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The Story of Joseph

The Story of Joseph A Fourteenth-Century Turkish Morality Play - Middle East Literature in Translation

First edition

Hardback (30 May 2014)

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Publisher's Synopsis

At the heart of this volume is the translation of a fourteenth-century Turkish version of the Joseph story, better known to Western readers from the version in Genesis, first book of the Hebrew Bible. Hickman provides us with a new lens: we see the drama of the Old Testament prophet Joseph, son of Jacob, through Muslim eyes. The poem's author, Sheyyad Hamza, lived in Anatolia during the early days of the Ottoman Empire. Hamza's composition is rooted in the recondite and little-studied tradition of oral performance-a unique corner of Turkish verbal arts, situated between minstrelsy and the ""divan"" tradition-combining the roles of preacher and storyteller. A cultural document as well as a literary text that reflects the prevailing values of the time, Hamza's play reveals a picture of Ottoman sensibility, both aesthetic and religious, at the level of popular culture in premodern Turkey. To supplement and contextualise the story, Hickman includes an introduction, a historical-literary afterword, and notes to the translation, all ably assisting an unfamiliar reader's entry into this world.

Book information

ISBN: 9780815633570
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
Imprint: Syracuse University Press
Pub date:
Edition: First edition
DEWEY: 894.3511
DEWEY edition: 23
Language: English
Number of pages: 168
Weight: 316g
Height: 216mm
Width: 147mm
Spine width: 17mm
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