This text examines the importance of masculine homosexual allusion in classical Arabic literature. It explores the underlying meanings of masculine motifs in classical texts. The fawn, for example, was often a symbol for the ethereally beautiful male youth, while the stallion represented masculine bravery and valour. For the most part such symbols do not represent homosexual intention, but are a reflection of sublime erotic ideals intertwined with religious beliefs. This text does not so much locate homosexuality in Arabic literature as it explores the use of male motifs, masculine allusion and phallic symbols as expressions of meanings that have often been misinterpreted throughout the centuries. It also connects Arabic literature with political conventions, social mores and theology.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
No previous volume devoted to Arabic literature has seriously addressed either eroticism in general or homoeroticism in particular. Homoeroticism in Classical Arabic Literature breaks new ground with nuanced discussions of one of the most important and misunderstood elements of classical Arabic literature. -- Paula Sanders Rice University
There has been a tendency within the scholarly community to sweep the topic of homoeroticism in Arabic literary expression under a rug of both obscurity and ambiguity. This volume confronts such transcultural misunderstandings by addressing the homoerotic theme and its imagery in a direct fashion. Homoeroticism in Classical Arabic Literature is a powerful and pioneering investigation that will serve to expand our broader understanding of gender roles and the multifarious expressions of human desire. -- Roger Allen author of The Arabic Novel and Modern Arabic Literature
There has been a tendency within the scholarly community to sweep the topic of homoeroticism in Arabic literary expression under a rug of both obscurity and ambiguity. This volume confronts such transcultural misunderstandings by addressing the homoerotic theme and its imagery in a direct fashion. Homoeroticism in Classical Arabic Literature is a powerful and pioneering investigation that will serve to expand our broader understanding of gender roles and the multifarious expressions of human desire. -- Roger Allen author of The Arabic Novel and Modern Arabic Literature
About the Author
J. W. Wright, Jr. is a Fulbright Scholar in Jordan and the author of numerous articles on Arabic literature and the Middle East. Everett K. Rowoson is associate professor of Arabic and director of the Middle East Center at the University of Pennsylvania.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
very recommendable book,
By SEBASTIANVS "libra64" (TOKYO Japan) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Homoeroticism in Classical Arabic Literature (Paperback)
This is a very interesting and readable book not only for westerners or exclusive monotheists but also for us Japanese. Although we know that in pre-modern muslim societies male-boy love was extremely popular as a common knowledge, we could find Arabic same sex relationship only sporadically in famous literal works e.g. Thousand and One Nights, Abu Nuwas' erotic poems, etc. And now we can read the topic as a whole in this book. If I may be allowed to hope more, I wish that the authors have included many historical episodes & anecdotes too. Of course I know no book is perfect. Then I 'd like to read Homoeroticism in classical Persian literature, and in classical Indian(Sanskrit & Prakrit) literature also.Probably Mr. Leonard Zwilling will offer us a good book on the latter.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
The history of the West's misunderstanding of classical Arabic literature, particularly the use of masculine erotica, is old and complex. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Abu Bakr, Abu Nuwas, The Construction of Homosexuality, Arabic Vice Lists, Franz Rosenthal, Chester Beatty, Sexual Variance, Middle Eastern, New Testament, Suzanne Pinckney Stetkevych, Constraints of Desire, Reign of the Phallus, Van Gelder, Garden of Priapus, Ibn Daniyal, Ibn Quzman, Jacques Lacan, One Hundred Years, The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Cambridge University Press, Woman's Body, Hidden Face of Eve, Ibn Said, Middle Ages New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
The history of the West's misunderstanding of classical Arabic literature, particularly the use of masculine erotica, is old and complex. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Abu Bakr, Abu Nuwas, The Construction of Homosexuality, Arabic Vice Lists, Franz Rosenthal, Chester Beatty, Sexual Variance, Middle Eastern, New Testament, Suzanne Pinckney Stetkevych, Constraints of Desire, Reign of the Phallus, Van Gelder, Garden of Priapus, Ibn Daniyal, Ibn Quzman, Jacques Lacan, One Hundred Years, The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Cambridge University Press, Woman's Body, Hidden Face of Eve, Ibn Said, Middle Ages New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
books:
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17
books
cite this book:
See all 17 books citing this book
- The Construction of Homosexuality by David F. Greenberg on 8 pages
- Woman in the Muslim Unconscious by Fatna Ait Sabbah on 7 pages
- The Constraints of Desire: The Anthropology of Sex and Gender in Ancient Greece (New Ancient World Series) by John J. Winkler on 6 pages
- Sexuality In Islam by Abdelwahab Bouhdiba on 6 pages
- Before Sexuality by Froma I. Zeitlin on 5 pages
See all 100 books this book cites
- Making Difference in Medieval and Early Modern Iberia by Jean Dangler on 4 pages
- Marriage and Sexuality in Medieval and Early Modern Iberia (Hispanic Issues) by Eukene Lacarra Lanz on page 17, and page 20
- The Age of Beloveds: Love and the Beloved in Early-Modern Ottoman and European Culture and Society by Walter G. Andrews in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Roads of Excess, Palaces of Wisdom: Eroticism and Reflexivity in the Study of Mysticism by Jeffrey J. Kripal in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Selected Poems of Solomon Ibn Gabirol by Solomon Ibn Gabirol in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
See all 17 books citing this book
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