The Narrative Structure of Ambiguity

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DC Field	Value
dc.identifier	ECF_article_1470
dc.title	The Narrative Structure of Ambiguity. A Semiotic Analysis of a Tawriya-Epigram by Ibn al-ʿAṭṭār (d. 794/1392)
dc.contributor.author	Rizzo Luca
dc.publisher	Edizioni Ca’ Foscari - Digital Publishing
dc.type	Research Article
dc.language.iso	en
dc.identifier.uri	http://edizionicafoscari.it/en/edizioni4/riviste/annali-di-ca-foscari-serie-orientale/2018/1supplement/the-narrative-structure-of-ambiguity/
dc.description.abstract	This paper engages in a semiotic analysis of a tawriya-epigram by Šihāb al-Dīn b. al-yAṭṭār (d. 794/1392). Mamluk literature is renowned for its extended usage of rhetorical figures, above all the tawriya ‘double entendre’. My goal is to shed light on tawriya, taking into account the Arabic classical theory and presenting a new approach based on semiotics. The subject of my analysis is what was the most flourishing literary genre of the epoch: the epigram. Within the epigram, the tawriya plays a pivotal role. Its potential is not limited to the engendering of a twofold reading of the text but rather goes further and creates a second text out from the first, both of which cooperate with one another and shed light upon their respective meanings. Therefore, the epigram by Ibn al-ʿAṭṭār is a construction of several texts, each of which is mutually linked and deeply-rooted in the social and physical environment depicted in the poem: the ḥammām.
dc.relation.ispartof	Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie orientale
dc.relation.ispartof	Vol. 54 \| December 2018
dc.issued	2018-12-06
dc.dateAccepted	2018-09-12
dc.dateSubmitted	2018-07-06
dc.identifier.issn
dc.identifier.eissn	2385-3042
dc.rights	Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.identifier.doi	10.30687/AnnOr/2385-3042/2018/01/025
dc.peer-review	yes
dc.subject	Epigram
dc.subject	Epigram
dc.subject	Mamluk Age
dc.subject	Mamluk Age
dc.subject	Semiotics
dc.subject	Semiotics
dc.subject	Tawriya
dc.subject	Tawriya
dc.subject	Ḥammām
dc.subject	Ḥammām

Research Article
open access peer reviewed

A Semiotic Analysis of a Tawriya-Epigram by Ibn al-ʿAṭṭār (d. 794/1392)

Luca Rizzo Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Italia

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abstract

This paper engages in a semiotic analysis of a tawriya-epigram by Šihāb al-Dīn b. al-yAṭṭār (d. 794/1392). Mamluk literature is renowned for its extended usage of rhetorical figures, above all the tawriya ‘double entendre’. My goal is to shed light on tawriya, taking into account the Arabic classical theory and presenting a new approach based on semiotics. The subject of my analysis is what was the most flourishing literary genre of the epoch: the epigram. Within the epigram, the tawriya plays a pivotal role. Its potential is not limited to the engendering of a twofold reading of the text but rather goes further and creates a second text out from the first, both of which cooperate with one another and shed light upon their respective meanings. Therefore, the epigram by Ibn al-ʿAṭṭār is a construction of several texts, each of which is mutually linked and deeply-rooted in the social and physical environment depicted in the poem: the ḥammām.

Published

Dec. 6, 2018

Accepted

Sept. 12, 2018

Submitted

July 6, 2018

Language

Keywords: Semiotics • Ḥammām • Mamluk Age • Tawriya • Epigram

permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/AnnOr/2385-3042/2018/01/025

Copyright: © 2018 Luca Rizzo. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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