PoetrythePerformanceofEmpire

3 Credits · Level: Graduate

Poetry and Performance will combine the close reading and translation of classical Arabic poetic texts from the Umayyad and Abbasid periods along with their prose contexts (such as Kitab al-Aghani) together with readings in contemporary critical theory on Performance, Speech Acts and the Rhetoric of Empire. Special emphasis will be placed on the use of poetry to negotiate rank and status, to perform rituals of swearing and retracting allegiance, and to confer or deny Islamic legitimacy.