Medieval Arabic Literature

This specific field focuses on Arabic literary work written by different cultural communities of the Islamic world during the Middle Ages, from the dawn of Islam to the Ottoman period. At the core of the study lie the numerous genres and styles of literary work: poetry, prose, historiography, philosophy, scientific writing, popular literature, and more. The study aims to map the development of Arab literary tradition in the Middle Ages, its linguistic and stylistic features, the topics it covers, the extensive cultural contexts in which it is rooted, and its interaction with other literary traditions. The principal goal of this research field is to obtain a comprehensive perception of the Arab cultural heritage in the Middle Ages and of its tremendous and continuous impact by understanding the central position of this literature in the Arab culture of the time and in human culture at large.