Ruse and Wit: The Humorous in Arabic, Persian, and Turkish Narrative (Ilex Series) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0674066707 ISBN 13: 9780674066700

Publisher: Ilex Project, 2012

Synopsis

The essays in Ruse and Wit examine in detail a wide range of texts (from nonsensical prose, to ribald poetry, titillating anecdotes, edifying plays, and journalistic satire) that span the best part of a millennium of humorous and satirical writing in the Islamic world, from classical Arabic to medieval and modern Persian, and Ottoman Turkish (and by extension Modern Greek). While acknowledging significant elements of continuity in the humorous across distinct languages, divergent time periods, and disparate geographical regions, the authors have not shied away from the particular and the specific. When viewed collectively, the findings presented in the essays collected here underscore the belief that humor as evidenced in Arabic, Persian, and Turkish narrative is a culturally modulated phenomenon, one that demands to be examined with reference to its historical framework and one that, in turn, communicates as much about those who produced humor as it does about those who enjoyed it.

About this title

About the Authors

Dominic Parviz Brookshaw is Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature and Persian Literature at Stanford University

Olga M. Davidson is a Faculty Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Muslim Societies and Civilizations at Boston University.

Anna Stavrakopoulou is Associate Professor of Theater Studies at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

Edition details

• Publisher: Ilex Project
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674066707
• ISBN 13: 9780674066700
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 172
• Editor: Brookshaw Dominic Parviz