SOAS Research Online

A Free Database of the Latest Research by SOAS Academics and PhD Students

[skip to content]

Hammond, Marle (2020) The Tale of al-Barrāq Son of Rawḥān and Laylā the Chaste: A Bilingual Edition and Study. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (British Academy Monographs)

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

This book presents a bilingual edition and study of an anonymous work of early Arabic fiction set in pre-Islamic times: an Arab maiden called 'Laylā the Chaste' is kidnapped and threatened with forced marriage to a Persian king. Ultimately, she is saved by her handsome and beloved cousin al-Barrāq, and they marry and live happily ever after. This knight-in-shining-armour-rescues-damsel-in-distress narrative, which combines elements of the Arabic popular epic (sīra) with others from the Udhrī; love story and the western fairy tale, was misinterpreted as history by scholars in the 19th century. In the two substantive chapters that frame her translation of the tale, Hammond discusses the text's evolution in the Arab Renaissance and its metamorphoses in 20th-century popular culture. She also analyses the structure of the tale to look for clues as to its real origins, shedding new light on theories of the development of the Arabic novel.

Item Type: Authored Books
SOAS Departments & Centres: Departments and Subunits > School of Languages, Cultures & Linguistics
ISBN: 9780197266687
DOI (Digital Object Identifier): https://doi.org/10.5871/bacad/9780197266687.003.0002
Date Deposited: 30 Jan 2020 15:39
URI: https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/32231
Related URLs: https://global. ... d&lang=de&cc=lv (Publisher URL)
Funders: British Academy

Altmetric Data

Statistics

Download activity - last 12 monthsShow export options
Downloads since deposit
6 month trend
0Downloads
6 month trend
219Hits
Accesses by country - last 12 monthsShow export options
Accesses by referrer - last 12 monthsShow export options

Repository staff only

Edit Item Edit Item