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DEDICATIONS AS POETIC INTERSECTIONS Dedications In DEDICATIONS AS POETIC INTERSECTIONS Dedications in poetry as both gifts and sites of repression or displacement deserve greater attention in theory and literary criticism for reasons which this paper proposes to discuss. Central to a large corpus of poetry since the first decades of the twentieth century, dedications assume the significance of presents and gifts while vying for recognition or ascendance with or against each poet's ghosts. In a number of these poetic thresholds, poems grow into readings of history, tradition, and politics of every kind. What Alan D. Schrift advocates for the "theme of the gift," may well apply for dedicatory poetry at large, as it "can be located at the center of current discussions of 1 deconstruction, gender, ethics, philosophy, anthropology, and economics."' But like many other formations, dedications build on a tradition of gift exchange. Since the appearance of Kitab al-Hadäyä (The Book of Gifts), allegedly written by al-Jahiz (d. 255 H.), a number of books on presents have made a conspicuous presence to meet an increasing demand. It is impossi- ble to have compendiums on gift exchange without an ongoing tradition of some sort. In Kitab al-Tuhaf' wa al-Haddyd (The Book of Presents and Gifts) by Abu Bakr Muhammad (d. 380 H.) and his brother Abu 'Uthman Salid (d. 350 H.), there is a large number of anecdotes, poems, and refer- ences to other poets and patrons.2 Taken together, these meeting grounds depict an age of a$luence, which also cared to establish its codes of subordi- nation and allegiance. As if anticipating Marcel Mauss's formulations, presta- tion acts as a structuring element, for "through gifts a social and economic hierarchy is established."' As giving is a privileged position, it usually sub- stantiates caste, class, race, and gender. Part of a larger project on poetic repression, this study was made possible by a Fulbright Scholar grant from the Council for the International Exchange of Scholars (1998). An earlier version of this study was presented as part of the Modern Middle Eastern Poetries: Texts and Issues symposium at Indiana University, Bloomington, Sept., 1998. 1 Alan D. Schrift, "Introduction: Why Gift," in idem, ed. The Logic of The Gift: Toward an Ethic of Generosity, (London: Routledge, 1997), pp. 1-22. Mauss's theory of the gift has been applied to the ritual exchange between poet and patron in the classical Arabic qasida by Suzanne Pinckney Stetkevych, "Pre-Islamic Poetry and the Poetics of Redemption: Mufad- çialïyah 119 of 'Alqamah and Banat Su(ad of Ka'b ibn Zuhayr," in eadem, ed., Reorientations: Arabic and Persian Poetry (Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1994) pp. 1-57. 2 Sami al-Dahhan, ed., Kitib al-Tuhaf wa al-Hadaya (Cairo: Ddr al-Ma'ärif, 1956). 3 Cited in Schrift, The Logic of the Gift, p. 5. 2 In its evolution and scope, the brothers' compendium, Kitdb al-Tuhaf wa al-Haddyd, offers more than one piece of evidence to verify the role of gift exchange in sustaining hierarchy. Whether commissioned by the emir of Aleppo, Sayf al-Dawlah, or by Abu Muhammad al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn Harun, al-Wazir al-Muhalabbi (d. 352 H.) who overtook Baghdad (334 H.), the brothers showed great diligence and art in meeting the demands and wishes of their patron. In their introduction, the Khalidiyyan, as they are usually called, write: You ordered us-May God prolong your munificence- ... to select for you portions of what is communicated on poetry, and to ignore the meaningless and the trivial, and to condense and sift. So we embarked on this mission, closely and speedily applying your guidelines, to give the efforts its due and to fulfil its obligations.4 Although seemingly a surplus in social communications, these "gratuitous and least costly relations of exchange," in Pierre Bourdieu's words, "are likely to create lasting relations of dependence."5 A dignitary as patron may derive no less satisfaction than the poet from a mutual relationship, sus- tained and nurtured by both. Such was the connection, for example, between al-Buhturi the poet (d. 284 H.) and the Shiite Sheikh Abu Ja'far al-Qummi. The latter sent the poet some wine with a messenger, a male slave of some charm. The poet was so impressed by the boy that he asked the Sheikh to offer the boy as a gift: I wish the gift were the messenger, I wish the messenger were the gift.' Aside from the implications of desire for fetish objects, male slaves included, al-Buhturi obviously took it for granted that his poem would ensure him such a gift. Both the patron and the poet enjoyed a privileged position regarding the enslaved other who had no say in that exchange. Among the ruling or dominating groups, reciprocity occurs according to codes and rules of privilege and conduct. Less privileged communities can develop their own rules, to be sure, but property exchange usually stands behind the circulation of wealth, as poetic records indicate. Indeed, al- Raghib al-Isbahani (d. early 5th c. H.) quoted a certain poet as defining prestation in terms of dynamic social and economic exchange: I noticed people engaged in gift giving As sale at a market place: take from me and give back.' 4 Kitab al-Tuhaf wa a!-Hadaya, pp. 7-8. 1 Cited in Schrift, The Logic of the Gift, p. 15. G Kitdb al-Tuhaf wa al-Hadaya, p. 49. See Appendix I. Translations from the Arabic are mine except where otherwise noted. 7 Ibid., p. 230. See Appendix II. .
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