Arabic Shadow Theatre 1300-1900

Li Guo, Ph.D. (1994), Yale University, is Professor of Arabic at the University of Notre Dame. His most recent book, The Performing Arts in Medieval Islam: Shadow play and popular poetry in Ibn Daniyal’s Mamluk Cairo (Brill, 2012) is the winner of the IIM Prize for Research in the category “New conceptual tools,” Institut International de la Marionnette, France, 2015.

"Li Guo's Arabic Shadow Theatre 1300-1900: A Handbook is a sweeping survey and interesting introduction to all things shadowy and theatrical. It is rare to say that an academic study is a joy to read, but this book certainly proved to be the case. […] it is well worth engaging with and will stimulate discussions about theatre and shadow theatre beyond the Arab world." Usman Butt, in Middle East Monitor (2020) “No standard work on the subject has been produced until now […] Dozens of synopses of plots, together with some translations are especially valuable.” Caroline Stone, in AramcoWorld “This handbook still has an inevitable focus on Ibn Dāniyāl and Egypt, but expands the boundaries of research in several directions, covering the role of German Orientalists and the rich tradition from the Levant. It admits that some areas still need investigation, especially considering the lack of material from Iraq, Morocco, and the period prior to the nineteenth century except for Egypt. Arabic shadow theatre is a kaleidoscope that can be used to look at cultural traditions and entertainment from an original angle.” Cristina Dozio, Zeitschrift Orientalistische Literaturzeitung , 117.3 (2022).

• PrefaceList of Figurespart 1: Research1 Arabic Shadow Theatre in Historical Sources1 Late ʿAbbasid Accounts (c. 1000–1250)2 Mamluk Accounts (c. 1250–1517)3 Ottoman Accounts (c. 1517–1900)4 Western Visitors’ Accounts (c. 1760–1900)2 Early Modern Scholarship1 Orientalism and Arab Shadow Theatre: c. 1890–19452 Early Arab Scholarship: c. 1900–19503 New Studies1 Western Scholarship Since the 1950s2 Arab Research Activities Since the 1950spart 2: Resources4 Primary Sources: Manuscripts and Artifacts1 Manuscripts2 Shadow Figures5 Language, Style, and Terminology1 Content and Language2 Songs in the Shadow Play: Canonic and Non-Canonic Verses3 Terminology6 Performance1 Scenes from Medieval Cairo2 Shadow Theatre of the Ottoman Time3 Scenes from Early Modern Erapart 3: Repertoires7 Medieval Arabic Shadow Plays: Ibn Dāniyāl and Others1 Ibn Dāniyāl’s Three Plays2 An Unconfirmed Mamluk Shadow Play8 Ottoman Egyptian Shadow Plays1 Sources2 An Original Description of the Repertoire3 Six Early Ottoman Egyptian Shadow Plays9 Late Ottoman and Early Modern Egyptian Plays1 Four Egyptian Shadow Plays of Late Ottoman Time2 Short Plays from Early Modern Egypt10 Syrian and Levantine Plays1 An Overview2 Lebanon3 Syria, Damascus4 Syria, Aleppo5 Syria, the Coastal Region6 Other Syrian Plays11 North African Plays1 The Maghreb: Tunisia and Algeria2 LibyaEpilogue: Notes from the FieldArabic Shadow Theatre TodayAppendix 1: Arabic Shadow Plays: an InventoryAppendix 2: Shadow Theatre in Premodern Arabic Poetry1 The Prime Metaphor: God, Reality, and Shadow Play2 Performance as Illusions Making and Performer as IllusionistAppendix 3: The Cast1 Egypt2 Syria and the Levant3 Tunisia and Algeria4 LibyaAppendix 4: The Programme of a Layla CelebrationAppendix 5: Glossary (Arabic – English)BibliographyIndex