Genres and Disciplines of Learning in Judaeo-Arabic Literature
31.07.2023 – 03.08.2023
The emergence of Judaeo-Arabic literature was related to new ways of organizing and transmitting knowledge. The introduction of new disciplines went hand in hand with the development of new teaching methods and textual practices, as well as the adoption of new literary genres and novel concepts of authorship. These changes had begun in the 9th century but developed mainly over the course of the 10th and the 11th centuries. They had a lasting effect on Jewish literature ever since. Disciplines of learning emerged that had no precedent in rabbinic literature, such as lexicography, grammar, literary theory, scriptural exegesis, jurisprudence, theology, and philosophy. They reflected contemporaneous developments in non-Jewish literatures and brought along a host of new technical terms and concepts in Arabic.
We understand genres and disciplines of learning as dynamic structures that are never fixed and static, but continuously interact with the reading public, the social environment, the literary canon, and with other texts.
The Society of Judaeo-Arabic Studies, therefore, invites to a conference on the nature, development and formation of genres and disciplines of knowledge in Judaeo-Arabic literature.
The conference will take place at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich. Further information will be announced soon.