Ibn Abi Tahir Tayfur and Arabic Writerly Culture ― A Ninth-Century Bookman in Baghdad

In spite of the considerable attention devoted to the third/ninth century by scholars of Arabic literature, credit for the elaboration of the notion of adab in its wider meaning of writerly culture has been concentrated upon only a handful of writers. The disproportionate emphasis, within and outside the Arabic literary-historical and critical traditions, has been at the expense of certain crucial aspects of that tradition.

With a particular focus on a central but neglected figure, Ibn Abi Tahir Tayfur (d. 280/893), poet and prose writer, schoolmaster and copyist, "independent" scholar, member of important literary circles, and a significant anthologist and chronicler, this study re-evaluates the literary history and landscape of the third/ninth century. The author demonstrates and emphasises the significance of an important and irrevocable transformation, namely the one signalled by the transition from a predominatly oral-aural culture to an increasingly writerly-based and book one.

This transformation had a profound influence in the production of learned and literary culture; on the modes of transmission of learning; on the nature and types of literary production; on the nature of scholarly and professional occupations and alliances; and on the implications of such phenomena as patronage and plagiarism. This book will appeal, therefore, to anyone interested in deepening their understanding of classical and medieval Arabic literary culture and history, and also to those with an interest in books, writing and authorship.

Shawkat M. Toorawa is Assistant Professor of Arabic Literature in the department of Near Eastern Studies at Cornell University. He is the co-author of Interpreting the Self: Autobiography in the Arabic Literary Tradition (2001), translator of Adonis's A Time Between Ashes and Roses (2004) and co-editor of Arabic Literary Culture, 500-925 (2005).