al-Sura al-Adabiya Tarikh wa Naqd
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- Dar Ihya al-Kutub al-Arabiyyah
al-Sura al-Adabiya: Tarikh wa Naqd (The Literary Image: History and Criticism) is a critical study of Arabic literary theory and rhetoric by the Egyptian scholar Ali Ali Subh, examining the concept, evolution, and theoretical dimensions of the literary image across classical and modern Arabic literary criticism.
Scope and Methodology
In the introduction, Subh explores the linguistic origin of the term sura (form or shape) and defines the literary image as words and expressions that symbolize meaning and embody ideas through sensory representation. He notes that while classical Arab critics frequently employed terms such as lafz (word), shakl (form), uslub (style), siyagha (phrasing), or nazm (syntactic construction) rather than the modern technical term sura, their discussions directly addressed its underlying reality.
Subh critiques modern scholars who assumed that classical Arab critics rarely engaged with the concept of the image or who bypassed classical theory in favor of modern Western criticism. Instead, he traces the literary image historically as an evolving concept—from early foundational remarks to its mature theoretical formulation, which he considers to have reached near perfection in the work of Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani. For the modern era, he identifies two primary streams shaping Arabic criticism of the image: the heritage of classical Arabic rhetoric and modern Western critical schools.
Structure and Contents
The book is arranged into an introduction and three main chapters:
- The Literary Image in Classical Criticism (al-Sura al-Adabiya fi al-Naqd al-Qadim): Traces the concept from the Pre-Islamic and early Islamic eras through major classical theorists, including Bishr ibn al-Mu'tamir, al-Jahiz, Ibn Qutayba, Ibn Tabataba, Qudama ibn Ja'far, al-Amidi, al-Qadi al-Jurjani, al-Baqillani, Ibn Rashiq, and Ibn Sharaf al-Qayrawani. It devotes detailed analysis to Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani—covering his theory of nazm (construction), poetic imagery in the context of literary borrowing (al-sariqat), and the properties of the literary image—before discussing later critics such as Diya al-Din Ibn al-Athir and Yahya ibn Hamza al-Alawi.
- The Literary Image in Modern Literary Criticism (al-Sura al-Adabiya fi al-Naqd al-Adabi al-Hadith): Examines modern critical debates surrounding form and content, categorizing stances into proponents of form, proponents of content, and those who unite both. It analyzes definitions and treatments of the image among 20th-century Arab critics and literary figures, including Ahmad Hasan al-Zayyat, Ahmad al-Shayib, Ibrahim Abd al-Qadir al-Mazini, Abbas Mahmud al-Aqqad (discussing imagination, personification, and rhetoric), Muhammad Ghunaymi Hilal, Muhammad Abd al-Mun'im Khafaji, Shawqi Dayf, and Izz al-Din Ismail.
- Features of the Literary Image (Ma'alim al-Sura al-Adabiya): A theoretical synthesis defining the nature and boundaries of the literary image. It contrasts the literary image with pictorial and musical arts, delineates the relation between image and style, and outlines the image's sources, constituent elements, defining characteristics, and aesthetic purpose.
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