Islamization of Arabic Poetry between Pre-Islamic (Jahiliyyah) and Islamic Period: Praise Poetry of Hassan Ibn Tsabit as a Case Study

Hassan bin Tsabit is among the prominent figures in Arabic poetry. One of the reasons he excels in poetry is because he is from a family of poets. Hassan bin Tsabit is well-known among his people during the pre-Islamic (jahiliyah) period and during the Islamic period after his conversion to Islam. It is a known fact that he plays a big role in defending Islam through his poetries. On that note, this article aims to find out the islamization in Hassan bin Tsabit's poetry works between pre-Islamic and Islamic period focusing on his praise poetries. The methodology used for this article is the descriptive qualitative research method. The researchers analyzed the selected praise poetries according to the concept of Islamic literature by Muhammad Uthman El-Muhammady. The findings of this article are that the work of praise poetries by Hassan bin Tsabit is influenced strongly by Islam in terms of the terminologies and style of writing.

Intertextuality in Selected Narrative Poems of Adébáyọ̀ Fálétí

The creative works of Adébáyọ Fálétí, a renowned literary writer in Yorùbá, ̀ have been the focus of literary critics. Notable among such are Olatunji (1982a; 1982b; 1982c), Ogunsina (1991), Ìṣọ̀lá (1998) and Adebowale (1999). These scholars have examined the issues of form, style and theme in Fálétí’s poetry. It has been established that Fálétí is a philosophical poet influenced by the historical, political, social and cultural contexts of the society that produced his poems. According to Olatunji (1982), “the oral poetic tradition of the Yorùbá constitutes the weft and woof of Fálétí’s poetic genius.” This attests to the claim that “no artist creates in a vacuum” (Agyekum, 2007:31). It could be deduced from the above position that there is an interplay between the text of Fálétí’s poetry and the context that produced it. Using intertextuality approach, this paper, therefore, examines the interplay of the text, context and the writer in selected poems of Adébáyọ̀ Fálétí with a view to determining the correlation between the Yorùbá oral poetic genres and the written form in Fálétí’s poetry and determining the continuity of the oral poetic genre in the written form. Fálétí’s biography has been discussed by Olatunji (1982). He was born at Agbóóyè in Ọyọ̀ ́ and had his elementary life on the farm, where he was exposed to the Yorùbá culture undiluted. He was a novelist, playwright, poet, scriptwriter and actor when alive. His works include Ọmọ Olókùn Ẹṣin, Thunderbolt, Baṣọrun Gáà, Fẹrẹ bí Ẹkùn, ̀ and Ogún Àwítẹ́lẹ. Fálétí’s works ̀ are greatly influenced by his family background because his father was a 120 Arinpe Adejumo and Adefemi Akinseloyin prominent member of the sàkàrá calabash beating oral poets and entertainers under Olatunji Kúdẹẹ̀ ̀fù in the court of Ọba Ṣiyanbọ́lá Oníkẹẹ̀ pé Ládìg ́ - bòlù I, the Aláàfin of Ọyọ̀ (1911-1944). Fálétí learnt a lot about narratives and ́ other techniques of rendition from his father’s poetic influence. There are also cases of intertextuality in his narrative poems and other literary works. Fálétí’s narrations and literary works are inspired by the tales he heard from his father, aunt and members of the larger family (Olatunji 1982). These influenced his narrative poems, as they reflect chronicles, heroism and expositions, which he borrowed from the Yorùbá oral poetic genre. Since oral poets are imbued with repertoires of praise poetry, legends, myths, proverbs, songs and history, Fálétí’s narrative poems are filled with the intertextuality of Yorùbá oral materials.

Notes on P.Oxy. XXXII 2636 (Commentary to Pindar?)

This paper re-examines an anonymous commentary to two anonymous lyric texts (possibly by Pindar) preserved by P.Oxy. XXXII 2636. It offers a fresh critical text and apparatus, followed by exegetical notes on several passages. Parallels from Pindaric praise poetry allow a richer reconstruction of the original contents.

Culture and Igbo notions of masculinity in Nigerian children’s literature

Children’s literature conveys the cultural and indigenous artistic experiences of the people to whom it is attributed. Earlier studies on modern Nigerian children’s literature focus mainly on the representation of moral etiquette with little attention to gender. The twin theme of culture and masculinity has not been paid close attention by scholars of children’s literature in Nigeria. In applying Igbo notions of masculinity, in this article I examine the role of oral tradition and culture in the construction of masculine identity in children’s literature in Nigeria using Ifeanyi Ifoegbuna’s Folake and Her Four Brothers, Anthonia Ekpa’s Edidem Eyamba and the Edikang-Ikong Soup, and Ikechukwu Ebonogwu’s The Champion of Echidime. I show how the ideals of masculinity, as visible and permissible in the traditional Igbo society, are, in particular, constructed and communicated through various oral and cultural norms such as praise poetry, war songs and dance, wrestling, and drumming. I reveal that oral and cultural traditions in children’s literature reflect attributes such as strength, toughness, honour, protection, respect, heterosexual desirability, and the projection of self-pride as acceptable and embraced masculine values among the Igbo in Nigeria. I also demonstrate how oral and cultural tradition is replete with masculine ideologies and messages that promote male dominance in the Igbo society.

The Art of Complicity in Martial and Statius

This book examines the relationship between politics and aesthetics in two poets from the reign of Domitian. It offers a comprehensive overview of the Epigrams of Martial and the Siluae of Statius. The praise of power that one finds is not something forced upon these poems. It is also not a mere appendage to these works. Instead, power and poetry as a pair are a fundamental dyad that can and should be traced throughout the two collections. The dyad is present even when the emperor himself is not the topic of discussion. In Martial the portrait of power is constantly shifting. Poetic play takes up the topic of political power and “plays around with it.” The initial relatively sportive attitude darkens over time. Late in the game the poems depict ecstasies of humiliation. After Domitian dies the project tries to get back to the old games, but it cannot. Statius’ Siluae merge the lies one tells to power with the lies of poetry more generally. Poetic mastery and political mastery cannot be dissociated. The glib, glitzy poetry of contemporary life articulates a radical modernism that is self-authorizing and so complicit with a power whose structure it mirrors. The criticism of such poetry is itself a problem. What does it mean to praise praise poetry? To celebrate celebrations? The book opens and closes with a meditation upon the dangers of complicit criticism and the seductions of a discourse of pure art in a world where the art is anything but pure.

Introduction

This is an introduction to the problem of reading praise poetry. This poetry is not sincere. It is hyperbolic. It flatters power. This poetry is easy to dismiss. It is also convenient to dismiss it. One needs to find ways to integrate readings of Martial and Statius that set aside a dichotomy between the political poems and the artsy poems. The two categories are not polar opposites, they are not even disjunct. Instead they are in constant contact and communication. One also needs to find tools that will facilitate a discussion of tropes and postures and masks and the political import of cynical dissimulation. The general problems are stated and then particular modifications that are salient to either Martial or Statius are outlined. Martial is a “nugatory” poet. Statius is a poet of “high art.” The poetry of the former has a history that we can watch unfold over time. The verses of the latter offer a comprehensive portrait of a whole glorious age, including, of course, the beauty of both power and of poems about power. The poetic projects are complicit with power. They may dissemble, hold things in reserve, and likewise turn away from power, but they nevertheless are playing a game enabled by power and are part of the process of power’s legitimation and reproduction. Furthermore, the poetic will to power is reminiscent of the imperial will to power.

Maiestas Serena: Roman Court Cameos and Early Imperial Poetry and Panegyric

This article offers an account of Roman imperial cameos as an archaeological category, and argues that the production of large high-quality cameos was more restricted in time than currently allowed; that the controversial dates and subjects of individual cameos need to be set in the wider sequence of the main examples; and that early imperial praise poetry sits in relationship to court cameos in a way that can be usefully investigated around their shared concern to understand the particular character of imperial divinity. An Appendix gives details of forty-one examples illustrated and discussed.

Hermeneutic Analysis: Making Sense of Symbolic Expressions in Izibongo of King Shaka

A substantial number of scholars have previously documented African praise poems, including those that relate to the Zulu kings and queens. To a large extent, these recordings only focus on the content and structural approach to this genre of orality, with little attention paid to contextual meaning. As such, issues of metaphoric expressions are perpetually ignored, which by their very definition contain the underlying meaning and purpose for the crafting of such poetry. Therefore, this article addresses the problem of hidden meaning in Zulu kings’ praise poems that many writers on the subject have missed. As it has long been established that praise poetry, from a Zulu perspective, was/is a story about the life and times of a particular king, a hermeneutic paradigm was used to conduct an inquiry into the most prominent king in the history of the Zulus—King Shaka, the founder the great Zulu nation. The study reveals that reference to this kind of poetry as “praise” itself is problematic, since the craft was used as an evaluation of the king. It both praised and critiqued the king’s reign. With regard to King Shaka, the study reveals that Shaka was a revolutionary and a freedom fighter, contrary to the popularly held view that he was a brutal despot who went around killing innocent people to satisfy his own ego.