Oral poetry and narratives from Central Arabia
By: [edited by] P. Marcel Kurpershoek.
Contributors: Kurpershoek, P. M.
Series: Studies in Arabic literature,; 17
Publisher: Brill
Published: 1994
Place of publication: Leiden; New York
Language: eng; ara
Number of pages: 506
Subjects: Dialect poetry, Arabic -- Saudi Arabia -- Najd -- Translations into English; Dialect poetry, Arabic -- Saudi Arabia -- Najd; Arabic poetry -- 20th century -- Translations into English; Arabic poetry -- 20th century; Dialect poetry, Arabic -- Saudi Arabia -- Najd -- History and criticism; Arabic poetry -- 20th century -- History and criticism; Oral tradition -- Saudi Arabia -- Najd; Dawāsir (Arab tribe)
Description: The Story of a Desert Knight is the second volume of a trilogy entitled Oral Poetry and Narratives from Central Arabia. It is devoted to the narratives told about and the poems composed by Slewih al-Atawi and his brother Bxit, both famous desert knights in the middle and second half of the nineteenth century. The principal source of this book is Slewih's great-grandson Xalid, a sheikh of the Utaybah tribe.

The introduction discusses inter alia the general characteristics of Bedouin oral culture, the linguistic, prosodic and stylistic features of the text, and Xalid's use of his ancestors' oral legacy in order to enhance his position in the tribal hierarchy of prestige. In addition to the translation of the oral text this volume offers a complete transcription, based on taped records and including variants found in published Saudi sources, and a substantial glossary.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
Table of contents: title: 1. The poetry of ad-Dindān; title: 2. The story of a desert knight; title: 3. Bedouin poets of the Dawāsir tribe; title: 4. A Saudi tribal history : honour and faith in the traditions of the Dawāsir; title: 5. Voices from the desert; Glossary, indices, and list of recordings.