This thesis discusses the shadow play in mediaeval Arabo-Islamic societies, and the most outstanding playwright in that genre, Ibn Daniyal (d.710/1310). Despite the lack of other extant plays, it is shown that the shadow play had a long and dynamic tradition in mediaeval Islam, as attested to by various written sources that refer to it through two 'frames' of perception: as allegory and as theatre. These two frames indicate that there is a close link between the intrinsic development of this theatrical genre and the coinage of allegorical expressions geared to the understanding of the cosmological order. The principal features of the shadow theatre are analyzed in the light of theatrical semiotics, focusing on Ibn Daniyal's trilogy Kitab Tayf al-khayal. It is argued that Ibn Daniyal's dramaturgy, emphasizing a collective social experience, relies strongly on the peculiarities of the genre in the process of foregrounding the playwright's ideological concerns. Ibn Daniyal's possible worlds, seeking to harmonize the contending ideologies of Mamluk society, are familiar yet saliently delimited, as the theatrical frame through which they are induced is consciously highlighted.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.41556 |
| Date | January 1993 |
| Creators | Buturović, Amila, 1963- |
| Contributors | Boullata, Issa J. (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Institute of Islamic Studies.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001402874, proquestno: NN94596, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
Page generated in 0.0016 seconds