Books in the Hellenic Studies - Ilex (HUP) series

A reissue of James T. Monroe's classic study on the cultural history of al-Andalus that establishes Spanish scholars on the forefront of European scholars confronting the Orientalism and colonialism at the heart of their national projects. A new foreword by Michelle M. Hamilton and David A. Wacks examines the impact of Monroe's pathbreaking study.

In Erin and Iran, North American and European scholars consider parallel themes in and interactions between Irish and Iranian cultures from ancient times to the twentieth century. These studies of mythology, literature, and travelogues constitute the first-ever volume dealing with cultural encounters between the Irish and the Iranians.

Global Medieval compares mirrors for princes from varied historical contexts and lineages of political thought in order to determine whether a genuine history of political thought in the premodern period is possible. These texts become a lens for exploring ideals and manners of good rule across political, religious, and cultural divides.

This volume explores the context of theological speculations and political aspirations through the medium of dreams to present fascinating insights into the social history of the pre-modern Islamic world in all its cultural diversity.

How does performing affect those who perform? Starting from observation of the intergenerational tradition of performing the Song of Moses, Keith A. Stone provides a close reading of the text of the Song and explores ways in which the Song contributes to Deuteronomy's educational program through the dynamics of reenactment.

One of Iran's leading female poets, Zhale Qa'em-Maqami (1883-1946) witnessed pivotal social and political changes in Iran during its transition to modernity. Mirror of Dew is the first English translation of her poems. Deeply personal but including social critique, they offer a rare view of the impact of a modern awareness on private lives.

The Shahnama or Book of Kings glorifies the spectacular achievements of Iranian civilization from its mythologized beginnings to the time of the Arab Conquest. Ferdowsi's Shahnama: Millennial Perspectives takes a fresh look at the reception of Ferdowsi's poetry, especially in the twelfth through fifteenth centuries.

Heroic Krsna depicts a pre-Hindu superhuman hero who became the divinity Krsna. Drawn from the epic Mahabharata, Kevin McGrath's account of the warrior-charioteer and his friendship with Arjuna explores cultural continuities from the Bronze Age Vedic world and illustrates the pre-divine life of one of the most popular Indian deities of today.

Doak explores how the giants of the Hebrew Bible-which represent a connection to primeval chaos-offer insight into central aspects of Israel's symbolic universe. By placing biblical traditions within a broader Mediterranean context regarding giants and the end of the heroic age, Doak sheds new light on monotheism and monarchy in ancient Israel.

These essays examine a millennium of humorous and satirical writing in the Islamic world. Humor in Arabic, Persian, and Turkish narrative emerges here as a culturally modulated phenomenon that demands examination with reference to its historical framework and that, in turn, communicates as much about its producers as it does about its audience.

On the Wonders of Land and Sea is a comparative study of travel writers in the eastern Islamic world from the eighteenth to twentieth centuries. Situating texts in their socio-historical contexts, the essays study works by male and female Muslim and Parsi/Zoroastrian travelers in the Hijaz, Iraq, Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, India, and Europe.

Olga M. Davidson's major reassessment of the classical Persian epic the Shahnama argues that its poet is actually a character in the work who coexists with the heroes and kings celebrated in the poem. Documenting the text's oral performance tradition, Davidson shows that the heroic style of the Shahnama stems from ancient Indo-European traditions.

Olga M. Davidson applies comparative literary approaches to classical Persian traditions of composing and performing poetry and song. She focuses on the eleventh-century ce epic Shahnama and its relationship to other genres embedded in it, including forms of verbal art originally composed without the aid of writing, such as women's laments.

Jaya is a study of how the four poets of the Indian epic Mahabharata fuse their separate performances of the poem into a single and seamless work of art. The subtle poetics of preliteracy and literacy which are compounded in one performance are demonstrated and made distinct in both a literary and a conceptual light.

Within a growing scholarly literature devoted to the topics of biography and autobiography, especially in the Arabic literary tradition, the essays in this volume explore the forms and meanings of these genres with particular reference to Persian writings, as well as to writings in Arabic and Turkish that were also composed in Persianate societies.

S. S. Soroudi's research concentrated on modern Persian poetry, particularly of the constitutional era; Judeo-Persian literature and folk culture; and the history and culture of Iranian Jewry, which she situated in the larger context of Iranian history. This collection includes one previously unpublished piece and one newly translated into English.