The Adventures of Sayf Ben Dhi Yazan: An Arab Folk Epic

A charming and agreeable surprise . . . A welcome gift to Western readers. --Kirkus Reviews

Editor Jayyusi offers a major example of the Arabic folk epics or romances called siras . . . The siras are full of heroic adventures, exotic landscapes, love affairs, friendships, supernatural dangers, magical spells, and great Arab heroes. . . . --Library Journal

This text should find its place alongside the translations of other epic traditions of the world as a text well suited for use in university courses on the Middle East, world literature, epic, and folklore. --Journal of Arabic Literature

This colorful panorama recounts the fantastic tales of a sixth-century Arab king and offers unusual perspectives on gender, religion, race, and ethnicity. Composed between the 13th and 16th centuries and presented here in English for the first time.

Author: Lena Jayyusi
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Published: 09/22/1999
Pages: 336
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.05lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.10w x 0.90d
ISBN: 9780253213426

About the Author

LENA JAYYUSI is Chair of the Department of Communication Studies at Cedar Crest College. In 1994-95 she was an Annenberg Scholar at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. She is author of Categorization and the Moral Order.