New Words to Old Tunes: Genres and Metrics of Lebanese Zajal Poetry
About this ebook
By presenting both theoretical analysis and practical applications, the book not only contributes to the academic study of Lebanese and Arab oral traditions but also supports broader efforts to preserve and disseminate this cultural heritage through digital humanities. While previous works have been largely descriptive or focused on specific poets, this book provides a detailed analytical approach to zajal metrics and their musical dimensions.
This rigorous and comprehensive study will be of interest to scholars working on oral traditions, folklore studies, ethnomusicology, cultural studies, oral-formulaic poetry traditions, throughout the Middle East and beyond.
About the author
Adnan Haydar is head of the Arabic section in the department of world languages, literatures, and cultures and professor of Arabic and comparative literature at the University of Arkansas, where he also founded and directed the King Fahd Middle East Studies Center from 1993 to 1999. His fields of specialization and areas of teaching include modern and classical Arabic literature, Arabic language, folk literature, and oral poetry. He has authored, co-authored and co-edited eight books, and is co-editor of the translation series for Syracuse University Press. His many articles on modern literary theory and oral poetry have appeared in premier literary journals.
