Modern Arabic Poetry [Paperback]

Salma Khadra Jayyusi (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0231052731 | ISBN-13: 978-0231052733 | Publication Date: April 15, 1991 0

After centuries of oppressive Ottoman rule, the Arab world began to find new vitality and freedom in the twentieth century. The accompanying resurgence of creative expression is splendidly reflected in this definitive anthology of contemporary Arabic poetry, which spans the modern Arab world from the turn of the century to the present, from the Arab Gulf to Morocco. The editor, Salma Khadra Jayyusi, a renowned expert on modern Arabic literature, presents a through introduction to the works of more than ninety Arab poets. To create the best possible English translation, each selection has been translated first by a bilingual expert and then by an English-language poet, who creatively renders it into idiomatic English.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The high quality of the translation gives the poems an English texture with no loss of their Arabic authenticity... a fine work and a major contribution, much needed and long awaited...."

(International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies )

[Modern Arabic Poetry] establishes new standards of sensitivity, accuracy, and readability.

(World Literature Today )

Review

The appearance of Salma Jayyusi's anthology is a major event in the translation of modern Arabic poetry.... I cannot commend or recommend it enough.

(Shawkat M. Toorawa, Middle East Studies Association Bulletin )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 498 pages
• Publisher: Columbia University Press (April 15, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0231052731
• ISBN-13: 978-0231052733
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #230,166 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #31 in Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Middle Eastern > Arabic
  • #32 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > African

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Incredibly well chosen selection of arabic poetry, March 6, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Modern Arabic Poetry (Paperback)

Some of the poetry in this volume are works that western readers would never have the privelege of reading and would have been otherwise deprived of the beauty of this work. A sensitive translation that involved each poet. Discover the voices of arab poets in this volume.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow!, August 14, 2006

By 

Amber Mcmains (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Modern Arabic Poetry (Paperback)

This book blew me away. Fearless poetry.....that's all I can say. These poems are utterly proud, audacious, textured, & profound. If you are a lover of poetry, you will not be disappointed.

4 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A masterpiece, March 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Modern Arabic Poetry (Paperback)

According to Jayyusi view, the cultural bias favoring the group over the individual remains constant, with the poet seen as "a worker producing for the group" with the poetic "product" limited by what the group can accept and utilize. Jayyusi believes poetry is thus driven by a social functionalism expressed in two main directions "one ideological of religious origin and the other musical, in the form of singing and tarab."

In other words, poetry must serve a cause, and ideology in the first case, while in the second, and in fact the more keenly felt and popularly enjoyed function, the purpose is sheer pleasure and jubilation. Ideally, the two functions concur--this is the goal of such a poetry.

Jayyusi emphasizes that "tarab," i.e. singing, remains fundamental, indeed intrinsic to Arabic poetry past and present. Poetic verse is always subject to this standard. "Don't we notice that the Holy Koran today, for example, is a matter of audition or tarab for most Muslims more than a matter of reading, and comprehension and contemplation," Adonis writes.

Jayyusi points out that the two elements, "song" and "function (the serving of a cause)" are so fundamental that any poetic expression not embracing them is culturally relegated to the status of "philosophy," something deemed complex and remote from the people. Thus, unrhymed, non-musical poetry, poetry based on "contemplation and examination of inner worlds" lies so outside Arabic poetic taste as to be utterly marginalized, removed from any but a tiny, refined audience.

Jayyusi sees a conflict between this cultural reality and his own conviction that poetry must challenge boundaries and establish new aesthetics. This poetic effort means embracing rather than spurning the difficulty and ambiguity of meaning. "The problem in this context, lies in the refusal of Arabic poetic taste to place poetry at par with the great cognitive and discovery intuitions."

As Jayyusi points out, poetry continues to be judged by the causes and concerns it champions, and by the author's affiliations and ideologies. "Original readings concern themselves not with the essence of poetry but with its 'soil' and the 'climate' in which it is produced."

This phenomenon, according to Adonis, will only be reinforced by society's increasing domination by the non-literate media, TV in particular. Thus, modern communications technology only serves the religious and social traditions already so profoundly established. This leads Adonis to an equally profound pessimism regarding the present and future chances of Arabic poetry to escape its traditional limitations.