About the Book
By combining their expertise in English literature and anthropology, Ibrahim Muhawi and Sharif Kanaana bring to these folktales an integral method of study that unites a sensitivity to language with a deep appreciation for culture.
As native Palestinians, the authors are well suited to their task. Over the course of several years, they collected tales from the regions of the Galilee, Gaza, and the West Bank, determining which were the most widely known and appreciated and selecting the ones that best represent the Palestinian Arab folk narrative tradition. Great care has been taken with the translations to maintain the original flavor, humor, and cultural nuances in tales that are at once earthy and whimsical and that also parallel stories found in the larger Arab folk tradition. Featuring a new foreword by Ibtisam Barakat, Speak, Bird, Speak Again is an essential text in Palestinian culture and a must for those who want to deepen their understanding of an enduring people.
About the Author
Ibrahim Muhawi is Courtesy Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Oregon. He has taught in North America, Middle East, North Africa, and Europe and is a recipient of the PEN Translation Prize.
Sharif Kanaana has taught at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh; An-Najah University in Nablus, Palestine; and Birzeit University in Birzeit, Palestine, where he was a professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Science until his retirement. He has published over forty books and over eighty research articles in English and Arabic on topics including social change, culture and identity, political humor, modern Palestinian history, and Palestinian folklore. Kanaana is currently involved in producing an encyclopedia of Palestinian folktales in five volumes.
Ibtisam Barakat is an internationally renowned Palestinian American poet, artist, and educator. She is the author of six books in both English and Arabic including Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood and Balcony on the Moon: Coming of Age in Palestine.
Table of Contents
New Foreword by Ibtisam Barakat
Foreword from 1989 by Alan Dundes
Acknowledgments
Note on Transliteration
Key to References
Introduction
The Tales
Notes on Presentation and Translation
Group I • Individuals
Children and Parents
1. Tunjur, Tunjur
2. The Woman Who Married Her Son
3. Precious One and Worn-out One
4. Šwēš, Šwēš!
5. The Golden Pail
Afterword
Siblings
6. Half-a-Halfling
7. The Orphans' Cow
8. Sumac! You Son of a Whore, Sumac!
9. The Green Bird
10. Little Nightingale the Crier
Afterword
Sexual Awakening and Courtship
11. The Little Bird
12. Jummēz Bin Yāzūr, Chief of the Birds
13. Jbēne
14. Sackcloth
15. Šāhīn
Afterword
The Quest for the Spouse
16. The Brave Lad
17. Gazelle
18. Lōlabe
Afterword
Group II • Family
Brides and Bridegrooms
19. The Old Woman Ghouleh
20. Lady Tatar
21. Šōqak Bōqak!
22. Clever Hasan
23. The Cricket
Afterword
Husbands and Wives
24. The Seven Leavenings
25. The Golden Rod in the Valley of Vermilion
26. Minjal
27. Im ʿĒše
Afterword
Family Life
28. Chick Eggs
29. The Ghouleh of Trans-Jordan
30. Bear-Cub of the Kitchen
31. The Woman Whose Hands Were Cut Off
32. Nʿayyis (Little Sleepy One)
Afterword
Group III • Society
33. Im ʿAwwād and the Ghouleh
34. The Merchant's Daughter
35. Pomegranate Seeds
36. The Woodcutter
37. The Fisherman
Afterword
Group IV • Environment
38. The Little She-Goat
39. The Old Woman and Her Cat
40. Dunglet
41. The Louse
Afterword
Group V • Universe
42. The Woman Who Fell into the Well
43. The Rich Man and the Poor Man
44. Maʿrūf the Shoemaker
45. Im ʿAlī and Abū ʿAlī
Afterword
Folkloristic Analysis
Appendix A: Transliteration of Tale 10
Appendix B: Index of Folk Motifs
Appendix C: List of Tales by Type
Selected Bibliography
Footnote Index
