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Sīra Shaʿbiyya
''Sīra shaʿbiyya'' is a genre in Islamic literature consisting of long heroic narrative. The ''sīra''s are generally historical fictions, using historical settings, characters and events and focussing on military exploits. They are typical written in '' sajʿ'' (rhymed prose) interspersed with poetry. They are very long. In written form, they are 2000–6000 pages in printed editions. In oral performance, sessions may stretch out over a year. The Arabic term ''sīra shaʿbiyya'' was coined by Arab folklorists in the 1950s to denote what is otherwise called "popular epic" or "popular romance". In the manuscripts, most examples of the genre bear titles containing either the word ''sīra'' (biography) or '' qiṣṣa'' (novel). The earliest evidence of specific compositions of the type comes from the twelfth century, although the tradition probably stretches back to the first centuries of Islam. The earliest surviving manuscripts of recorded ''sīra''s date to the fifteenth century ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Literary Genre
A literary genre is a category of literature. Genres may be determined by literary technique, tone, content, or length (especially for fiction). They generally move from more abstract, encompassing classes, which are then further sub-divided into more concrete distinctions. The distinctions between genres and categories are flexible and loosely defined, and even the rules designating genres change over time and are fairly unstable. Genres can all be in the form of prose or poetry. Additionally, a genre such as satire, allegory or pastoral might appear in any of the above, not only as a subgenre (see below), but as a mixture of genres. Finally, they are defined by the general cultural movement of the historical period in which they were composed. History of genres Aristotle The concept of genre began in the works of Aristotle, who applied biological concepts to the classification of literary genres, or, as he called them, "species" (eidē). These classifications are mainl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
