Poems for the Millennium, Volume Four: The University of California Book of North African Literature

Pierre Joris, Habib Tengour

Univ of California Press, 1995 - Poetry - 760 pages

In this fourth volume of the landmark Poems for the Millennium series, Pierre Joris and Habib Tengour present a comprehensive anthology of the written and oral literatures of the Maghreb, the region of North Africa that spans the modern nation states of Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Mauritania, and including a section on the influential Arabo-Berber and Jewish literary culture of Al-Andalus, which flourished in Spain between the ninth and fifteenth centuries. Beginning with the earliest pictograms and rock drawings and ending with the work of the current generation of post-independence and diasporic writers, this volume takes in a range of cultures and voices, including Berber, Phoenician, Jewish, Roman, Vandal, Arab, Ottoman, and French. Though concentrating on oral and written poetry and narratives, the book also draws on historical and geographical treatises, philosophical and esoteric traditions, song lyrics, and current prose experiments. These selections are arranged in five chronological ÒdiwansÓ or chapters, which are interrupted by a series of ÒbooksÓ that supply extra detail, giving context or covering specific cultural areas in concentrated fashion. The selections are contextualized by a general introduction that situates the importance of this little-known culture area and individual commentaries for nearly each author.

Contents

• A Book of multiPle Beginnings: 6
• Blossius Aemilius Dracontius Carthage c 455c 505 c e: 36
• ibn hani alAndalusi Seville c 934Barqa Libya 973: 49
• The Swallow: 59
• ibn rashiq alQayrawani also almasili Masila Algeria c 1000: 71
• ibn Zaydun Córdoba 10031071: 74
• moses ibn ezra Granada c 1058c 1135: 87
• The Wisdom of Reality in the Words of Isaac: 100
• the orAl trADition i: 117
• kabylian song on the expedition of 1856: 129
• Prologue: 135
• On making poetry: 139
• Alidrisi Ceuta 1099Sicily c 1166: 152
• ibn Battuta Tangier 1304Marrakech 1369: 167
• A Book of mYstiCs: 185
• Abdeslam ibn mashish Alami Beni Aross region near Tangier 11631228: 192
• Who is here for a braveheart: 198
• Ahmed ibn Ajiba Tétouan region 17471809: 204
• Amulet against Poison and Poisonous Animals: 209
• from Peace Be upon You O Shining Pearl: 222
• mohammed ben sliman d Fez 1792: 234
• Moroccan Exile: 240
• sheikh smati Ouled Djellal near Biskra 18621917: 247
• A Book of writing: 257
• Prologue: 269
• Abu alQasim alshabi Tozeur 1909Tunis 1934: 282
• mostefa lacheraf Sidi Aïssa 1917Algiers 2007: 295
• mohammed Alhabib elforkani Tahannaout 1922Rabat 2008: 309
• kateb Yacine Guelma 1929Grenoble 1989: 321
• from Nedjma: 323
• the orAl trADition ii: 339
• Prologue: 361
• Ashur etwebi b Tripoli 1952: 373
• laila neihoum b Benghazi 1961: 383
• Almunsif alwahaybi b Kairouan 1929: 393
• salah garmadi Tunis 19331982: 399
• shams nadir mohamed Aziza b Tunis 1940: 401
• Quatrains for Joy: 414
• moncef mezghanni b Sfax 1954: 427
• Dorra Chammam b Tunis 1965: 433
• mAuritAniA: 439
• Djibril Zakaria sall b Rosso 1939: 447
• western sAhArA: 453
• They Say That the Night: 458
• Enough: 464
• Jacques Derrida Algiers 1930Paris 2004: 478
• hubert haddad b Tunis 1947: 488
• Juan goytisolo b Barcelona 1931: 496
• the orAl trADition iii: 505
• mririda naït Attik Megdaz c 1900c 1930: 513
• Cheikha rimitti Tessala 1923Paris 2006: 518
• hawad b north of Agadez 1950: 529
• lounis Aït menguellet b Ighil Bouammas 1950: 535
• AlgeriA: 545
• Song of the Mortise: 552
• from Le Polygone Étoilé: 554
• malek Alloula b Oran 1937: 569
• Abdelhamid laghouati b Berrouaghia 1943: 583
• hamida Chellali b Algiers 1948: 597
• hamid tibouchi b Tibane 1951: 604
• mohamed sehaba b Tafraoui 1952: 610
• Amin khan b Algiers 1956: 617
• Almahdi Acherchour b SidiAïch 1973: 623
• moroCCo: 629
• from Candles on the Road: 635
• A Brief Moment: 636
• Ahmad almajjaty Casablanca 19361995: 652
• Ali sadki Azayku Taroudant 19422004: 665
• Abdellatif laâbi b Fez 1942: 668
• A Woman to Love as One Would Love to Revive after Death: 681
• Seven Birds: 696
• medhi Akhrif b Assilah 1952: 707
• waafa lamrani b Ksar el Kebir 1960: 720
• Jerusalem: 733
• ouidad Benmoussa b Ksar el Kebir 1969: 738
• Index of Authors: 757

About the author

Pierre Joris is a Professor of English at SUNY, Albany and an acclaimed translator and editor. as well as the author of many books of poetry. He is coeditor of UC PressÕs highly successful first two volumes in the Poems for the Millennium series.

Habib Tengour is a poet, editor, translator, anthropologist, and novelist. He is editor of Îuvres poŽtiques compl tes de Mohammed Dib.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Poems for the Millennium, Volume Four: The University of California Book of North African Literature; An Ahmanson foundation book in the humanities; Volume 4 of Poems for the Millennium: The University of California Book of Modern & Postmodern Poetry; Volume 4 of Poems for the millennium
• Authors: Pierre Joris, Habib Tengour
• Editor: Jerome Rothenberg
• Contributors: University of California (System), University of California Press
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Univ of California Press, 1995
• ISBN: 0520269136, 9780520269132
• Length: 760 pages
• Subjects: Poetry / Anthologies (multiple authors)