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In Narratives of Kingship in Eurasian Empires, 1300-1800 Richard van Leeuwen analyses representations and constructions of the idea of kingship in fictional texts of various genres, especially belonging to the intermediate layer between popular and official literature. The analysis shows how ideologies of power are embedded in the literary and cultural imagination of societies, their cultural values and conceptualizations of authority. By referring to examples from various empires (Chinese, Indian, Persian, Arabic, Turkish, European) the parallels between literary traditions are laid bare, revealing remarkable common concerns. The process of interaction and transmission are highlighted to illustrate how literature served as a repository for ideological and cultural values transforming power into authority in various imperial environments.
Price: $152.00
Pages: 280
Publisher: Brill
Imprint: Brill
Series: Rulers & Elites
Publication Date:
01 September 2017
ISBN: 9789004340534
Format: Hardcover
“The author analyzes (and provides helpful summaries of) the narratives to describe, among other themes, common literary emphases on the links between the morality of kings and ministers and the health of their dynasties and societies; between the authority of kings and supernatural forces; between rulership, esoteric knowledge, and concepts of cosmic and social harmony; and between gender relationships and the coherence of polity and community. –Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students/faculty.”
Mark Soderstrom, Aurora University. In: Choice, Vol. 55, No. 8 (April 2018).
“Van Leeuwen’s book draws our attention to tantalising possibilities in the broad comparative analysis of literary genres nearly always locked up inside specialists’ cabinets, opening a door through which other scholars will surely want to follow.”
Alan Strathern, Brasenose College, Oxford. In: The English Historical Review, Vol. 134, No. 570 (October 2019), pp. 1301–1304.
“An unparalleled study […] Scholars interested in Thousand and One Nights will appreciate the insights that Narratives of Kingship offers, noting the possibilities for further research in the area of the multiple genres of the narrative.”
Jessica K. Zeitler, Pima Community College. In: Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol. 50, No. 2 (Summer 2019), pp. 568–570.
Mark Soderstrom, Aurora University. In: Choice, Vol. 55, No. 8 (April 2018).
“Van Leeuwen’s book draws our attention to tantalising possibilities in the broad comparative analysis of literary genres nearly always locked up inside specialists’ cabinets, opening a door through which other scholars will surely want to follow.”
Alan Strathern, Brasenose College, Oxford. In: The English Historical Review, Vol. 134, No. 570 (October 2019), pp. 1301–1304.
“An unparalleled study […] Scholars interested in Thousand and One Nights will appreciate the insights that Narratives of Kingship offers, noting the possibilities for further research in the area of the multiple genres of the narrative.”
Jessica K. Zeitler, Pima Community College. In: Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol. 50, No. 2 (Summer 2019), pp. 568–570.
Richard van Leeuwen, Ph.D. (1992) University of Amsterdam, is senior lecturer in Islamic Studies at that university. He has published widely on the history of the Middle East, Arabic literature, and Islam, and is also a translator of Arabic literature. His publications include Notables and Clergy in Mount Lebanon, 1736-1840 (Brill 1994); Waqfs and Urban Structures in Ottoman Damascus (Brill 1999); (with U. Marzolph) The Arabian Nights Encyclopedia (2 vols, Santa Barbara 2004); The Thousand and One Nights: Space, Travel and Transformation (London 2007).