Reorientations / Arabic and Persian Poetry

Analyzes poetry ranging from the pre-Islamic ode of the sixth century to seventeenth-century Persian Safavid Moghul verse. This book considers issues, such as the ritual and sacrificial aspects of literature, the transition from orality to literacy, the iconographical and mythic dimensions of philology, and imitation as a form of creation.

"Quite simply: these are seminal essays. . . . Distinguished scholarship, erudite, and full of innovative ways of interpreting Arabic and Persian poetry." —Omar Pound

"[This book] reads Arabic and Persian poetry in a refreshingly new and significant way. . . . raises our understanding . . . to a new level." —James T. Monroe

Innovative methodologies reorient critical readings of classical Middle Eastern literature.