Disputation Literature in the Near East and Beyond

Description

Disputation literature is a type of text in which usually two non-human entities (such as trees, animals, drinks, or seasons) try to establish their superiority over each other by means of a series of speeches written in an elaborate, flowery register. As opposed to other dialogue literature, in disputation texts there is no serious matter at stake only the preeminence of one of the litigants over its rival. These light-hearted texts are known in virtually every culture that flourished in the Middle East from Antiquity to the present day, and they constitute one of the most enduring genres in world literature. The present volume collects over twenty contributions on disputation literature by a diverse group of world-renowned scholars. From ancient Sumer to modern-day Bahrain, from Egyptian to Neo-Aramaic, including Latin, French, Middle English, Armenian, Chinese and Japanese, the chapters of this book study the multiple avatars of this venerable text type. Table of Contents 1. Introduction Section I. Disputations from the Ancient Near East 2. The Sumerian Precedence Debates 3. An Introduction to the Sumerian School Disputes 4. “She was dumbstruck and took it to heart” 5. The Tamarisk, the Date-Palm and the King 6. Antiques in the King’s Libraries 7. La «fable» égyptienne du Corps et de la Tête (tablette Turin CG 58004) 8. Opposing Voices in Ancient Egyptian Literature 9. Those Who Cannot Do, Reign? Section II. Eastern Disputations during the Middle Ages 10. Disputations in Syriac Literature 11. The Debate of Spring and Autumn in Arabic Literature 12. Night and Day in Islamicate Literary Disputation 13. Disputation Poems in Medieval Hebrew Literature in Spain 14. Debate in Iranian Literary Culture 15. The Rhetoric of Persian Verbal Contests 16. A Survey of Disputation Texts in Ottoman Literature 17. Dispute Poems in Armenian Section III. Western Disputations during the Middle Ages 18. Tradition and Innovation in the Early Medieval Latin Debates 19. Owls, Nightingales, Cuckoos and Other Feathered Disputants 20. De la dispute des clercs au dialogue des acteurs Section IV. Contemporary Disputation Texts 21. Neo-Aramaic Dialogue and Dispute Poems 22. Modern Vernacular Disputation Poems from Bahrain and the Wider Gulf Section V. Other Traditions of Disputations 23. Ludic Disputations in the East-Asian Cultural Sphere Index of Contestants