14292

WiSe 20/21: Mirrors of Princes and Wisdom Literature: Reading Course

Isabel Toral

Additional information / Pre-requisites

Classical Arabic

Comments

In this reading course we will read selected passages from the classical Arabic prince mirror literature and wisdom literature. The following questions will occupy us: Do these texts formally form their own literary genre and what are the characteristic elements? What role do Persian and Indian traditions play? What political content is conveyed? How is the ideal ruler described? How does this literature relate to the respective social and political context? close

Suggested reading

Crone, Patricia. Medieval Islamic Political Thought. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UnivPress, 2004. Gutas, Dimitri. „Classical Arabic Wisdom Literature: Nature and Scope“. Journal of the American Oriental Society 101, Nr. 1 (1981): 49–86. Forster, Regula, und Neguin Yavari, Hrsg. Global medieval. Mirrors for Princes Reconsidered. Bd. 15. Ilex Foundation series. Boston, Mass., 2015. Marlow, Louise. „Among Kings and Sages: Greek and Indian Wisdom in an Arabic Mirror for Princes“. Arabica 60, Nr. 1–2 (2013): 1–57. Marlow, Louise. „Kings, Prophets and the ‚Ulama‘ in Mediaeval Islamic Advice Literature“. Studia Islamica 81 (1995): 101. close