| Abstrakt: |
In my article, I intend to explain why, in my opinion, it is important to read, reread and translate into other languages the Kitāb al-Aghānī by Abū alFaraj al-Iṣfahānī, who died in Baghdad in 967. The work, as a gigantic anthology of Arabic culture and literature from pre-Islamic times to the 10th century, is in fact a ‘classic of classics’. The reflection on the importance of the Kitāb al-Aghānī, which is intertwined with a more general reflection on the classics in Arab culture, is supported by the analysis of an extract concerning musical ecstasy, i.e. a concrete example of what the single passages of which the anthology is composed can tell us. In our case, the passage on the ṭarab, for example, can convey a lot about music and musicians, the relationship between the latter and power, between music and poetry, court costumes, dance, the performative and didactic value of adab, and the very same ideology which the author, consciously or unconsciously, voices. In the concluding part, I offer a concrete scientific proposal on the translation of the work, some reflections on the didactics of the classics, and the function they can have in the education of the new generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
