Before World Literature - by Matthew L Keegan (Hardcover)

About the Book

"The Maqamat of al-Hariri is a collection of stories about an eloquent rogue who delights and deceives his audiences while he plays a preacher, a beggar, a litigant at court, and much more. Composed at the dawn of the 12th century, the Maqamat was considered the pinnacle of Arabic style and erudition for eight centuries. Its allusive and intricate rhyming prose attracted scores of commentaries, and it became a central feature of Islamic education from al-Andalus to West Africa to India. Then in the 19th century, al-Hariri's Maqamat fell rapidly out of favor, becoming a symbol of cultural decadence and literary decline. Both European Orientalists and Arab reformist thinkers in the 19th century derided the Maqamat for being decadent and derivative, while assailing the entire "post-classical" intellectual tradition. In response, the canon of Arabic poetry and prose was reshaped to favor "classical" authors who were seen as more in line with modern literary aesthetics. Before World Literature addresses two main questions: Why was the Maqamat so celebrated for centuries, and why did it fall so suddenly out of favor in the 19th century? This book argues that the emergence of literariness as a rubric of World Literature led to a wholescale reformulation of reading practices and aesthetic tastes that sidelined elaborately referential books like the Maqamat. In commentary culture, by contrast, readers reveled in the riddles, erudite vocabulary, and allusions to Islamic discourses and texts like the Quran. Before World Literature sheds light on the vibrant culture of commentary that underpinned the Maqamat's success"-- Provided by publisher.

About the Author

Matthew L. Keegan is the Moinian Assistant Professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures at Barnard College of Columbia University.