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Arabic Literature in the Post-Classical Period is the sixth and perhaps last volume in the Cambridge History of Arabic Literature series. It covers the most underrated "post-classical and pre-modern period" (p. 1) that stretches from approximately 1150 until 1850. It is a most welcome addition, for it purports to fill some glaring gaps left by the earlier five volumes, such as the cultural and literary activities of "Arabic" North Africa and the Middle East from the 13th through the 18th centuries and those outside the fusha register. In redressing some of the imbalances of the series, Arabic Literature in the Post-Classical Period makes ample room for the discussion of underrepresented literary works, especially those composed in the "colloquial."
The volume begins with an introduction that explains preliminaries and sets up parameters and ends with a bibliography of key primary texts and important secondary sources that is organized in sections corresponding to the chapters of the book. The book is divided into six parts, perhaps too exactingly, along the lines of "elite" and "popular" genres polarized on the basis of the language in which they are cast (fusha or [MODIFIER LETTER LEFT HALF RING]ammiyya): "Elite Poetry," "Elite Prose," "Popular Poetry," "Popular Prose," "Drama," and "Criticism." Each part is then further divided into chapters covering a more narrowly delimited historical era or subgenre. The first part, for example, comprises four chapters with topics ranging from Arabic poetry in the postclassical age to poetic creativity in the 16th to 18th centuries, Arabic religious poetry from 1200 to 1800, and the role of the premodern generic characteristics of the band. The fourth part, "Popular Prose," for example, includes topics on popular prose in the postclassical period, such as The Thousand and One Nights, Sirat [MODIFIER LETTER LEFT HALF RING]Antar ibn Shaddad, Sirat Bani Hilal, other siras and popular narratives, and popular religious narratives.
Given its size (very small in relation to the period covered) and the poverty of the field (research on the period remains patchy), the volume understandably falls short of its ambitions. The Ottoman period, the Maghrib, and some major works, such as Sirat al-Zahir Baybars, remain noticeably underrepresented. The twelve-year production process has...