Reading mystical lyric : the case of Jalal al-Din Rumi / Fatemeh Keshavarz.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Keshavarz, Fatemeh, 1952-

Series:

Studies in comparative religion (Columbia, S.C.)

Studies in comparative religion

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī, Maulana, 1207-1273--Criticism and interpretation.

Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī.

Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī, Maulana, 1207-1273.

Criticism and interpretation.

Iran.

Poetry as Topic--history.

Medical Subjects:

Poetry as Topic--history.

Genre:

Commentaries.

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

x, 194 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Columbia, S.C. : University of South Carolina Press, [1998]

Summary:

"Jalal al-Din Rumi, a towering figure in the Persian-speaking world, is currently the most widely published poet in English translation. Yet despite the popularity of his verse, the majority of scholarship on his work focuses not on Rumi's poetry but on his contributions as a mystic. Fatemeh Keshavarz's pioneering study is the first extensive critical examination of this vast, dynamic body of literature. Through close readings of the Divan, his collection of more than 35,000 lyric verses, she explores Rumi's extraordinary popular and critical literary success."--Book jacket.

"Rather than simply catalogue the images and concepts used by Rumi, Keshavarz employs a new critical approach that she describes as "observing the poems in action." This approach, based equally on classical Persian sources and on modern western critical thought, demonstrates how the poet's use of paradox, manipulation of silence, innovation in rhythm, and experimentation with imagery result in a literary enactment of love rather than a mere portrayal of it."--Book jacket.

Contents:

Editor's preface

Preface

Note on transliteration and dating

Rumi: the person and the poet

Rumi's lyrical output: historiography and analysis

The "footless" journey in "nothingness": the power of illogical tropes

"How sweetly with a kiss is the speech interrupted": Rumi's poetics of silence

"Wondrous birds grow from the palm of my hand": the dynamism of imagery in the Divan

"A hundred drums are being played in my heart": the intricacies of the sonic game

"The rhyme and the sophistry, let the flood take them all": the rhythm of childhood

In the quest for love

Turning the funeral into a whirling dance: remapping the generic horizons

Notes

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 183-189) and index.

Local Notes:

Libra copy has author's inscription to Peter Heath on title page.

ISBN:

1570031800

9781570031809

OCLC:

37353707