Roland Enmarch
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264331
- eISBN:
- 9780191734106
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264331.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Religions
The Dialogue of Ipuwer and the Lord of All is one of the major works from the golden age of Egyptian literature, the Middle Kingdom (c. 1980–1630 bc). The poem provides one of the most searching ...
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The Dialogue of Ipuwer and the Lord of All is one of the major works from the golden age of Egyptian literature, the Middle Kingdom (c. 1980–1630 bc). The poem provides one of the most searching explorations of human motivation and divine justice to survive from ancient Egypt, and its stark pessimism questions many of the core ideologies that underpinned the Egyptian state and monarchy. It begins with a series of laments portraying an Egypt overwhelmed by chaos and destruction, and develops into an examination of why these disasters should happen, and who bears responsibility for them: the gods, the king, or humanity. This volume provides the first full literary analysis of this poem for a century. It provides a detailed study of questions such as: its date of composition; its historicity; the identity of its protagonists and setting; its reception history within Egyptian culture; and whether it really is a unified literary composition, or a redacted collection of texts of heterogenous origin.Less
The Dialogue of Ipuwer and the Lord of All is one of the major works from the golden age of Egyptian literature, the Middle Kingdom (c. 1980–1630 bc). The poem provides one of the most searching explorations of human motivation and divine justice to survive from ancient Egypt, and its stark pessimism questions many of the core ideologies that underpinned the Egyptian state and monarchy. It begins with a series of laments portraying an Egypt overwhelmed by chaos and destruction, and develops into an examination of why these disasters should happen, and who bears responsibility for them: the gods, the king, or humanity. This volume provides the first full literary analysis of this poem for a century. It provides a detailed study of questions such as: its date of composition; its historicity; the identity of its protagonists and setting; its reception history within Egyptian culture; and whether it really is a unified literary composition, or a redacted collection of texts of heterogenous origin.
Verena M. Lepper and Roland Enmarch
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780197265420
- eISBN:
- 9780191760471
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265420.003.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This introductory chapter discusses briefly the history of the study of Egyptian literature, highlighting how broader developments in the theory of literature have come to be applied within ...
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This introductory chapter discusses briefly the history of the study of Egyptian literature, highlighting how broader developments in the theory of literature have come to be applied within Egyptology, and outlining the significant interpretative issues that still remain. This is particularly acute when studying a civilisation such as Ancient Egypt, with an only fragmentarily preserved literate culture, and no continuous tradition of reception to condition modern engagement with the ancient texts. The chapter reviews the approaches taken by contributors to the volume, and evaluates how they relate to recent developments in the application of theoretically informed approaches to Egyptian texts. The range of topics covered demonstrates the vitality and diversity of current Egyptological engagement with Ancient Egyptian texts.Less
This introductory chapter discusses briefly the history of the study of Egyptian literature, highlighting how broader developments in the theory of literature have come to be applied within Egyptology, and outlining the significant interpretative issues that still remain. This is particularly acute when studying a civilisation such as Ancient Egypt, with an only fragmentarily preserved literate culture, and no continuous tradition of reception to condition modern engagement with the ancient texts. The chapter reviews the approaches taken by contributors to the volume, and evaluates how they relate to recent developments in the application of theoretically informed approaches to Egyptian texts. The range of topics covered demonstrates the vitality and diversity of current Egyptological engagement with Ancient Egyptian texts.
Roland Enmarch and Verena M. Lepper (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780197265420
- eISBN:
- 9780191760471
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265420.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This book reviews the numerous developments in the theoretical framework of interpretation that have taken place over recent years. The application of more theoretically informed approaches to the ...
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This book reviews the numerous developments in the theoretical framework of interpretation that have taken place over recent years. The application of more theoretically informed approaches to the ancient literary corpus, and a more detailed analysis of context, form, and reception, have fundamentally challenged the interpretative paradigms that formerly held sway. No consensus on interpretative stance has yet emerged, and in this volume many of the foremost researchers in the field examine the overall state of work on the subject. The chapters in the present volume are intended to contribute to this development of different approaches in their application to real Egyptian texts. No single overarching theoretical framework underlies these contributions; instead they represent a multiplicity of perspectives. The range of chapters includes textual criticism; literary criticism; the social role of literature; reception theory; and the treatment of newly discovered literary texts. All contributions centre on the problems and potentials of studying Egyptian literature in a theoretically informed manner. Although major difficulties remain in interpreting a literature preserved only fragmentarily, this volume demonstrates the ongoing vitality of current Egyptological approaches to this problem. This volume also incorporates a broader cross-cultural and comparative element, providing overviews of connections and discontinuities with biblical, Classical, and Mesopotamian literatures, in order to address the comparative contexts of Ancient Egyptian literature.Less
This book reviews the numerous developments in the theoretical framework of interpretation that have taken place over recent years. The application of more theoretically informed approaches to the ancient literary corpus, and a more detailed analysis of context, form, and reception, have fundamentally challenged the interpretative paradigms that formerly held sway. No consensus on interpretative stance has yet emerged, and in this volume many of the foremost researchers in the field examine the overall state of work on the subject. The chapters in the present volume are intended to contribute to this development of different approaches in their application to real Egyptian texts. No single overarching theoretical framework underlies these contributions; instead they represent a multiplicity of perspectives. The range of chapters includes textual criticism; literary criticism; the social role of literature; reception theory; and the treatment of newly discovered literary texts. All contributions centre on the problems and potentials of studying Egyptian literature in a theoretically informed manner. Although major difficulties remain in interpreting a literature preserved only fragmentarily, this volume demonstrates the ongoing vitality of current Egyptological approaches to this problem. This volume also incorporates a broader cross-cultural and comparative element, providing overviews of connections and discontinuities with biblical, Classical, and Mesopotamian literatures, in order to address the comparative contexts of Ancient Egyptian literature.
Ludwig D. Morenz
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780197265420
- eISBN:
- 9780191760471
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265420.003.0012
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter discusses aspects of Egyptian ‘fine literature’ (belles-lettres), and combines general literary and cultural-scientific theoretical considerations with specific case studies from both ...
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This chapter discusses aspects of Egyptian ‘fine literature’ (belles-lettres), and combines general literary and cultural-scientific theoretical considerations with specific case studies from both Middle Egyptian and Late Egyptian literature. It addresses questions of form and function, producers and recipients, as well as discussing the search for empirical readers. Also discussed are the question of original manuscripts and the potential significance of writing errors.Less
This chapter discusses aspects of Egyptian ‘fine literature’ (belles-lettres), and combines general literary and cultural-scientific theoretical considerations with specific case studies from both Middle Egyptian and Late Egyptian literature. It addresses questions of form and function, producers and recipients, as well as discussing the search for empirical readers. Also discussed are the question of original manuscripts and the potential significance of writing errors.
Verena M. Lepper
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780197265420
- eISBN:
- 9780191760471
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265420.003.0011
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter discusses the genre and style of Ancient Egyptian literature. Through the application of lexicostatistics, it analyses a total of fifty texts. Having examined the vocabulary size of ...
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This chapter discusses the genre and style of Ancient Egyptian literature. Through the application of lexicostatistics, it analyses a total of fifty texts. Having examined the vocabulary size of Middle Egyptian narratives, Late Egyptian narratives, speeches, and dialogues, the texts under investigation are grouped into genres such as ‘religious texts’, ‘artful prose’, ‘poetry’, ‘teachings’, and so on. On the basis of texts existing in several copies, it becomes apparent that a text maintains a constant vocabulary richness independent of its length. Each copy therefore facilitates the determination of the genre of a text. Furthermore, the language of a text (Middle or Late Egyptian) proves not to be decisive for the vocabulary richness of a text, but rather it is genre that is indicative. The chapter also investigates the question of the practical function of texts, which can best be detected during experimental reading.Less
This chapter discusses the genre and style of Ancient Egyptian literature. Through the application of lexicostatistics, it analyses a total of fifty texts. Having examined the vocabulary size of Middle Egyptian narratives, Late Egyptian narratives, speeches, and dialogues, the texts under investigation are grouped into genres such as ‘religious texts’, ‘artful prose’, ‘poetry’, ‘teachings’, and so on. On the basis of texts existing in several copies, it becomes apparent that a text maintains a constant vocabulary richness independent of its length. Each copy therefore facilitates the determination of the genre of a text. Furthermore, the language of a text (Middle or Late Egyptian) proves not to be decisive for the vocabulary richness of a text, but rather it is genre that is indicative. The chapter also investigates the question of the practical function of texts, which can best be detected during experimental reading.
E. W. Heaton
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780198263623
- eISBN:
- 9780191601156
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198263627.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter investigates further a topic introduced in the last: the school-books of Egypt. It identifies many connections and much common ground between the school literature of Egypt and Israel, ...
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This chapter investigates further a topic introduced in the last: the school-books of Egypt. It identifies many connections and much common ground between the school literature of Egypt and Israel, despite the scanty amount of the former (because they were written on papyri). Specific examples of this are given from various conventional Egyptian instruction manuals, and from other assorted works, which appear to have been favourites in Egyptian schools. The various characteristics shown by miscellaneous other Egyptian works – a story, political propaganda, a satirical letter, love poems and lyrics – are also detailed, and comparisons made with the style of various Old Testament extracts.Less
This chapter investigates further a topic introduced in the last: the school-books of Egypt. It identifies many connections and much common ground between the school literature of Egypt and Israel, despite the scanty amount of the former (because they were written on papyri). Specific examples of this are given from various conventional Egyptian instruction manuals, and from other assorted works, which appear to have been favourites in Egyptian schools. The various characteristics shown by miscellaneous other Egyptian works – a story, political propaganda, a satirical letter, love poems and lyrics – are also detailed, and comparisons made with the style of various Old Testament extracts.
Franck Salameh
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780300204445
- eISBN:
- 9780300231816
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300204445.003.0006
- Subject:
- Literature, World Literature
This chapter analyzes the work of Ali Salem (1936–2015) and Taha Husayn (1889–1973). Husayn, the doyen of modern Arabic literature, and Salem, a leading Arabic-language playwright, are considered two ...
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This chapter analyzes the work of Ali Salem (1936–2015) and Taha Husayn (1889–1973). Husayn, the doyen of modern Arabic literature, and Salem, a leading Arabic-language playwright, are considered two of the main avatars of Pharaonism; the former dominating the early decades of the twentieth century, the latter commanding influence in the early twenty-first. In The Future of Culture in Egypt (1938), Husayn made the case for an Egyptian Egypt and an Egyptian identity separate and distinct from the worlds of Islam and Arab nationalism. Salem's 2004 satire, The Odd Man and the Sea, presents a spacious notion of the Mediterranean as a sea of culture—fluid, inclusive, pantheist by its very nature, and of which Egypt is a vital current.Less
This chapter analyzes the work of Ali Salem (1936–2015) and Taha Husayn (1889–1973). Husayn, the doyen of modern Arabic literature, and Salem, a leading Arabic-language playwright, are considered two of the main avatars of Pharaonism; the former dominating the early decades of the twentieth century, the latter commanding influence in the early twenty-first. In The Future of Culture in Egypt (1938), Husayn made the case for an Egyptian Egypt and an Egyptian identity separate and distinct from the worlds of Islam and Arab nationalism. Salem's 2004 satire, The Odd Man and the Sea, presents a spacious notion of the Mediterranean as a sea of culture—fluid, inclusive, pantheist by its very nature, and of which Egypt is a vital current.
Josef W. Meri
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199250783
- eISBN:
- 9780191697968
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199250783.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam, Judaism
This chapter discusses pilgrimage and the ziyāra in the Islamic context. It looks at the culture of devotion, of which pilgrimage and saint veneration were an integral part. For many, participating ...
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This chapter discusses pilgrimage and the ziyāra in the Islamic context. It looks at the culture of devotion, of which pilgrimage and saint veneration were an integral part. For many, participating in the veneration of saints was a form of remembering God, the dead, the Hereafter, and one's religious duties. The discussion explores the nature of Syrian, Egyptian, and Shi'i pilgrimage guides and literature, as well as the lives of devotees, the rituals they performed, and the value with which they invested the ziyāra. Jews and Muslims performed the rite annually during holy days when the shrine was most likely to produce miracles. However, for some Muslim and Jewish theologians, the performance of ziyāra rituals at saints' tombs was contentious and regarded as idolatry and heretical innovation.Less
This chapter discusses pilgrimage and the ziyāra in the Islamic context. It looks at the culture of devotion, of which pilgrimage and saint veneration were an integral part. For many, participating in the veneration of saints was a form of remembering God, the dead, the Hereafter, and one's religious duties. The discussion explores the nature of Syrian, Egyptian, and Shi'i pilgrimage guides and literature, as well as the lives of devotees, the rituals they performed, and the value with which they invested the ziyāra. Jews and Muslims performed the rite annually during holy days when the shrine was most likely to produce miracles. However, for some Muslim and Jewish theologians, the performance of ziyāra rituals at saints' tombs was contentious and regarded as idolatry and heretical innovation.
Samia Mehrez
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9789774163746
- eISBN:
- 9781617970399
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- American University in Cairo Press
- DOI:
- 10.5743/cairo/9789774163746.003.0010
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Whereas the hara represented the well-ordered urban fabric of the old city, the imara has come to embody the contradictions of the global face of the mega-metropolis. This chapter looks at four ...
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Whereas the hara represented the well-ordered urban fabric of the old city, the imara has come to embody the contradictions of the global face of the mega-metropolis. This chapter looks at four Egyptian contemporary novels that offer complementary representations of the imara as an emerging urban metaphor. A close reading of these texts helps one to trace many of the changes in Cairo's urban fabric during the second half of the twentieth century. By examining four Egyptian novels of the 1990s—Sonallah Ibrahim's Dhat, Hamdi Abu Golayyel's Lusus mutaqa'idun (Thieves in Retirement), Alaa Al–Aswany's Imarat Ya'qubyan (Yacoubian Building) and Mohamed Tawfik's Tifl shaq ismuhu Antar (A Naughty Boy Called Antar)—the discussion maps out some of the new spatial and social forms of polarization within the mega-city.Less
Whereas the hara represented the well-ordered urban fabric of the old city, the imara has come to embody the contradictions of the global face of the mega-metropolis. This chapter looks at four Egyptian contemporary novels that offer complementary representations of the imara as an emerging urban metaphor. A close reading of these texts helps one to trace many of the changes in Cairo's urban fabric during the second half of the twentieth century. By examining four Egyptian novels of the 1990s—Sonallah Ibrahim's Dhat, Hamdi Abu Golayyel's Lusus mutaqa'idun (Thieves in Retirement), Alaa Al–Aswany's Imarat Ya'qubyan (Yacoubian Building) and Mohamed Tawfik's Tifl shaq ismuhu Antar (A Naughty Boy Called Antar)—the discussion maps out some of the new spatial and social forms of polarization within the mega-city.
Pierre Cachia
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748640867
- eISBN:
- 9780748653300
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748640867.003.0010
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
This chapter discusses pulp stories in the repertoire of Egyptian folk singers. In the hands of a master, pulp stories may incorporate characteristic folk themes. The chapter examines the tazhīr or ...
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This chapter discusses pulp stories in the repertoire of Egyptian folk singers. In the hands of a master, pulp stories may incorporate characteristic folk themes. The chapter examines the tazhīr or the ‘opening of the flower’, which sets apart pulp stories from other forms of performances. These pulp stories have rhymes that are inflated into multiple and usually polysyllabic paronomasias achieved by extensive distortion of the normal pronunciation of words. This involves omitting, adding, or altering vowels, semi-consonants, glottal stops, retaining only the consonants in their correct order, so that the result may be called a ‘consonantal’ pun. In addition, pulp stories do not twang the deepest nerves in the consciousness of the common folk.Less
This chapter discusses pulp stories in the repertoire of Egyptian folk singers. In the hands of a master, pulp stories may incorporate characteristic folk themes. The chapter examines the tazhīr or the ‘opening of the flower’, which sets apart pulp stories from other forms of performances. These pulp stories have rhymes that are inflated into multiple and usually polysyllabic paronomasias achieved by extensive distortion of the normal pronunciation of words. This involves omitting, adding, or altering vowels, semi-consonants, glottal stops, retaining only the consonants in their correct order, so that the result may be called a ‘consonantal’ pun. In addition, pulp stories do not twang the deepest nerves in the consciousness of the common folk.
Colleen Manassa
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- April 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199982226
- eISBN:
- 9780199369959
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199982226.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical
This book examines four tales within the corpus of ancient Egyptian literature. During the Ramesside Period, the ancient Egyptians composed stories set two or even three centuries earlier. Known by ...
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This book examines four tales within the corpus of ancient Egyptian literature. During the Ramesside Period, the ancient Egyptians composed stories set two or even three centuries earlier. Known by their modern titles, The Quarrel of Apepi and Seqenenre, The Capture of Joppa, Thutmose III in Asia, and The Libyan Battle Story, each tale uses historically-attested figures within a plausible, yet fictional, narrative. Plot elements range from a witty exchange of letters to the first attested stratagem in world military history. Imagining the Past draws upon ancient Egyptian sources as well as modern literary theory to define a genre of historical fiction within New Kingdom literature; this book also presents the first application of Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of the chronotope to ancient Egyptian literature. New translations and extensive commentary on the literary, social, and political context of the tales appear within each chapter and a concluding analysis summarizes the audience and function of historical fiction as well as theology and historiography within the tales.Less
This book examines four tales within the corpus of ancient Egyptian literature. During the Ramesside Period, the ancient Egyptians composed stories set two or even three centuries earlier. Known by their modern titles, The Quarrel of Apepi and Seqenenre, The Capture of Joppa, Thutmose III in Asia, and The Libyan Battle Story, each tale uses historically-attested figures within a plausible, yet fictional, narrative. Plot elements range from a witty exchange of letters to the first attested stratagem in world military history. Imagining the Past draws upon ancient Egyptian sources as well as modern literary theory to define a genre of historical fiction within New Kingdom literature; this book also presents the first application of Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of the chronotope to ancient Egyptian literature. New translations and extensive commentary on the literary, social, and political context of the tales appear within each chapter and a concluding analysis summarizes the audience and function of historical fiction as well as theology and historiography within the tales.
Tim Whitmarsh
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- August 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780199742653
- eISBN:
- 9780190880798
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199742653.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval
Where does the Greek novel come from? This book argues that whereas much of Greek literature was committed to a form of cultural purism, presenting itself as part of a continuous tradition reaching ...
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Where does the Greek novel come from? This book argues that whereas much of Greek literature was committed to a form of cultural purism, presenting itself as part of a continuous tradition reaching back to definitively Greek founding fathers, the novel revelled in cultural hybridity. The earliest Greek novelistic literature combined Greek and non-Greek traditions (or at least affected to combine them: it is often hard to tell how ‘authentic’ the non-Greek material is). More than this, however, it also often self-consciously explored its own hybridity by focusing on stories of cultural hybridisation, or what we would now call ‘mixed race’ relations. This book is thus not a conventional account of the origins of the Greek novel: it is not an attempt to pinpoint the moment of invention, and to trace its subsequent development in a straight line. Rather, it makes a virtue of the murkiness, or ‘dirtiness’, of the origins of the novel: there is no single point of creation, no pure tradition, only transgression, transformation and mess. The novel thus emerges as an outlier within the Greek literary corpus: a form of literature written in Greek, but not always committing to Greek cultural identity. Dirty Love focuses particularly on the relationship between Persian, Egyptian, Jewish and Greek literature, and covers such texts as Ctesias’s Persica, Joseph and Aseneth, the Alexander Romance and the tale of Ninus and Semiramis.Less
Where does the Greek novel come from? This book argues that whereas much of Greek literature was committed to a form of cultural purism, presenting itself as part of a continuous tradition reaching back to definitively Greek founding fathers, the novel revelled in cultural hybridity. The earliest Greek novelistic literature combined Greek and non-Greek traditions (or at least affected to combine them: it is often hard to tell how ‘authentic’ the non-Greek material is). More than this, however, it also often self-consciously explored its own hybridity by focusing on stories of cultural hybridisation, or what we would now call ‘mixed race’ relations. This book is thus not a conventional account of the origins of the Greek novel: it is not an attempt to pinpoint the moment of invention, and to trace its subsequent development in a straight line. Rather, it makes a virtue of the murkiness, or ‘dirtiness’, of the origins of the novel: there is no single point of creation, no pure tradition, only transgression, transformation and mess. The novel thus emerges as an outlier within the Greek literary corpus: a form of literature written in Greek, but not always committing to Greek cultural identity. Dirty Love focuses particularly on the relationship between Persian, Egyptian, Jewish and Greek literature, and covers such texts as Ctesias’s Persica, Joseph and Aseneth, the Alexander Romance and the tale of Ninus and Semiramis.
