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New Words to Old Tunes: Genres and Metrics of Lebanese Zajal Poetry - cover image

Book Series

Copyright

Adnan Haydar

Published On

2025-02-06

ISBN

Paperback978-1-80511-391-1
Hardback978-1-80511-392-8
PDF978-1-80511-393-5

Language

  • English

Print Length

226 pages (2+xviii+206)

Dimensions

Paperback156 x 13 x 234 mm(6.14" x 0.51" x 9.21")
Hardback156 x 15 x 234 mm(6.14" x 0.59" x 9.21")

Weight

Paperback328g (11.57oz)
Hardback497g (17.53oz)

Media

Illustrations30
Audio28

OCLC Number

1499402355

THEMA

  • DSC
  • NHG
  • NHTD

BISAC

  • LIT014000
  • POE013000
  • SOC005000
  • HIS026000
  • LIT004220

Keywords

  • Lebanese Zajal
  • Oral poetry
  • Popular songs
  • Ethnomusicology
  • Cultural Heritage
  • Middle East

New Words to Old Tunes

Genres and Metrics of Lebanese Zajal Poetry

  • Adnan Haydar (author)
New Words to Old Tunes: Genres and Metrics of Lebanese Zajal Poetry introduces the rich tradition of Lebanese oral poetry, offering an in-depth study and analysis of its metrics and genres. It presents a novel framework for the proper scansion of meters and emphasises the previously overlooked roles of musical and poetic stress. It details nearly twenty zajal genres, including popular songs that use zajal metrics, and integrates musical notations and web-streamed audio links to enrich the reader’s experience.

By presenting both theoretical analysis and practical applications, the book not only contributes to the academic study of Lebanese and Arab oral traditions but also supports broader efforts to preserve and disseminate this cultural heritage through digital humanities. While previous works have been largely descriptive or focused on specific poets, this book provides a detailed analytical approach to zajal metrics and their musical dimensions.

This rigorous and comprehensive study will be of interest to scholars working on oral traditions, folklore studies, ethnomusicology, cultural studies, oral-formulaic poetry traditions, throughout the Middle East and beyond.

Additional Resources

The Role of Stress in the Scansion of Zajal Genres (Recordings 1-5) Qarrādī and Its Various Manifestations (Recordings 6-12) ʿAtābā, Mījanā, and Popular Genres (Recordings 13-28)

Recordings 1–27 were made by the author from 1975 to 1977 in Princeton, New Jersey, and in 2023 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Recordings 1–27 are sung by Dr Mansour Ajami, except for recordings 15, 16, 17, and 24 which are sung by the author. Recording 28 is sung by Fayrouz.

[audio]Recording 1: Maʿannā #1 (41s)
[audio]Recording 2: Maʿannā #2 (47s)
[audio]Recording 3: Qarrādī #1 (27s)
[audio]Recording 4: Qarrādī #2 (30s)
[audio]Recording 5: Qarrādī #3 (19s)
[audio]Recording 6: Afrāmiyya (1m 19s)
[audio]Recording 7: Layyā w-layyā (17s)
[audio]Recording 8: ʿAl-yādī (26s)
[audio]Recording 9: Ya-ghzayyil (43s)
[audio]Recording 10: Huzām (47s)
[audio]Recording 11: Biqāʿī (34s)
[audio]Recording 12: Bayrūtī (36s)
[audio]Recording 13: Mījanā (22s)
[audio]Recording 14: ʿAtābā (1m 22s)
[audio]Recording 15: Short qaṣīd (9s)
[audio]Recording 16: Middle qaṣīd (11s)
[audio]Recording 17: Long qaṣīd (11s)
[audio]Recording 18: Ḥidā (34s)
[audio]Recording 19: Nadb (20s)
[audio]Recording 20: Nadb #1 (25s)
[audio]Recording 21: Nadb #2 (18s)
[audio]Recording 22: Nadb #3 (27s)
[audio]Recording 23: Ḥawraba (20s)
[audio]Recording 24: Zalghaṭa (17s)
[audio]Recording 25: Abū al-zuluf (1m 33s)
[audio]Recording 26: Shurūqī (1m 17s)
[audio]Recording 27: Mawwāl baghdādī (2m 49s)
[audio]Recording 28: Mkhammas mardūd (2m 30s)

Contents

Introduction

(pp. 1–8)
  • Adnan Haydar

1. Terms and Methodology

(pp. 9–24)
  • Adnan Haydar

2. Previous Scholarship on Zajal Metrics

(pp. 25–62)
  • Adnan Haydar

3. Fuṣḥā and Zajal Metres

(pp. 63–72)
  • Adnan Haydar

4. The Role of Stress in the Scansion of Zajal Genres

(pp. 73–102)
  • Adnan Haydar

5. Qarrādī and Its Various Manifestations

(pp. 103–128)
  • Adnan Haydar

6. ʿAtābā, Mījanā, and Other Popular Genres

(pp. 129–192)
  • Adnan Haydar

Conclusion

(pp. 193–196)
  • Adnan Haydar

Contributors

Adnan Haydar

(author)
Head of the Arabic section in the department of world languages, literatures, and cultures and professor of Arabic and comparative literature at University of Arkansas at Fayetteville

Adnan Haydar is head of the Arabic section in the department of world languages, literatures, and cultures and professor of Arabic and comparative literature at the University of Arkansas, where he also founded and directed the King Fahd Middle East Studies Center from 1993 to 1999. His fields of specialization and areas of teaching include modern and classical Arabic literature, Arabic language, folk literature, and oral poetry. He has authored, co-authored and co-edited eight books, and is co-editor of the translation series for Syracuse University Press. His many articles on modern literary theory and oral poetry have appeared in premier literary journals.