Beyond Arabic: Multilingual poetics in premodern Islamic worlds

This special issue of postmedieval, ‘Beyond Arabic: Multilingual poetics in premodern Islamic worlds,’ starts from the premise that, despite the obvious dominance of the Arabic language in religious, cultural, and political life, premodern Islamic worlds were fundamentally multilingual and engaged deeply in comparative practices across a range of languages and literary traditions that co-existed for a long time in harmony.

The methodologies adopted in ‘Beyond Arabic’ have enabled scholars to develop effective approaches based on direct and deep engagement with primary sources. These methodologies highlight several overlooked aspects of premodern transculturation rooted in the multilingual heritage of Arab-Islamic poetics, where Arabs and non-Arabs absorbed elements from multiple cultures, creating new, hybrid identities. ‘Beyond Arabic’ demonstrates how both transculturation and multilingualism were deeply rooted in premodern Arab-Islamic societies, which in turn generated significant waves of knowledge production in Arabic and fostered an appreciation for cultural diversity. By placing these premodern multilingual practices in conversation with the broader history of premodern World Literature, this special issue challenges the Euro-American focus and methodologies of the discipline of Comparative Literature.