Ways of Communication and Mis/communication in Abū Tammām’s “Ode on the Conquest of Amorium” (838 C.E.)
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Asmaa Ahmed Youssef Moawad
Abstract
Human community is defined as a set of social units with common values, customs, religious affiliation, and cultural identity; it presents a transforming entity that moves from one stage to another, and gradually develops from a primitive society to a civilized one. Each community has its own identity, which is shaped by language, religion, culture, and history. Through these aspects, people are able to communicate or they miscommunicate within their community or with other communities. This chapter discusses various ways of communication and mis/communication within the Arabic Islamic community during the Abbasid period (785‒847 C.E.). Abū Tammām’s “Ode on the Conquest of Amorium” (838 C.E.) introduces the historical story of Muslims’ conquest of Amorium and the defeat of the Byzantines. The poet uses multiple narrative and dialogic strategies to communicate with people of his community. He also uses elements of praise, satire, and enthusiasm, presenting types of friendship and enmity between the Arabs and the Byzantines during the ninth century C.E. In so doing, Abū Tammām’s poem intended to stir people’s shared enthusiastic religious and nationalistic feelings of belonging to their Abbasid community. In this article, I will illustrate how the poem’s form and content introduce commonly understood ways of communication and mis/communication within the Arabic Islamic community.
Abstract
Human community is defined as a set of social units with common values, customs, religious affiliation, and cultural identity; it presents a transforming entity that moves from one stage to another, and gradually develops from a primitive society to a civilized one. Each community has its own identity, which is shaped by language, religion, culture, and history. Through these aspects, people are able to communicate or they miscommunicate within their community or with other communities. This chapter discusses various ways of communication and mis/communication within the Arabic Islamic community during the Abbasid period (785‒847 C.E.). Abū Tammām’s “Ode on the Conquest of Amorium” (838 C.E.) introduces the historical story of Muslims’ conquest of Amorium and the defeat of the Byzantines. The poet uses multiple narrative and dialogic strategies to communicate with people of his community. He also uses elements of praise, satire, and enthusiasm, presenting types of friendship and enmity between the Arabs and the Byzantines during the ninth century C.E. In so doing, Abū Tammām’s poem intended to stir people’s shared enthusiastic religious and nationalistic feelings of belonging to their Abbasid community. In this article, I will illustrate how the poem’s form and content introduce commonly understood ways of communication and mis/communication within the Arabic Islamic community.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Table of Contents V
- List of Illustrations IX
- Introduction: An Essay on Language, Culture, and Identity: Medieval and Early Modern Perspectives on and Approaches to Communication, Translation, and Community 1
- Ways of Communication and Mis/communication in Abū Tammām’s “Ode on the Conquest of Amorium” (838 C.E.) 95
- Proscribed Communication: The Obscene Language of the Troubadour William IX, Duke of Aquitaine and VII Count of Poitiers 109
- (Non)-Imaginary Ideal Communities in the Pre-Modern World: A Reading in the Utopian Works of al-Fārābi’, Ibn Khaldūn, Christine de Pizan, and Thomas More 159
- A Jewish Moneylender, Miscommunication, and a Lie: Gonzalo de Berceo’s Milagro no. 23 191
- Words, Signs, Meanings: William Langland’s Piers Plowman as a Window on Linguistic Chaos 209
- The Chaucerian Translator 233
- Entertainment, Laughter, and Reflections as a Training Ground for Communication in Public and Private: The Case of Heinrich Kaufringer, ca. 1400 255
- …written in my own Jewish hand 291
- Demonic Operators: Forbidden Relations in Medieval Communication 327
- Paroemiac Expressions: A Touch of Color in the Ambassadors’ Diplomatic Correspondence in the Fifteenth Century 351
- Communication and Translation in Early Modern Basque Society. The Role Played by the Public Notaries 379
- Preventing Miscommunication: Early Modern German Surgeons as Specialized Translators 393
- Reputation and Authority in the Physicians’ Communication with Patients as Reflected in the Czech-Language Sources of the Early Modern Period 415
- The Physicians’ Community in Pre-Thirty Years’ War Bohemia 439
- A Bond of True Love: Performing Courtship and Betrothal in Gower’s Cinkante balades and Spenser’s Amoretti, in Light of Christine de Pizan’s Cent balades 461
- Noble Friendship in Relation to the Community: Hamlet and The Merchant of Venice 491
- Deconstructing the (Mis)Interpretation of Paratextual Elements in Ross’s English Translation of the Qur’ān, The Alcoran of Mahomet (1649) 519
- Community and the Others: Unveiling Boundaries in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice 551
- Biographies of the Contributors 617
- Index 627
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Table of Contents V
- List of Illustrations IX
- Introduction: An Essay on Language, Culture, and Identity: Medieval and Early Modern Perspectives on and Approaches to Communication, Translation, and Community 1
- Ways of Communication and Mis/communication in Abū Tammām’s “Ode on the Conquest of Amorium” (838 C.E.) 95
- Proscribed Communication: The Obscene Language of the Troubadour William IX, Duke of Aquitaine and VII Count of Poitiers 109
- (Non)-Imaginary Ideal Communities in the Pre-Modern World: A Reading in the Utopian Works of al-Fārābi’, Ibn Khaldūn, Christine de Pizan, and Thomas More 159
- A Jewish Moneylender, Miscommunication, and a Lie: Gonzalo de Berceo’s Milagro no. 23 191
- Words, Signs, Meanings: William Langland’s Piers Plowman as a Window on Linguistic Chaos 209
- The Chaucerian Translator 233
- Entertainment, Laughter, and Reflections as a Training Ground for Communication in Public and Private: The Case of Heinrich Kaufringer, ca. 1400 255
- …written in my own Jewish hand 291
- Demonic Operators: Forbidden Relations in Medieval Communication 327
- Paroemiac Expressions: A Touch of Color in the Ambassadors’ Diplomatic Correspondence in the Fifteenth Century 351
- Communication and Translation in Early Modern Basque Society. The Role Played by the Public Notaries 379
- Preventing Miscommunication: Early Modern German Surgeons as Specialized Translators 393
- Reputation and Authority in the Physicians’ Communication with Patients as Reflected in the Czech-Language Sources of the Early Modern Period 415
- The Physicians’ Community in Pre-Thirty Years’ War Bohemia 439
- A Bond of True Love: Performing Courtship and Betrothal in Gower’s Cinkante balades and Spenser’s Amoretti, in Light of Christine de Pizan’s Cent balades 461
- Noble Friendship in Relation to the Community: Hamlet and The Merchant of Venice 491
- Deconstructing the (Mis)Interpretation of Paratextual Elements in Ross’s English Translation of the Qur’ān, The Alcoran of Mahomet (1649) 519
- Community and the Others: Unveiling Boundaries in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice 551
- Biographies of the Contributors 617
- Index 627
