The City Lament: Jerusalem Across the Medieval Mediterranean (original) (raw)

2021, Comparative Literature Studies

Tamar M. Boyadjian's The City Lament is an important contribution to medieval Mediterranean studies. Through her analysis of laments over Jerusalem in Latin, Arabic, and Armenian literature, Boyadjian challenges the traditional Crusader framework that often reduces discussions of Jerusalem in the Middle Ages to a Christian-Muslim oppositional binary. In this book, Boyadjian explores how various ethnoreligious cultures in the Mediterranean participated in the tradition of city laments going back to ancient times. Rather than treating literary texts strictly within traditional national boundaries, Boyadjian emphasizes cross-cultural contact in the Mediterranean and demonstrates shared participation in the tradition of city laments across ethnoreligious groups. As she notes, "Using the Mediterranean, rather than the Crusades, as a framework for analysis encourages readings that move beyond European realities; such readings recognize reciprocal exchanges and commonalities across cultures in the period and acknowledge the significance of the impact of Mediterranean networks on literary works that have only been considered within national frameworks in the past" (9). Boyadjian's framing results in readings that illustrate localized uses of motifs that demonstrate commonalities across cultures. Chapter 1 outlines the qualities of lamenting Jerusalem for various ethnoreligious groups active in the Mediterranean and how medieval laments adapted thematic tropes of lamentation from the Hebrew Bible, especially the Book of Lamentations, to their own social and political needs. Motifs of Mesopotamian city laments that influenced the Hebrew Bible are also identified, such as personifying the city as a morally impure woman, attributing the fall to the sins of the inhabitants, and the eventual reconquest of the city. The remainder of the chapter addresses the role and perception of

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