Comparative Literature and Classical Persian Poetics: Second Edition
Comparative Literature and Classical Persian Poetics applies comparative literary approaches to classical Persian traditions of composing and performing poetry and song. Olga M. Davidson focuses on epic, especially the classical epic Shāhnāma, composed in the early eleventh century CE by the poet Ferdowsi, and on the relationship of this epic to other genres that are found embedded in it. Included among these other genres are forms of verbal art that were originally composed without the aid of writing, such as women’s laments. Davidson explores the many ways in which the epic Shāhnāma incorporates oral poetic traditions in general. Surveying the current state of the art in oral poetic studies, she concentrates on applications of these studies to classical Persian prose as well as poetry. Of special interest is her critical analysis of both modern and ancient claims about the turning of prose into poetry. This second edition of the book contains an added chapter about “live” performances of the epic Shāhnāma.
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Comparative Literature and Classical Persian Poetics: Second Edition
Comparative Literature and Classical Persian Poetics applies comparative literary approaches to classical Persian traditions of composing and performing poetry and song. Olga M. Davidson focuses on epic, especially the classical epic Shāhnāma, composed in the early eleventh century CE by the poet Ferdowsi, and on the relationship of this epic to other genres that are found embedded in it. Included among these other genres are forms of verbal art that were originally composed without the aid of writing, such as women’s laments. Davidson explores the many ways in which the epic Shāhnāma incorporates oral poetic traditions in general. Surveying the current state of the art in oral poetic studies, she concentrates on applications of these studies to classical Persian prose as well as poetry. Of special interest is her critical analysis of both modern and ancient claims about the turning of prose into poetry. This second edition of the book contains an added chapter about “live” performances of the epic Shāhnāma.
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Comparative Literature and Classical Persian Poetics: Second Edition

Comparative Literature and Classical Persian Poetics: Second Edition

by Olga M. Davidson
Comparative Literature and Classical Persian Poetics: Second Edition

Comparative Literature and Classical Persian Poetics: Second Edition

by Olga M. Davidson

Paperback(New edition)

$19.95 
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Overview

Comparative Literature and Classical Persian Poetics applies comparative literary approaches to classical Persian traditions of composing and performing poetry and song. Olga M. Davidson focuses on epic, especially the classical epic Shāhnāma, composed in the early eleventh century CE by the poet Ferdowsi, and on the relationship of this epic to other genres that are found embedded in it. Included among these other genres are forms of verbal art that were originally composed without the aid of writing, such as women’s laments. Davidson explores the many ways in which the epic Shāhnāma incorporates oral poetic traditions in general. Surveying the current state of the art in oral poetic studies, she concentrates on applications of these studies to classical Persian prose as well as poetry. Of special interest is her critical analysis of both modern and ancient claims about the turning of prose into poetry. This second edition of the book contains an added chapter about “live” performances of the epic Shāhnāma.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780674073203
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Publication date: 07/15/2013
Series: Ilex Series , #12
Edition description: New edition
Pages: 140
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.35(d)

About the Author

Olga M. Davidson is a Faculty Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Muslim Societies and Civilizations at Boston University.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Second Edition ix

Introduction xi

Essay 1 Preliminaries about Comparative Methodology 1

Essay 2 The Text of Ferdowsi's Shahnama and the Burden of the Past 7

Essay 3 Singer of Tales and Book of Kings in the Poetic World of Ferdowsi 20

Essay 4 An Opposing View 40

Essay 5 Rostam the Crown-Bestower 47

Essay 6 Epic as a Frame for Speech-Acts 67

Essay 7 Women's Lamentations as Protest in the Shahnama of Ferdowsi 82

Essay 8 Observations on a Study of naqqali Performances of Persian Epics 99

Bibliography 113

Index 123

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