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Theme, Convention, and Prosody in the Vernacular Poetry of North AfricaAuthor(s): John WansbroughSource:

Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London,

Vol. 32,No. 3, (1969), pp. 477-495Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of School of Oriental and African StudiesStable URL:

http://www.jstor.org/stable/612488

Accessed: 10/04/2008 21:55

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THEME,CONVENTION,ANDPROSODYINTHEVERNACULARPOETRYOFNORTHAFRICA1

ByJOHN WANSBROUGH

0.1.Thoughnotinvariablysusceptibleofdemonstration,the influenceofClassicalArabicuponthepopularliteratureofArabic-speakingMuslimsinNorthAfricamaysafelybe assumed.'Popular',indeed,theearlyIslamicverseforms(si'rmawzun)and the later stanzaiccompositions(klamoralatal-andalus)haveremained,and inthese,evenwhenmodifiedbylocaltradition,the sourceofinspirationiseasilyrecognized.Less clear isthetransferpatternofclassicalelementsinthestrictlyvernacularpoetry(klammelhun)ofthesamepeople.It is thiscategoryofcompositionwithwhich thefollowingobservationsareconcerned,andwhichsuggestedselectionof the term'vernacular'ratherthan'popular'.Afurtherfactorcontributoryto isolationofthistopicis theexistenceof a vernacularliteratureamongstnon-MuslimArabicspeakersinNorth Africa:the Jewishcommunities.There,owingbothtoJudaeo-Arabicorthographyand to confessional motivesinthe selectionoftheme,thetyrannyofClassicalArabicisconsiderablyweakened,tosomeextentaconsequenceofsocial(educational)lines ofdemarcation.Important,however,aretheaffinities betweenthe vernacularcompositionsof bothgroups,especiallyin mattersrelatingtorhetorical convention andprosodicstructure.0.2.TheheadingsunderwhichIproposeto examine severalspecimensofNorthAfricanvernacularpoetry, rangingfromTripolitaniatoMorocco,aremoreor lessself-explanatory.TheArabic termsfortheme(ma'nd)andcon-vention(badi'),in the senseoffigureortrope,are thosegiventheir finaldefinitionsbylate medievalrhetoricians.Prosody,on theotherhand,sinceitmusthereincludemorethanmerelyareferencetorhymescheme(s) ('ilmal-qawdfi),snotquitetheequivalentof classical'arud,baseduponquantitativemeasure(wazn,bahr),but ratherofmelhun,probablyin thesense of(musical?)cadence,notoflinguistic lapse(seebelow,?3.1).Of these threekinds ofphenomena,thosemostsusceptibleofcollation with theirClassicalArabiccounterparts belongtothecategoryofconvention,thougheven heretherearegroundsforsuspectingthat theproliferationofrhetoricalfiguresinArabicliterary theoryisapost-classical developmentnotimmediatelyrelatedto thestudyof belles-lettres. Unlikeconvention,generally crystallizedinform andfairlyconstantinapplication,theme isexposedto bothlogicaldevelopmentandcapriciouselaboration,andtherefore lessreadilylabelledcalque.Scansionisyetmorerecalcitrant,thoughit ispreciselyhere that theverypowerfulroleof ClassicalArabicas'Bildungsprinzip'is mostapparent,nowheremorethanin theeffortsofscholars torelate melhinto classical'arud.0.3.Now,with referenceto the field ofinvestigationproposed-'Islamic

1Thispaperwaspresentedon31 October1968to ameetingof theCentreofAfricanStudies,SOAS.

VOL.XXXII. PART3.

JOHNWANSBROUGH

influenceson the non-Arabic literatures ofAfrica'-itishopedthatthefollowingremarks willproveusefulintwoways.First,thepatternsof transferobtainingbetween thepopularculture of North Africa and'lahauteculturemusulmane' of the Orientmight provideananalogyfor the samekindsoftransfer betweentheIslamicOrientandsub-SaharanAfrica.Second,NorthAfricanvernacularliteraturemayitself have beenavehicle for someat leastofthe IslamicorArabic contentoftheliteraryculturesinotherpartsofAfrica.Thereservationthat Isupposemustbemade withregardtothefirstpoint,namely,thatwe aredealingwith transfer withinwhatcouldbe calledasinglelinguisticcontinuum,will beperhapsless restrictive withregardtothe secondpoint,since itseemsnotunlikelythat both Arabic and IslamreachedAfrica informs vernacularandpopularas wellasliteraryandorthodox.I1.1.Apparentlyconspicuousin their role as vehicles for thetransferofthemesofOrientalorigininto the vernacular literature of NorthAfricaaretheepic cyclesrelated to BeniHilal and thegnomicversesurroundingthefigureofBent el-Khass.The muchdisputedquestionwhetherJazyaandHind(Embarka)bent el-KhasswereoriginallyOriental heroinesadaptedto theNorthAfricanlandscape,or localfiguresuponwhoselegendswasgraftedanOrientalpedigreeinthe interestsofliteraryprestige,iscomplicatedim-measurablybyproblemsofchronologyandvery likelyunanswerable.2ExamplesofsuchubiquitoustopoiasthoserelatedtoIslamicjihdd/gazwa(e.g.harb,silah,ta'n,darb)exhibitedincompositionslikeWadSisban(6atrif)andRasel-Oulare ofcourseto befound in North African vernacularpoetry,herecomponentsofanepiccyclesimilarto the medievalEuropeanchansonsdegeste.In theAlgerianversionsofthesetwo romances xatrif isequatedwiththe FrencharmyandMukharriq(Ras el-aul)curiously,sincehis citadel istraditionallylocatedinYemen,withthetotalityofWesterncivilization. Suchthemes aremerely calques,adoptedoftenwithverylittleelaboration frompopularizationsofearlyIslamicmagaztandfutuhliterature,itselffrequentlynothingmore than thepseudo-historical adaptationofmaterial found inthepre-Islamicayydmal-'arab.3Butbothline(s)of transmission anddirection(s)ofdiffusionarediMicult,perhapsimpossible,totrace,and theprecedingstate-mentcanberegardedonlyaspointingto acommonpoolofnarrativeingredients,not asindicatingachronologicaldevelopment.Discernible, however,arethe

SeeR.Basset,'Uneepisoded'une chansondegestearabe',Bull. Corr.Afr.,

iii,

1-2,1885, 136-48;M.Hartmann,'DieBeniHilal-Geschichten',Zeitsch.furAfrikan.u. Ocean.Sprachen,iv, 4,1898,289ff.;A.Bel,'LaDjdzya',JA,IxeS6r.,xix,mars-avril1902,289-347,xx,sept.-oct.1902,169-236,XeS6r., I,mars-avril1903,311-66;F.A.Mukhlis,Studiesandcomparisonofthecycles oftheBanuHildlromance,Universityof London Ph.D.thesis,1964;R.Basset,'Lalegendede Bent elKhass',R,

XLIX,

1,1905,18-34;C.Pellat,s.v.'Hindbintal-Khuss', El,second ed.

SeeJ.Desparmet,'Leschansonsdegestede1830k 1914 dans laMitidja',RA,

LXXXIII,

2,1939, 192-226;R.Paret,DielegendireMaghdzi-Literatur,Tiibingen,1930;W.Caskel,'Aij2mal-'Arab',Islamica,

III,

Suppl.,1931,1-99.

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