CLASSICAL ARABIC PROSE LITERATURE A RESEARCHERS' SKETCH MAP1 (original) (raw)

Classical Arabic prose, for the most part, does not merit literary study. At least this is the impression conveyed by two recent works of reference,2 in which the discussion of classical poetry reflects a level of sophistication and reflection which the survey of prose does not pretend to. Having worked on classical prose literature for some time, we feel that more can be said about it than the surveys referred to above suggest. We propose here to describe the characteristics and development of this branch of Arabic writing in the light of current research, to identify problems connected with the study of it and to indicate some paths which future investigations could take. If comprehensiveness were ever possible , it is obviously out of the question in an article of this kind; our aim is above all to stimulate reflection about a corpus of works signifrcant both in quantity and in quality. We have used the following definition of classical Arabic prose literature as a starting point: works principally in prose, in which there is a pervasive concern with artistic expression as well as the communication of information. The qualifrcation "principally in prose" refers to the fact thatjuxtaposing prose and poetry is one ofthe characteristic features of this literature; to consider only those works which are exclusively in prose would be entirely contrary to its spirit. We have confined ourselves to the cAbbasid period, and have concentrated on the 3rd/9th to 5th/11th centuries, the heyday, or "classical" ug., of pre-modern Arabic prose. It must be borne in mind, however, that many texts which appear in the works of this period took shape in the Bth century or, in individual cases, even earlier, and the literary sensibility of later writers, such as the authors of the works discussed here, was moulded by the exemplary character of texts handed down by tradition. But the emergence of major works and the elaboration of a highly sophisticated prose style, in which acoustic elements play an increasing part, justify this period being considered as a golden age of Arabic prose literature. Original works by authors make up only a small part of this literature. The major part of it consists of collections of speeches, letters and short