Rhetoric Arabo-Islamic Ruler

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

This course will offer selections of medieval Arabic literary pieces wherein notions of authority and legitimacy are negotiated, established and confirmed. Primary readings cover odes addressed to Arabo-Islamic rulers; pre-Islamic delegations (al-wuf?d), medieval orations, advice literature, and Alf Layla wa-Layla. Discussions will draw on primary sources on authority, advice, mercy, patronage, sacrifice and intercession. The selected pieces will be embedded within their political contexts, and complemented by looking at cultural expressions of political legitimacy: war paraphernalia, chronicles, monuments, palatine architecture, regal insignia, diplomatic receptions, processions, ceremonies, art patronage, courtly life & celebrations. The course is designed around close analysis of literary pieces, and engages with a wealth of cultural references, comparative examples and theoretical approaches. The class is invited place classical Arabic literature within broader frameworks of human thought and experience.