Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter I
2. CONTENTS VII
3. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS IX
4. I. INTRODUCTION 1
5. Part One. SOCIOLOGICAL
6. II. THE SOCIOCULTURAL SETTING 17
7. III. POETRY IN THE DESERT 51
8. IV. POETRY AND REGIONAL POLITICS 67
9. Part Two. LITERARY
10. V. COMPOSITION: THE POET'S VIEWPOINT 91
11. VI. TRANSMISSION 101
12. VII. PERFORMANCE 123
13. Part Three. COMPARATIVE
14. VIII. PROSODY AND LANGUAGE: A SYNCHRONIC AND DIACHRONIC OVERVIEW 147
15. IX. NABATI POETRY AND THE CLASSICAL LITERARY TRADITION 168
16. X. ARABIC POETRY AND THE ORAL-FORMULAIC THEORY 183
17. NOTES 209
18. BIBLIOGRAPHY 217
19. INDEX 227