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Judaistik |
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Judaistik |
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Arie Schippers:
The Hebrew maqamat genre came into being under the influence of Arabic maqamat with authors such as Ibn Saqbel, Ibn Zabara, al-Harizi and many others. Jehudah al-Harizi, who composed Hebrew as well as Arabic maqamat, followed the Classical Arabic scheme of al-Hamadhani (968-1008) and al-Hariri (1054-1121). He not only translated into Hebrew many maqamat by Al-Hariri, but composed also the 50 maqamat of his Tahkemoni which contain some elaborations of Arabic maqamat, such as a translation of al-Hamadhani's Baghdadhiyyah, which he adapts to the narrator-protagonist model, whereas al-Hamadhani has only a narrator-protagonist. In Hebrew literature even other stories and narrative pieces in rhymed prose are called maqamat even though they did not contain the scheme of the Arabic classical maqama of al-Hamadhani and al-Hariri. In this lecture we will concentrate upon the first composers of Maqamat such as Ibn Zabara and their ties with Arabic sources. Although Ibn Zabara's Sefer Sha'ashu'im is certainly not a Maqama Book in the traditional Arabic sense, the author is inspired by the elegant literary Christian Arab writer Ibn Butlan (d. 1066) in the main frame of his story. In the latter's Da'wat al-atibba' (The Physician's Dinner Party) a young physician is invited by an eminent older colleague in a strange town to dine with a circle of medical worthies, only to discover their petty weaknesses and faults as the evening wears on. Ibn Zabara copied this leading motif and the medical discussions between Joseph and Enan about harmful and harmless food are literally taken from Ibn Butlan's Dinner Party.
Stand 11. Februar 2001
Medieval Hebrew Narrative and the Arabic Literary Tradition