ISLAMIC CULTURE THROUGH JEWISH EYES - Al-Andalus from the Tenth to Twelfth Century

Sep 20, 2026

Uploaded by Noah

Explores how Jewish identity in al-Andalus—under Islamic rule in the Iberian Peninsula—was constructed and later remembered as a Jewish Golden Age. Examines Jewish source texts to analyze representations of Muslims and Islamic culture and the attitudes these sources express. Uses diverse materials including grammatical and lexicographical introductions, poetry collections, ethical and philosophical treatises, chronicles, poetics, and correspondence among communities and individuals to map cultural exchange and interpretation in medieval Hebrew and related Arabic literary traditions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages212

Reading Time5 h 26 min

AccessFree to download

Contents

Introduction

Attitudes toward language: Hebrew vis-à-vis Arabic

Transmitting and producing knowledge: Jewish and Muslim intellectuals

Living in the present: the concepts of exile and domicile

Waiting for the Messiah: Self and Other in the journey toward the end of time

Afterword

Glossary

Notes

Bibliography

Index

ISLAMIC CULTURE THROUGH JEWISH EYES From the tenth to the twelfth century, a Jewish elite living in al-Andalus – the area under Islamic control in the Iberian Peninsula – created a culture that would be later conceived in Jewish imagination as a Golden Age. This book brings under analysis the construction of Andalusi Jewish identity by examining the representation of, and attitudes toward, Muslims and Islamic culture in a variety of Jewish sources. Sources used include introductions to grammatical and lexicographical work, large poetry collections, ethical and philosophical treatises, chronicles, treatises on poetics, and letters sent to various communities or exchanged among individuals. Esperanza Alfonso’s thorough reading of this wide range of sources will make the book appealing not only to specialists in medieval Hebrew and Arabic literatures but also to scholars and researchers of comparative literature and cultural studies. Esperanza Alfonso, Ph.D. (1998) in Hebrew Studies, Universidad Complutense, is currently a Research Fellow at the Universidad Complutense, Spain. ROUTLEDGE STUDIES IN MIDDLE EASTERN LITERATURES Editors James E. Montgomery University of Cambridge Roger Allen University of Pennsylvania Philip F. Kennedy New York University Routledge Studies in Middle Eastern Literatures is a monograph series devoted to aspects of the literatures of the Near and Middle East and North Africa both modern and pre-modern. It is hoped that the provision of such a forum will lead to a greater emphasis on the comparative study of the literatures of this area, although studies devoted to one literary or linguistic region are warmly encouraged. It is the editors’ objective to foster the comparative and multi-disciplinary investigation of the written and oral literary products of this area. 1 SHEHERAZADE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS Eva Sallis 2 THE PALESTINIAN NOVEL Ibrahim Taha 3 OF DISHES AND DISCOURSE Geert Jan van Gelder 4 MEDIEVAL ARABIC PRAISE POETRY Beatrice Gruendler 5 MAKING THE GREAT BOOK OF SONGS Hilary Kilpatrick 6 THE NOVEL AND THE RURAL IMAGINARY IN EGYPT, 1880–1985 Samah Selim 7 IBN ABI TAHIR TAYFUR AND ARABIC WRITERLY CULTURE A ninth-century bookman in Baghdad Shawkat M. Toorawa 8 RELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVESIN MODERN MUSLIM AND JEWISH LITERATURES Edited by Glenda Abramson and Hilary Kilpatrick 9 ARABIC POETRY Trajectories of modernity and tradition [Muhsin J. al-Musawi](Muhsin J. al-Musawi) 10 MEDIEVAL ANDALUSIAN COURTLY CULTURE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN Three ladies and a lover Cynthia Robinson 11 WRITING AND REPRESENTATION IN MEDIEVAL ISLAM Muslim horizons Julia Bray 12 NATIONALISM, ISLAM AND WORLD LITERATURE Sites of conﬂuence in the writings of Mahmûd al-Masadî Mohamed-Salah Omri 13 THE ORAL AND THE WRITTEN IN EARLY ISLAM Gregor Schoeler Translated by Uwe Vagelpohl Edited by James Montgomery 14 LITERATURE, JOURNALISM AND THE AVANT-GARDE Intersection in Egypt Elisabeth Kendall 15 THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS Space, travel and transformation Richard van Leeuwen 16 ARAB CULTURE AND THE NOVEL Genre, identity and agency in Egyptian ﬁction Muhammad Siddiq 17 LITERARY MODERNITY BETWEEN MIDDLE EAST AND EUROPE Textual transactions in nineteenth-century Arabic, English and Persian literatures Kamran Rastegar 18 POPULAR CULTURE AND NATIONALISM IN LEBANON The Fairouz and Rahbani nation Christopher Stone 19 CONTEMPORARY ARAB FICTION Innovation from Rama to Yalu Fabio Caiani 20 ISLAMIC CULTURE THROUGH JEWISH EYES Al-Andalus from the tenth to twelfth century Esperanza Alfonso ISLAMIC CULTURE THROUGH JEWISH EYES Al-Andalus from the tenth to twelfth century Esperanza Alfonso First published 2008 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2007. “To purchase your own copy of

FAQs

What is the main focus of the book?

The book analyzes how Andalusi Jewish identity was constructed by examining Jewish representations of Muslims and Islamic culture.

What kinds of sources does the author use?

Sources include grammatical and lexicographical introductions, poetry collections, ethical and philosophical treatises, chronicles, poetics treatises, and letters exchanged among communities and individuals.

Which historical period and setting does the study cover?

The study centers on al-Andalus under Islamic control in the Iberian Peninsula from the tenth to the twelfth century.

Sep 20, 2026

Uploaded by Noah