Through the analysis of a long cluster of khabars and various versions of a single short one, this article aims at illustrating the utility of poetry for modern historical investigation. Examples are taken from biographical material on Ibn Bassam al-‘Abarta’i (d. 302/916), a katib, adib and satirical poet whose brushes with people of authority are described extensively in the sources. An analysis of these examples shows that in them poetry is not an embellishment of prose but its shaper, and that often prose merely expands on poetry with less than reliable information.
Ibn Bassām : a Case Study on Poetry and Power / L. Osti. - In: MIDDLE EASTERN LITERATURES. - ISSN 1475-262X. - 10:1(2007), pp. 1-14. [10.1080/14752620701214658]
Ibn Bassām : a Case Study on Poetry and Power
L. OstiPrimo
2007
Abstract
Through the analysis of a long cluster of khabars and various versions of a single short one, this article aims at illustrating the utility of poetry for modern historical investigation. Examples are taken from biographical material on Ibn Bassam al-‘Abarta’i (d. 302/916), a katib, adib and satirical poet whose brushes with people of authority are described extensively in the sources. An analysis of these examples shows that in them poetry is not an embellishment of prose but its shaper, and that often prose merely expands on poetry with less than reliable information.
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