Geert Jan

Bio: Geert Jan is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Classical Arabic. The author has an hindex of 3, co-authored 4 publications receiving 15 citations.

Slave-Girl Lost and Regained: Transformations of a Story

Abstract: A story found in many forms in Arabic has the following basic structure: (1) A man owns a slave-girl. Usually, the man is young and wealthy and the girl both beautiful and accomplished, especially in singing and playing. It is understood that the girl is the man's concubine (as is normal according to traditional Islamic law). (2) The man and the slave-gin love each other. This is not always stated explicitly, but must then be inferred from the rest of the story. (3) The man becomes, destitute. Often this is the man's fault, by spending all his money on his girl. In one version (see nos. 14-15 below in the appendix), it is not his fault but caused by the discontinuation of a regular stipend. (4) The man sells the girl. The initiative may be taken by either. There is a touch of paradox here, for one would expect true lovers to prefer suffering extreme poverty to being separated. Some versions explain it as an act of unselfishness on the part of the man or the girl. (5) The new owner becomes aware of their attachment. (6) He generously returns the slave-girl to her lover. He does not ask his money back and often gives some extras. The sequence (1)-(6) can be further reduced to the following very elementary plot summary: Union/Possession (1+2) Separation/Loss (3+4) Reunion/Repossession (5+6) This is a basic structure of the "Relief After Distress" genre; it is not surprising that al-Tanukhi (d. 994), author of a collection of stories on this theme, offers many versions. The linking of (re)union with (re)possession and of separation with loss is of course a result of the traditional Muslim system of concubinage. It does not necessarily imply that from a narrative point of view the girl is inferior to the man. On the contrary, morally, intellectually and artistically she is usually the superior partner. Some versions are expanded by complications coming between (4) and (5) or (5) and (6). Exceptionally (see no. 17), a reduced structure is found: a man sells a slave-girl and only afterwards falls in love with her. This may be represented as (1-4-5-6-2). All versions are essentially realistic, without demons, magic or other supernatural elements. The realism is often enhanced by means of details from everyday life, by real place names and names of real-life protagonists, or by providing a chain of authorities for the story. Several clusters of closely related versions can be discerned. The Thousand and One Nights contains two stories of this type (as well as some stories with closely related motifs). Far more versions, some of them virtually identical to those of the Nights, are found in works belonging to "polite" or "elite" literary culture, from the ninth century onward. It is likely that the type was around already in the time of al-Madâini (d. ca. 850; see no. 8). The oldest source used here is al-Muhabbar by Muhammad Ibn Habib (d. 860; see no. 2). From a narrative point of view the stories are often rather uninteresting since they lack a human opponent, Fate being the principal adversary. To make up for this, some elaborations enhance the role of Fate, either by introducing the usual unlikely coincidences or by introducing real adversaries, such as is found in the story of al-Hikâyât al-'ajiba (no. 19). An inventory of plot summaries of the versions I have found, with some comments and references, is attached as a lengthy appendix. The authors' sources, often given in the form of a chain of authorities, are omitted here. It is impossible to establish a precise chronological order, and the order in the following presentation is to some extent arbitrary. Mention of historical persons in the story is of course no guarantee for its veracity, and the story may have been invented much later. However, if such persons are relatively obscure, rather than famous, there is a good chance that the story is not much later than the time frame of the person mentioned. …

Slavery: annual bibliographical supplement (2007)

Abstract: For 2007 the bibliography continues its customary coverage of secondary writings published since 1900 in western European languages on slavery or the slave trade anywhere in the world: monographs, ...

The Cambridge History of Medieval Philosophy

Abstract: The Cambridge History of Medieval Philosophy comprises over fifty specially commissioned essays by experts on the philosophy of this period. Starting in the late eighth century, with the renewal of learning some centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire, a sequence of chapters takes the reader through developments in many and varied fields, including logic and language, natural philosophy, ethics, metaphysics, and theology. Close attention is paid to the context of medieval philosophy, with discussions of the rise of the universities and developments in the cultural and linguistic spheres. A striking feature is the continuous coverage of Islamic, Jewish, and Christian material. There are useful biographies of the philosophers, and a comprehensive bibliography. The volumes illuminate a rich and remarkable period in the history of philosophy and will be the authoritative source on medieval philosophy for the next generation of scholars and students alike.

Qamarayn: The Erotics of Sameness in the 1001 Nights

Abstract: This two-part article argues that the earliest Arabic manuscripts of the 1001 Nights celebrate sameness, especially physical sameness, in sexual relationships to the extent that a category of erotic embodiment emerges that cannot be understood through a binary construction of sex. The first part of the article proposes a reading of a fifteenth-century manuscript that takes its descriptions of beautiful bodies on their own terms. Eroticized characters recur as both lover and beloved in a series of parallel sexual encounters that situate them in emphatic mutual relation and accumulate weight as the text unfolds. The resulting erotics of sameness decenters the perspective of adult men and displaces or undermines, at least temporarily, the lines of gender otherwise drawn in the stories. By contrast, when difference is stressed via explicitly sexed or racialized bodies, it is used to deem a relationship ridiculous or threatening. The second part of the article presents a diachronic analysis of one story, “The Story of Qamar al-Zaman and Budur,” to show how modern editors, translators, and scholars have read binary sex into the text in order to make sense of its erotics. Manuscripts of the Nights dating from the fifteenth to nineteenth centuries differ considerably from the earliest Arabic print editions in their presentation of the story. This case study reveals what translators and scholars miss when they work from these print editions and/or from modern constructions of gender, sexuality, and embodiment.