Preface
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction : Who are the Arabs?
A brief history
Religion in ancient Arabia
The advent of Islam
The Arabization of the Middle East
Geography
Colonialism and its aftermath
Pronunciation guide
Further readings on Arab culture and history
2. Definitions and classifications
3. Examples and texts
Verbal arts
Oral poetry
The history of Arabic oral poetry
Oral poetry in tribal contexts
Yemen : the practice of poetry in everyday life
Egypt : poetry and honor among Bedouin women
Jordan and Saudi Arabia : poetry as oral history
Rural and urban traditions of oral poetry
Egypt : proverbial wisdom in intricate rhymes
Algeria : love and romance in women's poetry
Oral epic poetry : the epic of the Banī Hilāl
Popular ballads of Egypt : tales of honor, murder, love, and scandal
Muslim and Christian religious ballads of Egypt
Arabic folk narrative
The Thousand and One Nights
Folk narratives from oral traditions
Palestine : female heroines in women's folktales
Morocco : Jewish Arab tales
Syria : Christian and Muslim tales from Aleppo
Tunisia : oral history, personal narrative, and legend
Egypt : personal narratives in context


Conversational genres : proverbs, riddles, jokes, and curses
Proverbs from the Bedouin of the Negev and Sinai Deserts
Maternal relatives
Hospitality
Proverbs from a Druze village in Lebanon
Riddles from the United Arab Emirates
Jokes : pan-Middle Eastern versus regional
Juhā, Gohā, and Nasruddīn : a pan-Middle Eastern joke tradition
Political jokes in modern Egypt
Curses and insults from Iraq
Forms of address in Egyptian colloquial Arabic
Greetings and salutations : the fine art of saying hello
Musical arts
Introduction to Arab music : four basic concepts
Folk musical instruments of the Arab world
Chordophones (string instruments)
Lutes
Fiddles
Lyres
Aerophones (wind instruments)
Flutes
Oboes
Double clarinets
Membranophones and idiophones (percussion instruments)
Drums
Tambourines
Port Said, Egypt : the birth of a folk music tradition
Oman : crossroads of cultures
Musical song and dance genres of Oman : an overview
Two genres in detail : the Razha and the Lēwa
Sufi ritual and religious chant
Arabic lullabies from Tunisia, Kuwait, Yemen, and Iraq


Material arts
Vernacular architecture : Arab houses and domestic space
Skyscrapers of brick and stone in Sanʻa (Yemen)
Reed homes and guesthouses among the Marsh Arabs of southern Iraq
Pilgrimage paintings from Egypt
Stages of the pilgrimage
The Haji paintings
Scents, flavors, and textures : women's arts of the United Arab Emirates
Customs and traditions
A unique Ramadān tradition : the "brides" of al-Bakātūsh
Zār rituals from northern Sudan
Marriage and metaphor : an Egyptian village wedding song
Saints, shrines, and pilgrimages : shared religious practices
Further readings on Arabic oral poetry
Further readings about Arabic folk narratives
Further readings on Arabic proverbs
Further readings on conversational genres
Further readings on Arab folk music
Further readings on Arab material folk arts
Further readings on Arab folk customs and traditions
4. Scholarship and approaches
The historical-geographic method
Structuralism
Functionalism
Folklore in context
Performance studies
Oral composition in performance
Contemporary approaches
5. Contexts
Orality in early Arab culture
From oral to written : folklore in medieval Arabic literature
Glossary
Bibliography
Web resources
Index.