(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Dr Mahmoud Al Ashiri (pictured), Associate Professor of Arabic, Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q), has published a new Arabic language book Poetry as Narrative: A Study in the Text of Al Mufadaliyyat.
It presents a critical study of Arabic poetry, with a focus on the pre-Islamic, or Jahili genre of poetry and is based on one of the oldest collections of Arabic poetry called Al Mufadaliyyat collated by the famed eighth century scholar Al Mufaddal Al Dabbi.
"The book is a critical contribution to the catalogue of Arabic literature and the historical study of the Arab world through the important record of ancient verse.
"Not only does the work of one of our faculty at GU-Q present new insights into classical poetry, it also revives an interest in studying these works, which will inspire further scholarly research and analysis," said Dean Dr Gerd Nonneman.
The author chose to focus on ancient Arabic poetry for a specific reason. "Poetry was the creative art that dominated all arts in historical Arabic culture to the extent that it was within poetry that Arabs' cultural and social values were compiled, recorded and preserved," said Dr Al Ashiri.
Delving deep into the narrative structure of the poetry, he identifies specific literary characteristics shared across the collection of Al Mufaddal Al Dabbi's volume, including the use of lyrical verse and first-person narration.
"My research and analysis of the ancient text indicates that beyond the artistic appeal and impact, these poems serve the important role of narrative text as well," he said.
The book discusses the relationship between poetry as a narrative with life and concludes that the Jahili poem is an independent artistic work that also functions as a communication tool.
It also studies the relationship between poetry and historical record with a focus on the letter-like form used by some poems.
The book studies the narrative of reality and the narrative of myth, drawing connections between the concepts of the real and imagined world of myth.
Dr Al Ashiri is also working on the development of Arabic language skills on a government project and organises workshops for Arabic teachers and contributes to the development of educational contents for language instruction.
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