000			01488nam a2200217Ia 4500
001			6392
008			260202s9999 xx 000 0 und d
020			_a9780801431746
245		0	_aHeroic Poets, Poetic Heroes: The Ethnography of Performance in an Arabic Oral Epic Tradition/ _cDwight F. Reynolds
260			_bCornell University Press _c1995
300			_a128p; _c23x15cm
490			_aMyth and Poetics
520			_aAn astonishingly rich oral epic that chronicles the early history of a Bedouin tribe, the Sirat Bani Hilal has been performed for almost a thousand years. In this ethnography of a contemporary community of professional poet-singers, Dwight F. Reynolds reveals how the epic tradition continues to provide a context for social interaction and commentary. Reynolds's account is based on performances in the northern Egyptian village in which he studied as an apprentice to a master epic-singer. Reynolds explains in detail the narrative structure of the Sirat Bani Hilal as well as the tradition of epic singing. He sees both living epic poets and fictional epic heroes as figures engaged in an ongoing dialogue with audiences concerning such vital issues as ethnicity, religious orientation, codes of behavior, gender roles, and social hierarchies.
546			_aEnglish
648			_a1300 _99162
650			_aEpic _aPoetry _aMusic _99163
650			_aFolklore
650			_aSirat Bani Hilal _aBedouins _99165
651			_aEgypt _aNajd _aAlgeria _99166
942			_cBK
999			_c6392 _d6392