INTRODUCTION

In the previous three chapters I have surveyed the development of poetry, belles-lettres, and drama – the works of literature themselves. As I noted in the first chapter on principles, any anthologising process such as this and indeed the very utilisation of the concept of genre as a means of differentiation and organisation involve acts of interpretation that are based on modes of evaluation; to wit, criticism. Having already had frequent recourse to the views of individual Arab critics regarding these genres, schools, and authors, I will now devote this chapter to a brief survey of the critical tradition in its own right, concentrating on the often close linkage between the literary texts themselves and the critical tradition that assessed them. That such a closeness exists can be illustrated by a representative listing of Arab writers who have made important contributions to both fields; a short list would include Abū Tammām, ibn al-Muʿtazz, ibn ʿAbd Rabbihi, ibn Rashīq, al-Sharīf al-Raḍī, ibn Shuhayd, Ḥāzim al-Qarṭājannī, Ṣafī al-dīn al-Ḥillī, Mīkhāʾīl Nuʿaymah, ʿAbbās Maḥmūd al-ʿAqqād, Yaḥyā Ḥaqqī, Nāzik al-Malāʾikah, Ṣalāḥ ʿAbd al-Ṣabūr, and Adūnīs.

The process of criticism, qua the evaluation of literary works, is evident in abundance in every period of Arabic literary history and can be traced back to the very beginnings.