Programme for the conference
MUWASHSHAH, ZAJAL, AND
THE EARLY EUROPEAN LYRIC
DATE: Wednesday
25 and Thursday 26 March 2020.
VENUE: Fundacion
EuroArabe de Altos Estudios / Euro-Arab Foundation, San Jeronimo 27, Granada.
[We are grateful to the Fundacion
EuroArabe in
______________________________________________
LIST OF SPEAKERS, WITH ABSTRACTS
[in alphabetical order]
Diacriticals have been simplified for the
purposes of this web page.
______________________________________________
1. Carpe diem
andalou: Un art de vivre.
[The Andalusi carpe
diem: an art of living]
Saadane Benbabaali [Sorbonne, Paris 3] [Abstract] [PDF of paper]
2. Poésie
d’al-Andalus et lyrique des troubadours en langue d’oc: étude comparative
[The poetry of al-Andalus
and the lyrics of the troubadours in the Langue d’oc:
a comparative study]
Clélia Bergerot [Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris] [Abstract] [PDF of paper]
3. The metrics of Andalusi stanzaic
poetry and their Castilian and further European imitations
Federico Corriente [
4. From Andalus
(zajal) to
Dina Dahbany-Miraglia [
5. Al-falaku
yadūru fīk:
Performing the mystical in al-Āla
Carl
Davila [SUNY,
6. The metrical morphology of the Hebrew muwashshah
"lel mahshebot"
José Martínez Delgado [
7. A proposal for new methodologies for the transmission of lyric, dance
and song forms from medieval al-Andalus into Early
Ed
Emery [SOAS,
8. Accuracy of metre in the zajals of Ibn Quzman's Diwan
Yousif Fakhr el-Deen [
9. Estructura musical
de las muwassahas y su pervivencia en el tiempo
[The musical structure of the muwashshahs and their persistence through time]
Reinaldo Fernández Manzano [Centro de Documentación Musical de
Andalucía] [Abstract] [PDF of paper]
10. Algunas teorías
sobre las melodías de moaxajas y zéjeles de poetas andalusíes en las fuentes
árabes
[Some theories about the melodies of muwashshahat and zajals of Andalusi
poets in the Arab sources]
Manuela Cortés García
[
11. Musammat o
muwashshah: Una moaxaja de
Ibn Wakīl (El Cairo 665-716/1266-1316) emulando una qasida
de Ibn Zaydūn
[Musammat or muwashshah:
Ibn Wakīl (
Teresa
Garulo [Universidad Complutense de Madrid]
[Abstract] [PDF of paper]
12. Embellissement mélodique
dans l’interprétation des muwashshahat en Tunisie
[Melodic ornamentation in the performance of muwashshahaat in
Leila Habbachi [ISAMM, Université de la Manouba] [Abstract]
[PDF of paper]
13. Consistency and change in the
musical structure of Moroccan Andalusi music on the
example of recordings from 1932–2018
Thilo Hirsch [
14. Woman’s zajals from
Amal al-Jubouri [SOAS,
15. Medieval Arabic background material on the Andalusian muwaššahāt
Alan
Jones [
16.
The Musical “Brotherhood”: A postcolonial take on Spanish–Moroccan cultural
transfers
Matthew Machin-Autenrieth
[
17. The influence of the Andalusi
zajal on its Eastern counterparts
Hakan Özkan [
18. Of mutribs and troubadours
Dwight
Reynolds [
19. Across the divide: spreading the song across the religious
divide in Al-Andalus
Sara Stowe [King’s College,
20. Muwashshah as enacted in poetry and
in dance in the Yemenite tradition
Yosef Yuval Tobi [
The conference will also include musical
performances.
_____________________________________________________________
ABSTRACTS
_____________________________________________________________
Carpe diem andalou: Un art de vivre.
[The Andalusi carpe diem: an art of
living]
Saadane Benbabaali [Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris]
Abstract : Le but est
d’étudier un thème présent dans de très nombreux poèmes appartenant au
répertoire chanté maghrébo-andalou. Ce thème est celui de l’invitation à jouir
de l’instant présent, à profiter de chaque moment qui s’offre à nous. La
tradition poétique qui exhorte les hommes à vivre pleinement le temps présent
met aussi en garde contre la fuite du temps.
Autour du concept de “carpe diem”, gravitent des thèmes qui se sont imposés
progressivement: • bonheur •
plaisir • jouissance • paradis
• ivresse
Nous présenterons ces thèmes tels qu’ils sont exprimés dans les poèmes dont
nous donnerons des traductions inédites. Nous définirons avec le maximum de
précision les motifs poétiques et étudierons la terminologie utilisée par les
poètes maghrébo-andalous.
Translation: The goal is to study a
theme present in many poems belonging to the Maghrebo-Andalusian
sung repertoire. This theme is that of the invitation to enjoy the present moment,
to take advantage of each moment that awaits us. The poetic tradition which
exhorts men to live fully in the present time also warns against the passing of
time.
There are a number of themes around the concept of “carpe diem”, that have
gradually emerged over time: • happiness • pleasure • enjoyment • paradise •
drunkenness
We shall present these themes as they are expressed in the poems of which we
will give (previously unpublished) translations. We shall define with maximum
precision the poetic motifs, as well as studying the terminology used by Maghrebo-Andalusian poets.
CV: Maître de conférences honoraire, Université
Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris.
E-mail: [email protected]
__________
Poésie d’al-Andalus et lyrique des troubadours en langue d’oc: étude comparative
[The poetry of al-Andalus
and the lyrics of the troubadours in the Langue d’oc :
a comparative study]
Clélia Bergerot [Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris]
Abstract: La question controversée des influences de la poésie arabe sur celle des
troubadours du Sud de la France à été amplement débattue par divers érudits
issus de différentes disciplines, mais il n’existe pas à proprement parler
d’analyse comparative des poèmes. En effet, la majorité de ceux qui se sont
intéréssés à ce thème ont plutôt parlé du contexte historique ou des traits
généraux et communs aux deux traditions poétiques chantées.
Dans notre communication, nous tenterons d’énumérer avec
le plus de clarté possible les traits que nous pouvons considérer comme
analogues entre les deux corpus étudiés, sans conclure nécessairement à des
relations d’influences, focalisant davantage notre analyse sur ce que les
textes eux-mêmes nous apprennent.
Tout d’abord, nous essayerons d’identifier la
particularité de ces formes poétiques en les comparant, puis en expliquant
comment ces structures particulières permettaient de mieux coordonner poésie et
chant.
Ensuite, nous proposerons une classification des
concepts, thèmes et motifs poétiques que nous pouvons considérer comme
analogues, tout en distinguant ceux qui font la singularité de chaque tradition
chantée. Nous pensons qu’étudier les poèmes selon le point de vue de la
littérature comparée aide à les cerner de façon plus constructive grâce à ce
qu’est susceptible de révéler chaque tradition poétique médiévale sur l’autre.
Translation: The controversial question of the
influences of Arab poetry on that of troubadours in the South of France has
been widely debated by various scholars from different disciplines, but there
is not strictly speaking a comparative analysis of poems. Indeed, the majority
of those who were interested in this theme rather spoke of the historical
context or the general and common features of the two poetic sung traditions.
In our communication, we shall try to enumerate as clearly as possible the
features that we can consider as analogous between the two studied corpora,
without necessarily concluding in relationships of influences, but rather
focusing the analysis more on what the texts themselves teach us.
First, we shall try to identify the specific characteristics of these poetic
forms by comparing them, then by explaining how these particular structures
made it possible to better coordinate poetry and song.
Next, we shall propose a classification of concepts, themes and poetic motifs
that we can consider as analogous, while distinguishing those that make the
singularity of each sung tradition. We believe that studying the poems from the
standpoint of comparative literature helps to define them more constructively
thanks to what each medieval poetic tradition is likely to reveal in relation
to the other.
CV : Clélia Bergerot est doctorante depuis
2016 au sein de l’équipe Clesthia, école doctorale 268, spécialité
« Sciences du langage » à l’Université Sorbonne Nouvelle. Elle
effectue une thèse de doctorat sur « La question des relations entre
les lyriques d’Al-Andalus et de l’Occitanie médiévale » sous la direction
de Gabriella Parussa (Paris 3-Chesthia), Andrea Valentini (Paris 3-Clesthia) et
Mourad Yelles (Inalco-Lacnad). Après l’obtention d’un Bac littéraire option
musique au Lycée Théodore Aubanel à Avignon, elle a effectué ses études universitaires
à la Sorbonne Nouvelle en Langues, littératures, cultures et sociétés
étrangères, spécialité langue arabe (Licence, puis Master 1 et Master 2 sous la
direction de Saadane Benbabaali).
Affiliation institutionnelle :
Doctorante Université Paris 3 - ED 268 - Équipe
Clesthia
4e année (de 2016 à 2019 :
doctorante contractuelle de l’ED 268)
Sous la direction de Gabriella Parussa (Paris 3 -
Clesthia), Andrea Valentini (co-directeur, Paris 3 - Clesthia) et Mourad Yelles
(co-directeur, Inalco - Lacnad)
E-mail: [email protected]
__________
Al-falaku yadūru fīk:
Performing the mystical in al-Āla
Carl Davila [The
College at Brockport,
Abstract: Although often distinguished from the Sufi-oriented al-samā’ wa-l-madīh
genre on religious grounds, al-āla (the Andalusian music of
CV: Carl Davila is associate professor of History at the College at
Brockport, State University of New York, USA, earned the PhD in Arabic Studies
from
E-mail: [email protected]
__________
From Andalus (zajal)
to Eire (zajal).* And beyond!
Anthropology offers some ‘hows’, ‘whens’, ‘wheres’,
‘whys’, and ‘whos’
Dina Dahbany-Miraglia
[
Abstract: It is so easy
to get stuck in the ambers of our fields. Core sampling does delight us,
intensifying the minutiae of our data. Exquisites. Intricate miniatures.
Rapt with wonder at the beauteous, we
stiffen, forgetting to stretch, to step back a bit and gaze – with even
greater wonder – at the embedded, the multiplicities of milieus. The
roots, filaments, twists and turns. Data’s uninhibited habit of piling up more
of same, confounds. Overwhelms.
Poetising aside, people move around all
the time. For millions of years. It’s a tough habit to break. We carry in our
minds our geniuses (Latin genii), those “spirits:” talents and
creativities given, adding skills and learnings we
earned.
All four fields of Anthropology propose
interrelated hypotheses, a few process models, and the beginnings of at least
one theory – diffusion – to make our “journeys” substantively
clearer.**
I propose we welcome the apparent
tsunamis of “other”-data. Glide them with glee. And guide them! Begin again a
most ancient and beloved activity: poetic competitions.
* 7th –9th centuries AC (Munroe
2007: 324)
** (Stagg
1981-1982: 428, 429)
CV: Dina Dahbany-Miraglia, Linguistic Anthropologist. Retired
faculty: QCC, CUNY, Speech Communication and Theatre
Arts, MEMEAC (
Composed and published – to date – 4 muwashshahāt.
2011 – “Horses, Heroes and Broken
Hearts.” The Fourth International Conference in Arabic and Hebrew Strophic
Poetry and Its Romance Parallels. School of Oriental & African Studies,
2006 – “The muwashshah in Yemenite
Jewish Women's Poetry.” Muwashshahāt.
Proceedings of the International Conference on Arabic and Hebrew Strophic
Poetry and its Romance Parallels, School of Oriental & African Studies,
E-mail: [email protected]
__________
The metrical morphology of the Hebrew muwashshah
"Lel mahshebot"
José Martínez
Delgado [University of Granada]
Abstract: In an important letter sent by the poet Juda
Halevi to the famous Moshe ibn
Ezra from Granada, the former explains how he has solved the reply of the
muwashshah "lel mahshebot"
addressed to them (mu‘arada). In this context I will
show how the musammat helps us to understand the
development of these strophic structures and how the Arabic metrical system has
been reinvented in the case of this muwashshah. I will also suggest a possible
etymology for the Spanish word jerga.
CV: José Martínez
Delgado, Ph.D. (2001), Complutense University of
Madrid, Associate Professor at the
E-mail: [email protected]
__________
A proposal for new
methodologies for
the transmission of lyric, dance and song forms from medieval al-Andalus into Early
Ed Emery [SOAS,
Abstract: The southward
spread of musical and lyric forms from medieval al-Andalus
is widely studied and documented, and is currently the subject of new research
initiatives. These forms, notably the muwashah
and zajal, are seen as part of Maghrebi and
Arabic musical "heritage", and have enjoyed great popularity
throughout the centuries.
The northward spread is another matter. The diffusion of Andalusi
instruments north of the
A prima facie examination says yes – the Italian ballata,
for instance, is generally taken to have "zajalesque"
roots and origins. But in-depth research since the days of Julián
Ribera y Tarragón (1858-1934) and H.G.
Farmer (1882-1965) has been relatively thin on the ground. The time has come to
re-address the question.
This paper will look at the field in
general terms, to define methods, and to map a set of diverse approaches for
ongoing work to illuminate the nature of these diffusions.
E-mail: [email protected]
__________
Accuracy of metre in the zajals of Ibn Quzman's Diwan
Yousif Fakhr el-Deen [
Abstract:
The studies of metre in Ibn Quzman and in the Andalusi zajal have developed over time in three strands of
theory: (a) E. G. Gomez’s theory of syllabic non-Khalilian
metre (
All contradict the theory
of al-Hilli (d.1349), in which I believe. Zajal is
accurately composed according to un-limited various invented meters, which are
not necessarily Classical Khalilian (buhur).
Singing is an essential device in deriving the structure, rhythm and metre of
the poems.
I proved the validity of
this theory in my previous MA study (Haifa University 2007), and my PHD study:
(Haifa 2017). And later in re-editing the Diwan of
Ibn Quzman (Beirut 2019).
In this presentation, I
shall apply the method to poems 1, 5. 6. 7, 9, 15, 20 of the Diwan, pointing the influence of accurate metre on
text, rhythm, melody and structure of poems, compared with Corriente’s
suggested Khalilian classical metre and Modified ‘Arud in the 1995 edition.
CV: Born
in Dalyat al-Carmel, Israel, 1937; 1961-1999: Bank
manager
2000 Started Academic study
Publications:
Yousif Fakhr el-Deen, two
collections of poetry: Wādi el-Nahl,
1996; Hajar al-badd, 2000.
Ibn Quzman. Dīwān
Ibn Quzmān, Maktabat
Kul-shay,
Ibn Ḥijja al-Ḥamawi. Bulūġ al-‘Amal fī Fann
al-zajal, Maktabat Kul-shay,
E-mail: [email protected]
__________
Estructura musical de las muwassahas y su pervivencia en el tiempo
[The musical
structure of the muwashshahs and their
persistence through time]
Reinaldo Fernández Manzano [Centro de Documentación Musical de
Andalucía]
Abstract: Musical analysis of the muwashshahs.
State of the matter, main anthologies and investigations. Musical structure,
rhythm and rhythmic cycles, melody and accompaniment. Invented in al-Andalus and its spread throughout the Arab world. The muwashshahs as live forms from the Middle Ages to the present day. Some examples. The muwashshahs and musical
miscegenation today.
E-mail: [email protected]
__________
Algunas teorías sobre las melodías de moaxajas
y zéjeles de poetas andalusíes en las fuentes árabes
[Some theories about the melodies of muwashshahat and zajals of Andalusi poets in the Arab sources]
Manuela Cortés García
[
Abstract: The loss of Andalusian songbooks and repertoires that compile the
classical, popular and Sufi music that was sung in al-Andalus
raises a question about whether the Andalusian
strophic poetry (muwashshah / zayal) was sung and what were the poets. However, the location
in the 1990s of Maghreb documentary sources that included in the margins of
some manuscripts and folios the modes (al-tubu‘) of interpretation of some muwashshahat and azyal of the
The exposition and analysis of these theories
will be carried out by presenting some of the poetic documents and texts
discovered in Maghreb and Arabic-Eastern manuscripts, as
part of Maghrebi and Arabic musical and literary
heritage, where the modes of interpretation of these strophic compositions,
stanzas and verses is selected by the musicians of long compositions to adapt
them to their interpretation based on the modality.
Resumen: La pérdida de cancioneros y repertorios andalusíes que compilen la música culta, popular y sufí que se cantaba
en al-Andalus plantea un interrogante sobre si la poesía estrófica
andalusí (muwashshah/zayal) se cantaba y cuáles eran los poetas. No obstante, la localización
en los años 90 de fuentes documentales magrebíes que incluían en los márgenes de algunos manuscritos y folios sueltos el modo (al-tubu‘) de interpretación de algunas moaxajas y zéjeles de los poetas granadinos Shushtari e Ibn al-Jatib me llevo a exponer mis primeras
teorías en algunos artículos. Los avances posteriores realizados en el área de la investigación de las formas estróficas
andalusíes durante las últimas décadas
sobre la poesía cantada de las nawbas en los cancioneros
(kunnashat) magrebíes de
la tradición culta y sufí del Magreb, así como en algunos
repertorios profanos y sufíes de Oriente Medio me han llevado
a posicionarme sobre la autoría de nuevos poetas andalusíes encuadrados entre los siglos
XI-XIV.
La exposición
y el análisis de estas teorías se llevarán a cabo mediante la presentación de algunos de los documentos y textos poéticos descubiertos en manuscritos magrebíes y arabo-orientales que forman parte del patrimonio
musical y literario magrebí
y oriental clásico donde aparecen los modos de interpretación de estas composiciones estróficas, estrofas y versos que seleccionaban los músicos de largas composiciones para adecuarlas a su interpretación sobre la base de la modalidad.
E-mail: [email protected]
__________
Musammat o muwashshah: Una moaxaja de Ibn
Wakīl (El Cairo 665-716/1266-1316) emulando una qasīda de Ibn
Zaydūn.
[Musammat
or muwashshah: Ibn Wakīl (Damietta 665/1266- Cairo 716/1316)'s mu‘ārada
from a qasīda by Ibn Zaydūn]
Teresa Garulo [Universidad
Complutense de Madrid]
Abstract: Ibn Wakīl (
Resumen: Una de las numerosas
imitaciones (mu‘āradāt)
de la casida en nūn de
Ibn Zaydūn es una muwashshaḥa
de un poeta egipcio, Ibn Wakīl (
Publications:
Abū
Tammām ibn Rabāh de Calatrava, El cálamo del poeta, Edición, traducción y estudio de Teresa Garulo. Madrid:
Poesía Hiperión, 2008.
Ibn Sāra aš-Šantarīnī. Poemas del fuego y otras casidas.
Recopilación, edición, traducción y estudio de Teresa Garulo. Madrid: Poesía
Hiperión, 2001.
La literatura árabe de al-Andalus durante el siglo XI, Madrid: Hiperión,
1998.
Dīwān de las poetisas de al-Andalus, Madrid 1986, Poesía
Hiperión, 162 pp. Primera reimpresión: Madrid: Hiperión, 1998.
Garulo, Teresa, “Erudición y nostalgia: Al-Ḥanīn ilà l-awṭān en el editor de Al-Faraŷ baʿd al-šidda”, Al-Qantara,
XXXIII, 1 (2012), 107-146.
Garulo, Teresa, "Notas sobre muŷūn en al-Andalus. El capítulo
VII del Nafh al-tīb", Anaquel de Estudios Árabes, 26 (2015),
93-120.
Garulo, Teresa, “La biografía de Wallāda, toda problemas”, Anaquel de
estudios árabes, 20 (2009), 97-116.
Garulo, Teresa, “La reutilización en la poesía estrófica de al-Andalus. El caso de Ibn Hazmūn”, en Remploi, citation,
plagiat. Conduites et pratiques médiévales (Xe-XIIe siècle). Études réunies
par Pierre Toubert et Pierre Moret, Madrid: Casa de Velázquez, 2009, 9-22.
Garulo, Teresa, “Las poetisas de al-Andalus y el canon de la poesía árabe”, La
Corónica (A Journal of Medieval Spanish Language and Literature), 32.1
(Fall 2003), 65-78.
Garulo, Teresa, "La poesía femenina en árabe clásico y la expresión de los
sentimientos", Medievalia, nº 27 (junio 1998), 26-37.
Garulo, Teresa, “Wa-huwa wazn lam yarid ʿan al-ʿarab. Métrica no jalīliana en al-Andalus”, al-Qanṭara, XXVI, 1 (2005),
263-267.
E-mail: [email protected]
__________
Embellissement mélodique dans l’interprétation des muwashshahat en Tunisie
[Melodic ornamentation in the performance of muwashshahaat in
Leila Habachi
[ISAMM,
Abstract: The musical arts of the countries of the Maghreb, and in
particular
The Andalusian musical genre known in
Indeed, the recent discovery of a booklet by Tunisian Sfina
Maluf in Hebrew characters [1] dating from the
mid-19th century, has raised several questions about the ornamentation of the muwashshahaat. It is notable that the transcriptions
of the Maluf noubas
made by Tunisian Jews feature a sign called zarqa,
borrowed from cantillation, which is placed above
certain phonemes. This accent or ornamental motif resembles the gruppetto.[2]
The question is: Was this ornament used only by Jews, or by Muslims too? What
impact does it have on the melodic and poetic structure of the text? Would it
be an authentically Andalusi aspect of ornamentation?
Translation: L’Art musical des Maghrébins, en particulier, en
Tunisie, ne peut être qu’une résultante d’un noyau national avec des influences
de dominations politiques, culturelles ou économiques. Les spécificités de cet art
musical sera forcément révélé par l’analyse des traces des répertoires et de
l’étude des évolutions ethniques qu’elles ont eues à travers les siècles.
Le genre musical d’origine Andalouse appelé à Tunis Maluf et
contenant des muwashshahat et azjel prend notre intérêt dans cet
article, notamment au niveau de l’esthétique de sa pratique. Malgré les études
faites sur ce genre, on constate certains points dissimulés pouvant être
transmis à travers d’autres tradition.
En effet, la découverte récemment d’un fascicule de Sfina Maluf
tunisien en caractères Hébraïque [1] datant de la
moitié du 19e s, a suscité plusieurs interrogations sur les
ornements des muwashshahat. En fait, la transcription des noubas
du Maluf faite par les juifs tunisiens, a révélé un signe appelé zarqa
emprunté à la cantillation, mis sur certains phonèmes. Cet accent ou motif
ornemental ressemble au gruppetto [2].
L’énigme est : Cet ornement a -t-il été utilisé par les juifs
seulement ou par les musulmans aussi ? Quel impact-a-il sur la structure
mélodique et poétique du texte ? Serait-elle la manière d’orner des
Andalous ?
[1] Habbachi, Leila, Sfina maluf en caractères hébreux, éd. Dar
Souhnoun, Tunis 2018.
[2] Gruppetto, signe d’ornement mélodique
E-mail : [email protected]
.__________
Consistency and change in the musical structure
of Moroccan Andalusi music on the example of
recordings from 1932–2018
Thilo Hirsch [
Abstract:
Arabic-Moroccan Andalusi music has been the subject
of numerous publications and controversial takeovers into the historical
performance practice in the 20th century. This was mostly due to the fact that
the standard narrative states that it has remained almost unchanged since the
expulsion of Muslims from
Several field research trips to
CV: Thilo Hirsch studied
viol and singing at the Schola Cantorum
Basiliensis (SCB). Since
1991 he has been artistic director of the ensemble arcimboldo
(www.arcimboldo.ch), with whom he has recorded several CDs. From 2007 to 2015 Thilo Hirsch was co-director of three SCB
research projects, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), devoted to reconstructing historical instruments in
connection with their repertoire (Part I: The Italian Viola da
gamba / Part II: Groß Geigen, Vyolen, Rybeben). The 'audible' results of these research projects
were documented in concerts as well as on CDs recorded by the ensemble arcimboldo. Between 2014 and 2018 Thilo
Hirsch undertook several field research trips to
Affiliation:
E-mail: [email protected]
__________
Woman’s zajals from Iraq
Amal al-Jubouri
[SOAS,
Abstract: The Iraqi zajal is a forgotten
heritage dating back to the golden age of Abbasid Baghdad. Due to a lack of
translations, and selectivity or negligence of the documentation of oral
history, this heritage has been largely lost. It needs to be translated into
other languages, to bring it to world attention.
The raise of pan
Arabism and nationalism in
The Iraqi zajal
(also known by other names, such as ataba
and zeheari), in addition to other forms such
as mawalli, was the outcome of an
intermarriage of poems and music. As we discover by digging deep into this
missing heritage, the Iraqi zajal shares many traits with traditional Arabic
poetry such, as Khalilean metre
(mainly in al-wafir metre).
Moreover it also embodies the art of debate between narrators, who are mainly
poets or singers.
The focus of this
paper is a twentieth-century work by Al-Karmali, the
father of Arabic linguistics – the Diwan
Al-Tiftat, a book that was completed in 1933. Here he collects for the
first time the stories of the women of
Some of those zajal
songs have since been adopted by contemporary singers in the Arab world,
from
Storytelling was
the main cultural tool for the Baghdadi women who were the main narrators and
poets at the time of this manuscript. The
Iraqi zajal exhibits a diversity which reflects the diversity of the
country’s communities. The evolution of the Iraqi zajal evidences the
phenomenon of poetic debate, as well as the development of new forms of zajal
that are thoroughly deserving of scholarly attention and documentation.
The untouched heritage represented by the undiscovered
manuscripts, in addition to the colloquial poetry of which zajal is the
foremost incarnation, remains mostly oral. As a result it is practically never
part of curriculum at schools and universities. It needs to be discovered,
researched and presented to the global arena.
CV: Amal Al-Jubouri is an award-winning poet, with seven collections of
poetry that have been translated into more than 12 languages. Her collection Hagar
Before The Occupation, Hagar After The Occupation (2011) was awarded the
Chomsky Prize (2011); the Library Journal’s Best Books of 2011; and was
shortlisted by PEN in 2012 for best translated literature.
Her lyrics have been composed and sang by Iraqi , Arab and
international artists such as Sidney Corport, Laura
Schwarz, and others.
She is a researcher in the Department of Religions, History
and Philosophy at SOAS,
Website: www.amal-aljubouri.com
E-mail:
Amal al-Jubouri [email protected]
__________
Medieval Arabic
background material on the Andalusian muwaššaḥāt
Alan Jones [
Abstract: The most
commonly accepted view is that there are two major sources that throw light on
the Andalusian muwaššaḥāt:
a passage from the Ḏaxīra of
Ibn Bassām and the Introduction to Dār al-ṭirāz of Ibn Sanā’ al-Mulk. It is also thought
that a chapter at the end of the Muqaddima of
Ibn Xaldūn gives some useful, if rather sketchy,
general background. To these three I would add a fragment from Nuzhat al-anfus by the Valencian savant Ibn Saʿd al-Xayr.
The paper gives a re-assessment of
what these four writers have to say about the muwaššaḥ, including a new translation of Ibn Bassām’s
piece, and a first translation of a short passage from Ibn Sanā’ al-Mulk’s
Fuṣūṣ al-fuṣūl wa-ʿuqūd al-ʿuqūl.
My view
is that the pieces from the Ḏaxīra and the Dār al-ṭirāz are little better than useless.
E-mail: [email protected]
__________
The
Musical “Brotherhood”: A postcolonial take on Spanish–Moroccan cultural
transfers
Matthew Machin-Autenrieth [
This short paper will give a brief
summary of my current research project, which considers how the trope of a Spanish-Moroccan “musical brotherhood”
is performed through music, weaving in and out of colonial and postcolonial
history, and traversing incompatible and often conflicting ideologies. My research
explores how music is used to “perform” the concept of a shared cultural
history between
However, the colonial narrative of a
Spanish-Moroccan “brotherhood” has not ended with Moroccan independence. As a
result of increased Moroccan migration into
E-mail: [email protected]
__________
The influence of the Andalusi
zajal on its Eastern counterparts
Hakan Özkan [
The Eastern zajal has been
considered the little brother of the Andalusi zajal
– at least, this is what we can conclude from reading the first poetics of this
form. Safīyaddīn al-Hillī
(677/1278-749/1348), who was the first to write such a poetic, bases his theory
on the models of al-Andalus. In his poetics he
catalogues and explains rules according to which an aspiring zajjāl should forge his verses. To a large
extent al-Ḥillī leaves aside the reality of zajal-production
by Eastern poets. However, later poetics such as Dafʿ
aš-šakk by al-Banawānī
(d. 860/1456) mention Andalusi zajals only
very rarely.
This paper aims to demonstrate
that Eastern zajjālūn and ajal poetologists have
emancipated themselves from their Andalusi models and
the alleged rules of composition that authors such as Ibn Quzmān,
to name the most important, have never formulated. On the other hand, it will
examine the language and content of a corpus of Eastern zajals based on
anthologies of zajals and literary encyclopaedias written in the East
during the 7th/13th century up to the 9th/15th century to measure the influence
of the Andalusi zajal upon its Eastern
counterpart.
E-mail: [email protected]
__________
Of mutribs and
troubadours
Dwight Reynolds
[
Abstract: There are many similarities that argue for comparing the muwashshah
songs of Andalusian Mutribs
of the 11th and 12th centuries with those of the Occitan Troubadours of
the 12th and 13th. In form, both were stanzaic,
organized by verse end-rhyme, distinguished by a multiplicity of different
rhyme schemes, and deployed a semi-refrain as well as a “coda” (kharja / tornada or
cobla). Thematically, both corpuses focused on
profane love via tropes such as distance from the Beloved, cruel love, love as
sickness, the lover’s madness, pleasurable pain, nearness to death,
hallucinating visions, the lover as vassal or servant of the Beloved, all of
which were explored exclusively from the lover’s point of view. But what of the
musical structures in these two neighbouring traditions?
Of the
approximately 2,500 extant Troubadour songs, 246 were preserved in some form of
musical notation, albeit in differing forms of neums.
The interpretation of the rhythmic aspects of those notations is hotly debated,
but scholars are in general agreement about how to understand other features,
such as pitch and melodic contour. No medieval notations of muwashshah songs
were ever made, but modern living traditions across the
CV: Dwight Reynolds is professor of Arabic Literature in the Department of
Religious Studies at the
E-mail: [email protected]
__________
Across the divide: spreading the song across
the religious divide in Al-Andalus
Sarah Stowe [King’s College London]
Abstract:
Pending
E-mail:
[email protected]
Muwashshah as enacted in poetry
and in dance in the Yemenite tradition
Yosef Yuval Tobi [
Abstract: The
Jews of Yemen preserved a well-defined system of poetry, one of which – the shirah - was written as an Andalusian
muwashshah or zajal. At joyous parties, especially in wedding
ceremonies, there was also an instrumental performance of copper tray (sahn) and performed by experienced dancers. The
melody changes with the commencement of each strophe, whereas in the second
strophe a pair of dancers join in the performance. The tempo of the dance
varies according to the tempo of the melody, which becomes more intense with
the tawshīh lines.
Dancing was
especially developed among those Jewish communities who resided in the midst of
a tribal Muslim-society, where the dancing itself was performed with great
passion and was often accompanied by the brandishing of curved daggers (jambiah).
That tradition
of music and dance was brought to
CV: Yosef Yuval Tobi is a professor
(emeritus) of medieval Hebrew poetry in the University of Haifa, Israel. His
main scholarly fields treat on the spiritual, cultural and historical
affinities between Judaism and Islam, in Middle Ages and modern time. Main
publications: The Jews of Yemen (Brill 1999); Proximity and Distance:
Medieval Hebrew and Arabic Poetry
(Brill 2004); Between Hebrew and Arabic Poetry (Brill
2010); The Judeo-Arabic Literature in
E-mail: [email protected]
__________
** For health
reasons Federico Corriente [1940-2020] was unable to
join our conference. We are therefore including here the unpublished paper that
he presented at our
** Due to the
2020 coronavirus epidemic the conference had to be
cancelled. However the work of our contributors has continued. We are committed
to producing a printed Book of Proceedings, and at the same time the finalised
papers from the conference will be posted on this website.
Our intention is
to develop and extend the international network of researchers into these
matters.
For further
details, write to [email protected]
Last updated: 19.vii.2020