The Abbasid Adīb in the Twentieth Century: Editing al-Jāhiz as an Ideological Practice

Abstract

At the intersection of philology and Arab intellectual history, this thesis explores the ideological premises and implications of manuscript editing (taḥqīq) in the twentieth century Arab world. As it historicizes the concept of Arab heritage (turāth) and the practice of manuscript editing between mid-ninetieth and early twentieth century, it examines modern and contemporary editions of Kitāb al-bukhalā’ (The Book of Misers) by the Abbasid litterateur (adīb) al-Jāhiz. In so doing, this thesis reveals the ways in which Islamist, Arab nationalist, and/or Marxist editors have appropriated and reconfigured the twelfth century writer and his text. The editors’ ideological leanings have not only colored modern editions, but they have also revived the Abbasid adīb and in so doing, they channeled the anxieties and aspirations of twentieth century Arab intellectuals. The thesis examines Arab philology by approaching it from the vantage point of intellectual history, thereby revealing how the practice of editing is intimately linked to the political, particularly how turāth is subjected to modern ideological fault lines.