Arabic Literature in the Post-Classical Period ed. by Roger Allen, D. S. Richards (review)

REVIEWS 177 preoccupations of the two civilizations—East and West—which shared the same, Christian and classical, philosophical heritage, at least during the period under study, and until the end of the Middle Ages, when the separation will become wider and wider. This comparative approach is one of the many remarkable achievements of this volume, opening the possibility for more detailed comparative studies, as the two sibling civilizations broached similar political topics. By setting Byzantine civilization in a broader medieval context, by analyzing and interpreting a wide range of sources, and offering passages and phrases from these sources that help to illustrate better the argument, the author presents a picture of continuity and change, where old ideological constructs did not ignore the practical realities of a new social reality. This volume, which began as a doctoral dissertation, succeeds in presenting a very comprehensive, clear, and scholarly picture of Byzantine political thinking in a moment of crisis. Angelov’s interpretation is based on the study of a large body of texts, some of which are found in rare editions or are unpublished. The author has consulted a vast bibliography in many languages, making this volume even more valuable for those interested in political thought both in the East and the West. It is a remarkable scholarly achievement, and it reads very well. Angelov’s book is an important contribution to Byzantine studies and a paradigm for research. CRISTINA MITROVICI Arabic Literature in the Post-Classical Period, ed. Roger Allen and D. S. Richards (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2006) 481 pp. Arabic Literature in the Post-Classical Period is the sixth title in the Cambridge History of Arabic Literature series. However, it assumes a fundamentally different task from that of its predecessors. The earlier books address features of Arabic literature whose artistic merit has long been recognized. By contrast, the current volume delves into the most overlooked era of Arabic literature: the so-called “Age of Decadence,” which spans from the fall of Baghdad in 1258 to the Napoleonic invasion of Egypt in 1798. As Roger Allen explains in the preliminary essay, this book aspires to introduce rather than summarize scholarship on this period of Arabic literature. The essays reconsider the premise that post-classical Arabic literature was stagnant and awaiting European rejuvenation. In place of this simplistic evaluation, the essays offer a nuanced interpretation of this misunderstood chapter in the story of Arabic literature. The book is divided into six sections. Four sections discuss poetry and prose in their elite and popular contexts; the final two parts address drama and literary criticism. While each essay confronts the label “Age of Decadence” in its own way, two general approaches recur. In the first approach, “Age of Decadence ” becomes an invitation to scrutinize the factors that lead to creative decline . The second approach is to reject this label altogether. The essays subscribe to one view or the other depending on the genre that they address. For genres in which decline is evident—such as elite poetry—the authors examine the mechanics of this decay, ultimately proposing sophisticated models for interpreting the evolution of art. These models analyze Arabic literary developments but point to a cross-cultural phenomenon of creative ebb and flow. For REVIEWS 178 genres that flourish in this period—notably popular prose—the authors refute the label of decay by introducing a vibrant corpus worthy of scholarly attention. These complementary approaches establish a comprehensive perspective on literature. When one genre becomes ineffective at expressing cultural sentiments , the creative impulse resurfaces in another genre. Salma Khadra Jayyusi (chap. 1) and Muhammad Lutfi Al-Yousfi (chap. 2) address decline in the context of elite poetry. For Jayyusi, Arabic poetry “lose[s] its former zest and spirit” (27) because of political and social upheavals associated with the disintegrating caliphate. Even in an era of decay, however, poetry “reflects the underlying, more robust forces in Arabic verse” and the postclassical period “forms a crucial, if dilapidated, bridge between two robust periods” (59). In Al-Yousfi’s narrative of creative decline, literary explanations take precedence over political and social factors. The creative practice “engages not merely with its present and its surroundings but also its particular...