Comparisons in Andalusian Literature: Concepts and Patterns

14 June, 2015
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In a new book published by the ACRPS, Comparisons in Andalusian Literature: Concepts and Patterns, poet and author Adi Weld Adab explores dimensions of Andalusia’s deep structure, examining the composition of its semantic weave and collecting gems of the literary brilliance that thrived in the Iberian peninsula, meeting acclaim in far and distant reaches. The Arabic literature of binary comparison is celebrated, displaying a spirited rivalry between the champions of the sword and the pen, of Arabs and non-Arabs, of colors and the varieties of flowers, of cities, such as Granada and Valencia, and of Andalusia itself. In the first section of the book the author presents semi-differentiated matrices of terminology and semantic fields, demarcating the deep structure underlying diverse expressions and phenomena and ending with a summary of this foundational structure, from which we can grasp the distinctive features of the Andalusian character, molded from choices made between mindsets and behaviors. The analysis proceeds from the premise that all creative work incorporates and necessitates an act of comparison, prioritization and selection, whether or not this is recognized. The spirit of comparison and selection is rooted at the core of the Andalusian mind-set, and is reflected in literary methods and criticism as well as in Andalusian texts generated in the turmoil of the joust between styles, methods and literary schools. Interacting identities also are involved here, and with these follow preferences for places, competition between human beings, and polemics between rival eras and epochs.

Author , born in the town of MktaLhjaz in Mauritania, works in the field of cultural journalism and teaches at university level. He is among the founders, in 2001, of the House of Poetry in Mauritania and has two collections of poetry, published in 2009 by the Algerian Ministry of Culture: “Journey between H and B”, and “Papers Under his Arm”.  He obtained a doctorate in Arabic literature in 2011.

To purchase copies of these and other books, please visit the ACRPS Bookstore (link in Arabic).

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