Studies in Near Eastern-Western Literary Relations

Despite the fact that three shadow plays written in Egypt by the Iraqi author, Ibn Daniyal (d.710/1310) have been known for some time, first in manuscript, and then in a woefully inadequate edition from which two-thirds of the text was expurgated, it has become accepted wisdom that there is no theater in medieval Arabic literature.  A more recent edition of the shadow plays now makes it possible to rectify this negative judgment and to assess the value and significance of the surviving texts.

This seminar will concentrate on a close reading of the Arabic text in order to determine its meaning and significance. Parallels will be drawn between the Arabic shadow theater and dramatic forms that preceded and followed it, such as the mimes of Herondas, and the commedia dell’ arte. Attention will also be devoted to the depiction of certain characters, inherited by the Arabs from Antiquity.

A reading knowledge of Arabic, plus a term paper are required.

Textbook

Three Shadow Plays by Muhammad Ibn Daniyal, ed. By the late Paul Kahle with a critical apparatus by Derek Hopwood. E.J. Gibb Memorial, New Series No. 32 (Gibb Memorial Trust: Cambridge, 1992).