This dissertation examines the living and vibrant oral tradition of verbal dueling in Lebanon, also known as Lebanese zajal. The introductory chapter explores the historical, sociolinguistic, and musical-metrical roots of today's Lebanese zajal contests and festivals, which feat…
This dissertation, “The Inappropriable Voice,” is a theoretical exploration of voice that traverses written and oral Arabic works, North African and African-American texts. One of the major concerns of this comparative study is to examine what has been marked as Third World lite…
This work treats the oral Palestinian poetry duel, a genre performed most commonly at weddings in Northern Palestine and Israel. It begins by tracing the history of poetry dueling both in Arabic generally and within the Palestinian dialect. The historical sketch is followed by a…
Lines of verse sometimes live in the shadows of societies, cherished for gracefully bending ears with melodic imagery. Yet, Somali poetry defiantly lived outside shadows for centuries. While pastoral communities customarily use oration for historiography and storytelling, purpos…
This volume brings together essays on songs and politics in the region of Eastern Africa and beyond. The theme that cuts across the contributions is that songs are, in addition to their aesthetic appeal, vital tools for exploring how political and social events are shaped and un…