DOCSLIB.ORG

Arabic Oral Literature and Its Types

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Arabic Oral Literature and Its Types Archive of SID Journal of Arabic Language & Literature, Vol. 10, No.2 Serial Number. 19 45 Arabic Oral Literature and its Types Dr.Balasem Mohseni 1 Assistant Professor in Arabic Language and Literature, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran Received : 30 September 2016 Accepted : 8 September 2018 Extended Abstract 1. Introduction Oral literature is a part of “folklore”. The word folklore includes words “folk” and “lore”, and refers to “common knowledge”. It also deals with aesthetic aspects present in works of common culture. As a virtue, this term asserts the functional kinship between the written and spoken worlds in which artistic applications of the human language are divided. 2. Theoretical Framework and Literature Review In the Arabic language, the term “Tirath al-Sha’abi” refers to common knowledge which involves a vast knowledge that encompasses folk literature, i.e. “al-Adab al-Sha’abi”. Another term in this field is “al-Adab al-Darij” which refers to “popular literature”. This term is accurately selected since it deals with the oral literature audience. It also points out the language used in these works, which includes local language, i.e. “al-loqah al-Darijah”. In this study, oral, common, or popular literature are regarded as equivalents. The only difference is that each of these terms focus on a particular aspect in this literature; oral literature deals with the oral transmission of information, while common literature is focused on the author and origin, and popular literature pays attention to the audience. The term “folklore” was first used in 1846 by the British researcher, William Thomas. Since then, the term was globally accepted. This term deals with the side of the culture that is defined against formal culture; yet, its scope and domain is very extensive. In the field of literature, the term oral literature is much more efficient. The term “oral literature” was used since the beginning of the 20th century. However, it bears a more particular concept compared to folklore. In the field of Arabic literature, oral literature did not flourish during the Umayyad era. In that era, the most prominent form of poetry was ode (qasida); Arab poets of the time would incorporate their poetic concepts, ranging from epics, hymns, and eulogies to descriptions of separation and departure, in the form of odes. The most significant advocate of the Arabic language and literature, the Umayyad caliphate, considerably asserted the conservation of the Arabic dignity, insisting on how this language should not be integrated with other inferior languages. Nevertheless, the beginning of the Abbasid era brought about the emergence of folk literature, while the collapse of this caliphate led to the expansion and flourishing of this type of literature. As the Abbasid caliphate came to an end, its formal and powerful genre of literature, i.e. odes, 1. Corresponding author. Email: [email protected] www.SID.ir Archive of SID Journal of Arabic Language & Literature, Vol. 10, No.2 Serial Number. 19 46 lost its main advocate, paving the way for the prominence of other genres, particularly oral literature. Subsequently, the Arabic oral literature can be classified into two parts: since 132 to 656, and 656 to the current era (Nak. Alkhaledi, 2010: 49, 57). Since the 7th century, the Arabic literature was significantly oriented towards applying various types of folk poetry other than odes such as al-Dubait, Mawaliyah, and Zajal (al-Rafei, 2001). There are numerous examples of this type of poetry in books such as Wafi al-Wafiyat. 3. Method The present descriptive-analytical study seeks to provide an appropriate answers to the research question: what are the causes behind the emergence and growth of the Arabic oral literature, as well as examining the literary genres in this type of literature? The causes include: urbanization and familiarity with the literature of other nations, the collapse of the Abbasid caliphate, the reign of Musha'sha'iyyah, different historical and geographical contexts, familiarity with the West, religion and ideology, music and singing, books and publications, cultural institutions, and manpower. Oral literature genres include classic forms such as poetry, Muwashshah, al-Dubait, Zajal, Qoumah, Makan, and Mawwal. New forms of poetry include long poems such as Murabba’a, Andalusian Muwashshah, Amoudi, Rajodi, and new poetry. Short forms of poetry include short poems of the second branch of new poetry. This type of poems are mostly Do-baytī, and can be classified into two groups, including congruent and incongruent rhymes: the former includes Abuziah, Maimer, Haat, and Attab. The latter group with incongruent rhymes include Nael, Daremi, Houwsah, and Choubiyah. 4. Results and Discussion In this paper, factors including caliphate, the reign of Musha'sha'iyyah, different historical and geographical contexts of Arab countries, and nationalism were investigated. Furthermore, various genres of Arabic oral literature, classic forms of Arabic oral literature such as Mawaliyah and Zajal, new forms such as Murabba’a, folk Muwashshah, short poetry, different types such as Hada’a and Rukbaniyah, and others were examined. Also for the first time, a novel classification of Arabic oral literature is presented in this study. Finally, it was concluded that the Arabic oral literature involves three important historical periods that constitute three stages during which this type of literature was emerged. 5. Conclusion Given the examinations carried out in this study, it can be concluded that the emergence and growth of Arabic oral literature involved three stages; in the first stage, the Arabic literature was introduced to other cultures and civilizations such as Iran and Andalusia. In this era, the emergence of various literary types can be observed for the first time such as al-dubait, Mawaliyah, and Zajal. The second stage took place during the 7th century when the central caliphate was collapsed. In that period, oral genres quickly became pervasive, reaching different Islamic lands through commercial caravans and narrators. The third stage began since the 9th century during the reign of Musha'sha'iyyah in Khuzestan and reached its peak in the 11th century. This is the period where Persian and Arabic literature were combined. In the Musha'sha'iyyah era, poets became familiar with Persian literature through various means such as understanding the Persian language, religious and political www.SID.ir Archive of SID Journal of Arabic Language & Literature, Vol. 10, No.2 Serial Number. 19 47 commonalities, and geographical adjacency which resulted in a number of innovations in Arabic folk literature; these innovations included reciting Mawaliyah in new structures, presence of Attab poetry, and Abuziyah recitation. Keywords: Arabic Oral Literature, Different Arabic Oral Types, Folklore References (In Persian) Adonis, A. (2012). An introduction to Arabic poetry (K. Bargnisi, Trans.). Tehran, Iran: Moin. The influence of Persian advice on the] ﺗﺄﺛﻴﺮﭘﻨﺪ ﭘﺎر ﺳﻲ ﺑﺮ ادب ﻋﺮب .(Al-Akoob, I. (1995 Arabic Literature] (A. Sharifi, Trans.). Tehran, Iran: Elmi Farhangi. ,The history of Arab literature] (A. H. Ayati] ﺗﺎرﻳﺦ ادﺑﻴﺎت ﻋﺮب .(Al-Fakhuri, H. (2009 Trans.). Tehran, Iran: Toos. ,Shi'ism and Sufism] (A. Gharaguzloo] ﺗﺸـــﻴﻊ و ﺗﺼـــﻮف .(Al-Shaybi, K. M. (2001 Trans.). Tehran, Iran: Amirkabir. Ayto, J. (2007). Dictionary of word origins: Histories of more than 8,000 English- language words (H. Kashanian, Trans.). Tehran, Iran: Moin. Arab tribes and Ashayer of] ﻗﺒﺎﻳﻞ و ﻋﺸـــﺎﻳﺮ ﻋﺮب ﺧﻮزﺳـــﺘﺎن .(Azizi Banitaraf Y. (1993 Khuzestan]. Tehran, Iran: Moalef. .Karoon’s zephyr]. Tehran, Iran: Anzan] ﻧﺴﻴﻢ ﻛﺎرون .(Azizi Banitaraf Y. (1994 Inflectional structures in] ﺳــﺎﺧﺘﺎرﻫﺎي ﺻــﺮﻓﻲ در ﮔﻮﻳﺶ ﻋﺮﺑﻲ ﺧﻮزﺳــﺘﺎن .(Balawi, R. (2013 Khuzestan dialect of Arabic]. Abadan, Iran: Hermutic. An investigation into the political] ﺳــﻴﺮي در اﻧﺪﻳﺸــﻪ ﺳــﻴﺎﺳــﻲ ﻋﺮب .(Enayat, H. (2010 thought of Arabs]. Tehran, Iran: Amirkabir. ,The theory of history of literature]. Tehran] ﻧﻈﺮﻳﻪ ﺗﺎرﻳﺦ ادﺑ ﻴﺎت .(Fotouhi, M. (1999 Iran: Sokhan. A] ﺑﺮرﺳـــﻲ ﺗﻄﺒﻴﻘﻲ ادﺑ ﻴﺎت ﺷـــ ﻔﺎﻫﻲ ﻣﺮدم ﻓﺎرس و ﻋﺮب ﺧﻮزﺳـــ ﺘﺎن .(Ghanavati, M. (2004 comparative study of folk literature of Khuzestan’ Fars and Arabs]. Journal of Children and Juvenile Literature, 39, 28-43. The characteristics of folk] وﻳﮋﮔﻲ ﻫــﺎي ادﺑﻴــﺎت ﺷـــﻔــﺎﻫﻲ .(Ghanavati, M. (2005, July literature]. Ketab Mah Koodak va Nojavan, 93, 77-80. Ghanimi Helal, M. (1994). Comparative literature (S. M. Ayatollahzadeh, Trans.). Tehran, Iran: Amirkabir. Guyard, M. F. (1995). Comparative literature (A. Mohammadi, Trans.). Tehran, Iran: Pazhang. Musical aspects in] ﺟﻨﺒﻪﻫﺎي ﻏﻨﺎﻳﻲ در ﺷﻌﺮ ﻣﻌﺎﺻﺮ ﻋﺮب در ﺧﻮزﺳﺘﺎن .(Kananizadeh, A. (2012 modern Arab poetry in Khuzestan]. Tehran, Iran: Shadgan. Makaryk, I. R. (2009). Encyclopedia of contemporary literary theory: approaches, scholars, terms. Tehran, Iran: Agah. www.SID.ir Archive of SID Journal of Arabic Language & Literature, Vol. 10, No.2 Serial Number. 19 48 A glance on the Arabic Shiite] ﻧﮕﺎﻫﻲ ﺑﻪ ﺷﻌﺮ ﻋﺮﺑﻲ ﺷﻴﻌﻲ در ﺧﻮزﺳﺘﺎن .(Pourabbas, A. (2000 poetry in Khuzestan]. Journal of the Faculty of Letters and Humanities, 74, 73- 86. Sakrani, A. (2000). Selective parts of Adel Sakrani’s poems (Vol. 2). Tehran, Iran: SHadgan. .Al-Sakrani’s Diwan]. Qom, Iran: Shahid] دﻳﻮان اﻟﺴﻜﺮاﻧﻲ .(Sakrani, F. (1998 .The music of poetry]. Tehran, Iran: Agah] ﻣﻮﺳﻴﻘﻲ ﺷﻌﺮ .(Shafiei Kadkani, M. (2007 Wellek, R., & Warren, A. (2003). Theory of Literature (Z. Movahhed, & P. Mohajer, Trans.). Tehran, Iran: Elmi Farhangi. References (In Arabic) -Iraqi folk literature]. Beirut, Lebanon: Al] اﻻدب اﻟﺸﻌﺒﯽ اﻟﻌﺮاﻗﯽ .(Al-Jabouri, K. S. (2009 Bilaq Institute. :Folk literature art] (Vol. 1 & 2). Qom, Iran] ﻓﻨﻮن اﻻدب اﻟﺸﻌﺒﯽ .(Al-Khaghani, A. (1997 Al-Maktaba al-Heidaria. -Arabic folk literature]. Beirut, Lebanon: Al] اﻟﺸﻌﺒﯽ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﯽ اﻟﺸﻌﺮ .(Al-Khalidy, M. (2010 Bilaq Institute. The beauty of writing] ﻧﺰﻫﺔ اﻟﻘﻠﻢ (ﻗﺮاءة ﻧﻘﺪﻳﻪ ﻓﯽ اﳌﻮﺳـــــــــﻮﻋﺔ اﳊﺴـــــــــﻴﻨﻴﻪ) .(Al-Khazraji, N. (2010 style (A critical study of Husseniya collection)]. Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Ilm. ,The history of Arabic literature]. Beirut] تاريخ آداب العرب .(Al-Rafeie, M. S. (2001 Lebanon: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiya. :Collection of folk literature].
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A S W a T ASWAT Winter Concert Classical and Folkloric Arabic Music Directed by Wael Kakish
    Proudly Presents A S W A T ASWAT Winter Concert Classical and Folkloric Arabic Music Directed by Wael Kakish Featuring: Guest Vocalist and Musician, Noureddine Kallel Qanun player, Hatem Frikha Violinist, Samy Shumays Vocalist, Samara ZAWAYA 311—41st Avenue Saturday December 1st, 2007 San Mateo, CA 94403 www.zawaya.org The College of San Mateo Theater email: [email protected] San Mateo, California (650) 341-3697 Program Design by: Fayeq Oweis - www.oweis.com Copyright © 2007 Zawaya. Dr. Fayeq Oweis Celebrating his new book Encyclopedia of Arab American Artists Featuring 100 Arab American Artists The rich history and culture of the Arab American people is found in the passionate works of its artists. Whether they be traditional media such as painting and calligraphy, or more sophisticated media such as digital work and installation, the pieces represent the beauty of heritage, the struggles of growing up in war-torn countries, the identity conflicts, and the issues surrounding migration to a Western culture very different from one's own. Many of the artists included in the book, though their works appear in museums and galleries throughout the world, have never before been featured in a reference book. For more information, visit: www.oweis.com To order, visit www.greenwood.com, or call 1-800-225-5800. You can also order it from amazon.com and other on-line retailers. Law Office of A Message from ZAWAYA President H. Edward Ballout Dear friends, 415-252-1234 On behalf of Zawaya’s board of directors, I would like to thank you for joining us tonight at ASWAT's Winter balloutlaw.com Concert.
    [Show full text]
  • Gintsburg Formulaicity 11-02-2014
    Tilburg University Formulaicity in Jbala poetry Gintsburg, S.Y. Publication date: 2014 Document Version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Link to publication in Tilburg University Research Portal Citation for published version (APA): Gintsburg, S. Y. (2014). Formulaicity in Jbala poetry. Tilburg University. General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 28. sep. 2021 Formulaicity in Jbala Poetry Formulaicity in Jbala Poetry PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan Tilburg University op gezag van de rector magnificus, prof. dr. Ph. Eijlander, in het openbaar te verdedigen ten overstaan van een door het college voor promoties aangewezen commissie in de Ruth First zaal van de Universiteit op dinsdag 11 februari 2014 om 16.15 uur door Sarali Yurievna Gintsburg geboren op 10 december 1976 te Sint-Petersburg, Rusland Promotores: prof. dr. Ad Backus prof.
    [Show full text]
  • Compositional Processes in the Integration of Middle Eastern and Western Art Music
    Bleeding through... Compositional processes in the Integration of Middle Eastern and Western Art music Bushra El-Turk Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Birmingham October 2016 !1 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Declaration: I declare that the 10 musical compositions and the accompanying commentary that constitute this submission are my own work and that the use of all material from other sources has been properly and fully acknowledged. Signature.... ................................................................ Name……………Bushra El-Turk………………………………………………………………….. Date………13th November 2017…………………………………..……………………………… !2 CONTENTS Acknowledgements ………………………………………………………………………………….4 Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………………..5 Figures…………………………………………………………………………………………………6 Tables…………………………………………………………………………………………………..7 Chapter 1– Background…………………………………………………………………………….8 The muddied East/West dichotomy…………………………………………………………9
    [Show full text]
  • Songs of Grief, Joy, and Tragedy Among Iraqi Jews
    EXILED NOSTALGIA AND MUSICAL REMEMBRANCE: SONGS OF GRIEF, JOY, AND TRAGEDY AMONG IRAQI JEWS BY LILIANA CARRIZO DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Musicology in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2018 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Professor Donna A. Buchanan, Chair Professor Gabriel Solis Associate Professor Christina Bashford Professor Kenneth M. Cuno ABSTRACT This dissertation examines a practice of private song-making, one whose existence is often denied, among a small number of amateur Iraqi Jewish singers in Israel. These individuals are among those who abruptly emigrated from Iraq to Israel in the mid twentieth century, and share formative experiences of cultural displacement and trauma. Their songs are in a mixture of colloquial Iraqi dialects of Arabic, set to Arab melodic modes, and employ poetic and musical strategies of obfuscation. I examine how, within intimate, domestic spheres, Iraqi Jews continually negotiate their personal experiences of trauma, grief, joy, and cultural exile through musical and culinary practices associated with their pasts. Engaging with recent advances in trauma theory, I investigate how these individuals utilize poetic and musical strategies to harness the unstable affect associated with trauma, allowing for its bodily embrace. I argue that, through their similar synaesthetic capability, musical and culinary practices converge to allow for powerful, multi-sensorial evocations of past experiences, places, and emotions that are crucial to singers’ self-conceptions in the present day. Though these private songs are rarely practiced by younger generations of Iraqi Jews, they remain an under-the-radar means through which first- and second-generation Iraqi immigrants participate in affective processes of remembering, self-making, and survival.
    [Show full text]
  • Maqam Analysis: a Primer
    Fall Fall society for music theory 2013 volume 35, no. 2 fall 2013 music theory 35.2 Music Theory Spectrum S pectrum Peter Mercer-Taylor “Th e Calliope Crashed to the Ground”: Linear and Cyclic Time in Manfred Mann’s Earth Band’s “Blinded by the Light” Mark Richards Beethoven and the Obscured Medial Caesura: A Study in the Transformation of Style Nicholas Stoia Th e Common Stock of Schemes in Early Blues and Country Music Sami Abu Shumays Maqam Analysis: A Primer Reviews by Deborah Burton, Chris Stover This content downloaded from 24.193.68.76 on Sat, 26 Oct 2013 21:24:19 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Music Theory Spectrum Michael Cherlin (University of Minnesota), editor Mark Spicer (Hunter College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York), associate editor Christoph Neidho¨fer (McGill University), reviews editor Emily Vigne (University of Minnesota), editorial assistant Drew Nobile (City University of New York), editorial assistant David Hier (McGill University), editorial assistant Michael Duffy (University of Minnesota), technical consultant editorial board Vasili Byros (Northwestern University) Steven J. Cahn (Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music) Robert Cook (University of Iowa) Edward Gollin (Williams College) Kevin Holm-Hudson (University of Kentucky) David Kopp (Boston University) Victoria Malawey (Macalester College) Jose´ Oliveira Martins (Eastman School of Music) Ryan McClelland (University of Toronto) Danuta Mirka (University of Southampton) Jairo Moreno (University of Pennsylvania) Maryam Moshaver (University of Alberta) Robert Peck (Louisiana State University) Marianne Wheeldon (University of Texas at Austin) Anna Zayaruznaya (Yale University) The Editors and Board gratefully acknowledge the support of the University of Minnesota, the City University of New York, and McGill University in preparation of this issue.
    [Show full text]
  • Some Meanings of the Spanish Tinge in Contemporary Egyptian Music
    Some Meanings of the Spanish Tinge in Contemporary Egyptian music Michael Frishkopf [Published in Mediterranean Mosaic , edited by Goffredo Plastino ( Routledge Publishing, 2002) ] I. Introduction Arab popular music from the mid 1990s onward strikingly displays the influence of Spanish and Latin music styles: the Spanish tinge. While these musical fusions are relatively straightforward (if varied) in execution, their meanings are more complex. Mere consideration of the Arabic adjectives associated with Spanish influence – Latini , Andalusi , filimanku (flamenco), gharbi (western), bahrawsati (Mediterranean), ‘alami (global) -- as well as the multiple categories into which Spanish- tinged songs are sorted – shababi (youth), hadis (modern), bub (pop) – suggest the dense tangle of meanings which Spanish-tinged Arabic music presents to Arab listeners. 1 The present study aims to begin the process of unraveling these meanings, as understood by Egyptians. It is neither my intention to document the Spanish tinge exhaustively, nor to explain it in “objective” historical terms. Rather, my aim is hermeneutic “ethnohistory” 2: to interpret how Egyptians themselves interpret the Spanish tinge as a historical trend; how they relate it to their past, explain its salience in the present, and assess what it means for the future. It is the production of historical knowledge, rather than reconstruction of history itself, which is the point of the study: to understand how people organize their own experience of music history. This chapter thus stands in
    [Show full text]
  • Diverse Traditions-1.Pdf
    BAC FOLK ARTS PRESENTS: BROOKLYN MAQAM ARAB MUSIC FESTIVAL Ahlan wa Sahlan! Welcome to Brooklyn Maqam Arab Music Festival featuring local musicians, bands, and dancers presenting Arab musical traditions from Egypt, Yemen, Israel, Tunisia, Palestine, Iraq, Morocco, Syria, Lebanon, and Sudan. Maqam is the Arabic word referring to the patterns of musical notes, based on a quarter note system, that form the building blocks of traditional Arab music. Join BAC Folk Arts throughout March 2008 for Brooklyn Maqam concerts, symposia, and workshops featuring local musicians specializing in Arab folk traditions, classical forms, and contemporary arrangements. Entry to all events is FREE of charge and all events are open to the public. Saturday, March 29, 9-11pm Alwan for the Arts Diverse Traditions: Arab Folk Music in Regional Expressions This evening features Naji Youssef performing a repertoire Lebanese folklore, Ahmed Alrodini singing traditional Yemeni songs from the Red Sea Coast, and Adbel Rahim Boutat presenting songs of the Moroccan Berber traditions. This concluding weekend of Brooklyn Maqam highlights a range of traditional music styles, inviting New York urbanites to better understand the cultural richness of rural music forms which continue to be relevant to the city’s Arab life. Program Naji Youssef Introduced by Alexandre Tannous Youssef is a master of the rural Lebanese song tradition. He opens the evening with genres of jabali songs including styles of mawwal such as mijana and ataba. Youssef will sing Lebanese folk songs made famous by “The Voice of Lebanon”, Wadi el Safi and “the Father of Folklor” Zaki Nassif. The program will also include lively dekbat, such as dalaouna and hawara from Bilad ash-Sham.
    [Show full text]
  • Arabic Culture
    1 HUMANITIES INSTITUTE ARABIC CULTURE Course Description This is a study of the structures, social patterns, and cultural production, both popular and elite, of the Arabs in the Middle East and North Africa. The analyses we will read are drawn primarily from the fields of folklore, anthropology, and cultural studies, while not excluding social history, art history, and literary history. The main topics investigated will be folk literature, music, dance, art, religious ritual, gender, theater, cinema, and television. This course will leave the treatment of high or elite literature for the Introduction to Arabic Literature course, and leave the discussion of political changes per se to the Arab History course, though many of the readings will show important relationships between politics and cultural production of various types. The extremely important topic of Arab cultural influence on Europe is not included here, and is treated instead in the Introduction to Arabic Literature course and the Arab History course. The readings are weighted toward the culture of the modern Arab world, and while no attempt will be made to provide a comprehensive overview of Arab history from pre-Islamic times until the present, the works studied will provide some understanding of the colonial and post-colonial history of the Arab world, which forms important background for the study of modern Arab culture. The relationships between nationalism and culture will be studied from a variety of perspectives. About the Professor Devin J. Stewart is associate professor of Arabic and Islamic studies at Emory University. His specialties include Islamic law and legal theory, Shi'ite Islam, the Qur'an, and Arabic dialects.
    [Show full text]
  • 62 “Sing Us a Mawwal”: the Politics of Culture-Brokering Palestinian
    “Sing us a Mawwal”: 1 The Politics of Culture-Brokering Palestinian Israeli Musicians Galeet Dardashti Early one morning during the summer of 2003, I caught a ride to Nazareth from Tel Aviv with Moti,2 the producer of the “Culture of Peace” Festival. Moti was accompanying the Israeli pop singer Sigal3, a singer he managed at the time, for an audition with the Arab Orchestra of Nazareth, which he also managed. I had interviewed Moti on his work, producing performances of Arab music in Israel, and he invited me to come along for the day trip to Nazareth on condition that I only observe and not ask any questions until after the audition. He didn’t want to make Sigal nervous — she was nervous enough. “They know I’m not an Arab, right?” she asked as we drove along the way. “I’m sure that I might make some mistakes in the Arabic or something.” “Yes, they know,” said Moti. “I told them that you are my friend and that you are a well known singer among Israelis.” The Arab Orchestra of Nazareth4 is comprised almost exclusively of Palestinian Israeli5 male musicians from Nazareth. They work with a number of Palestinian Israeli singers, depending on the repertoire they are performing in Israel or abroad. Amidst the recent popularity of Arab and Middle Eastern-infused music in Israel, Sigal, a Jew of Iraqi and Moroccan background, had become interested in performing classical Arab music with the Orchestra, following the path of the more well known Moroccan- descended Jewish Israeli pop sensation Zehava Ben.
    [Show full text]
  • Cross-Culture Choral Music Education: Issues for Western Choral
    CROSS-CULTURE CHORAL MUSIC EDUCATION: ISSUES FOR WESTERN CHORAL CONDUCTORS RELATED TO THE PERFORMANCE OF ARABIC CHORAL MUSIC Cari L. Earnhart, B.M., M.M. Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS August 2015 APPROVED: Jerry McCoy, Major Professor Stephen F. Austin, Committee Member Richard Sparks, Committee Member and Chair of the Department of Conducting and Ensembles Benjamin Brand, Director of Graduate Studies in the College of Music James C. Scott, Dean of the College of Music Costas Tsatsoulis, Interim Dean of the Toulouse Graduate School Earnhart, Cari L. Cross-Culture Choral Music Education: Issues for Western Choral Conductors Related to the Performance of Arabic Choral Music. Doctor of Musical Arts (Performance), August 2015, 55 pp., 12 figures, bibliography, 28 titles. The concept of choral music as defined by the Western world was foreign to Arab cultures until the colonization of the Arab world began in the seventeenth century when we began to see the Western choral style emerging in the churches of the Arab world. Group singing of traditional music was done in unison or heterophonic textures. Notated part-singing is a product of colonization, Westernization, Christianization, and now globalization. In recent years, singing music in mixed or multiple voicings not of a heterophonic nature has spread beyond the churches to the secular Arab world. As choral singing has increased in the Arab world, a new genre of Arabic choral music has emerged. In order for Western conductors to effectively teach, conduct, or perform these new works, it is important for them to develop a basic understanding of traditional Arabic musical styles and pronunciation of the language, thereby making Arabic choral music more accessible and enabling it to become a part of the larger world’s musical vocabulary.
    [Show full text]