ندوة جوتنجن للدّراسات العربيّة والإسلاميّة

Göttinger Orient-Symposium

Das Göttinger Orient-Symposium und das Graduiertenkolleg "Götterbilder – Gottesbilder – Weltbilder" der Universität Göttingen laden ein zum Vortrag:

“Sirat Bani Hilal
The Oral Epic of the Bani Hil”

Professor Dwight Reynolds

Department of Religious Studies

University of California, Santa Barbara

Abstract:Based on historical events, the oral epic of the Bani Hilal Bedouin tribe spread throughout the Arab world in the Middle ages. In the 19th century it was still performed in many different countries and regions, and it lives on in the form of folk tales, proverbs and even riddles. But by the 20th century the sung, versified version of the epic was found only in northern and southern Egypt. This presentation offers a brief history of the Bani Hilal and the epic poem that tells their story, and then focuses on the oral performance tradition in Northern Egypt as it existed in the 1980’s and 90’s. The lecture ends with a brief live performance from the epic on the Egyptian Rabab (a two-string spike fiddle).