Make-see: Baššār b. Burd’s Blindness as a Narrative Prosthesis in the Aġānī

The article looks at the biographical profile of the early Abbasid poet Baššār b. Burd in the Kitāb al-Aġānī from the point of view of literary disability studies. Drawing from Mitchell and Snynder’s theory of the narrative prosthesis and al-Ṣafadī’s theoretical reflections on blindness, it asks how Baššār’s blindness influences his characterisation in the Aġānī. By investigating some humorous stories revolving around the poet’s (mis)perception, the article argues that blindness allows the author to foreground focalisation as a source of narrative interest and poetic reflection.