's 1972 "Oral Composition in Pre-Islamic Poetry" to Dana Sajdi's "Revisiting Layla al-Akhyaliya's trespass" of 2008. In addition, J.E. Bencheikh's "Le cenacle poetique du calife al-Mutawakkil" (1977) appears here for the first time in an English translation, by Philip Simpson. The articles engage with trends in literary theory, such as semiotics and structuralism; are devoted to poetic styles, such as the nasib, ghazal, and the qasida; or themes, including panegyric. Stetkevych (U. of Chicago) provides an overview to the field and her selection in her introduction; she also includes two of her own articles, "Structuralist interpretations" and "Toward a redefinition of 'Badi' poetry". The articles appear in facsimile of the originals, with their original notes and bibiography. Many lengthy quotations from the poems are featured, most in side-by-side translation. The collection concludes with an excellent index. Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Suzanne Pinckney Stetkevych is Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures and Director of Graduate Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA