Spanish Hebrew Poetry And The Arabic Literary Tradition

This work deals extensively with the Arabic themes and literary devices used by Hebrew Andalusian poets in 11th century Muslim (and Christian) Spain. Special interest is devoted to the four main poets of the Hebrew Golden Age in Spain, namely Samuel Ha-Nagid, Solomon Ibn Gabirol, Moses Ibn Ezra and Yehuda Ha-Lewi.

This work deals extensively with the Arabic themes and literary devices used by Hebrew Andalusian poets in 11th century Muslim (and Christian) Spain. Special interest is devoted to the four main poets of the Hebrew Golden Age in Spain, namely Samuel Ha-Nagid, Solomon Ibn Gabirol, Moses Ibn Ezra and Yehuda Ha-Lewi.

The basic concept of this book is that in spite of the borrowed Arabic poetical values, medieval Hebrew poetry stubbornly distanced itself from Arabic poetry. The conclusive result of an in-depth comparative examination is that Hebrew poetry combined selective Arabic poetical values with ethical Jewish values to create a distinctive poetical school.

The basic concept of this book is that in spite of the borrowed Arabic poetical values, medieval Hebrew poetry stubbornly distanced itself from Arabic poetry. The conclusive result of an in-depth comparative examination is that Hebrew poetry combined selective Arabic poetical values with ethical Jewish values to create a distinctive poetical school.

The central feature of this book is an innovative critical approach, which understands medieval Hebrew poetry not only by revealing its ties with Arabic poetry but also by determining the specific characteristics by which it stubbornly distinguished itself from Arabic poetry.

This volume offers a thorough introduction to Jewish world literatures in Spanish and Portuguese, which not only addresses the coexistence of cultures, but also the functions of a literary and linguistic space of negotiation in this context. From the Middle Ages to present day, the compendium explores the main Jewish chapters within Spanish- and Portuguese-language world literature, whether from Europe, Latin America, or other parts of the world. No comprehensive survey of this area has been undertaken so far. Yet only a broad focus of this kind can show how diasporic Jewish literatures have been (and are ) – while closely tied to their own traditions – deeply intertwined with local and global literary developments; and how the aesthetic praxis they introduced played a decisive, formative role in the history of literature. With this epistemic claim, the volume aims at steering clear of isolationist approaches to Jewish literatures.

Offering an edition of secular poems taken from the earliest, fifteenth-century manuscript, this book seeks to evaluate Moses Darʿī’s poetry in the light of the Andalusian-Hebrew poetical tradition and within the context of Hebrew literary activity in the Muslim East.