ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix ABBREVIATIONS xi INTRODUCTION: Power in the Portrayal 1 CHAPTER ONE: Force of Character 24 CHAPTER TWO: An Andalusi-Muslim Literary Typology of Jewish Heresy and Sedition 54 CHAPTER THREE: Textualizing Ambivalence 91 CHAPTER FOUR: Muslim Counterparts, Rivals, Mentors, and Foes--A Trope of Andalusi-Jewish Identity? 119 CHAPTER FIVE: The Silence of the Jews 140 BIBLIOGRAPHY 161 INDEX 185
This book is a significant contribution to the field. Its new approaches and new interpretations yield extremely interesting and convincing results. With good writing and good translations, Brann deftly guides the reader, even the nonspecialist reader, through the argument. -- Mark Cohen, Princeton University, author of "Under the Crescent Cross" Power in the Portrayal makes a groundbreaking contribution both to Jewish studies and to Islamic studies. Impressively up-to-date on the relevant scholarship in several languages, Brann boldly blends social history and literary study to illuminate texts and figures both Jewish and Muslim. Undoubtedly the most significant of these is the large-scale and sustained re-reading of controversies surrounding Samuel ha-Nagid. We now possess, virtually for the first time, a grounded and contextualized understanding of this leading Jewish personality of Muslim Spain. -- Steven M. Wasserstrom, Reed College, author of "Religion after Religion" and "Between Muslim and Jew"
Ross Brann is the Milton R. Konvitz Professor of Judeo-Islamic Studies and the Chair of Near-Eastern Studies at Cornell University. His books include "The Compunctious Poet", recipient of the 1992 National Jewish Book Award in Sephardic Studies. He wrote "Power in the Portrayal" with the support of the Guggenheim Foundation.
"A substantial contribution to our knowledge of inter-faith and inter-cultural relations... Few authors could achieve what [Brann] has done in such an economical [way]."--Cynthia Robinson, Near Eastern Studies "A substantial and methodologically innovative contribution to our knowledge of inter-faith and inter-cultural relations, both in al-Andalus and in the medieval world at large... Few authors could achieve what [Brann] has achieved and broaden the scope of a field of inquiry to the extent that he has done in such an economical [fashion]."--Cynthia Robinson, The Medieval Review "Brann negotiates the boundary between literary and historical studies with considerable finesse and graceful erudition."--Mark D. Meyerson, American Historical Review "Brann's book is elegantly written, scholarly in drawing on previous studies, yet original in its insights. The author makes his case that medieval Jews and Muslims in al-Andalus admired, scorned, deplored, and were envious of each other in varying measure and that each group's representation of the Other teaches us less about that other than about itself."--Consuelo Lopez-Morillas, Speculum
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