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The exquisite amateur. FitzGerald, the Rubáiyát, and queer dilettantism

The exquisite amateur. FitzGerald, the Rubáiyát, and queer dilettantism. Benjamin Hudson
Victorian Poetry 54 (2016) 2 (Summer), pp. 155-177.

Though both popular and critical appraisals of FitzGerald’s translation have pointed out his, or the poem’s, amateurism, no inquiry has considered how the text itself cultivates its own antiprofessional stance—how it, in other words, invites readers to “Make Game” of life. Although this point may seem to be self-evident in a poem dedicated to inebriate pleasure, it is nonetheless worth considering, and clearly establishing, in order to identify how this amateurism, complicates erotic readings of the poem while enriching current critiques of its antiteleological temporality and agnosticism.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and Muslim secularism

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and Muslim secularism. Juan Cole
Studies in People’s History 3 (2016) 2, pp. 138-150.

The fact that quatrains known as Rubiyat of Omar Khayyam were not really composed by the twelfth century astronomer of that name, but composed by various hands and made into collections later, is widely accepted. This paper examines under what political and social atmosphere in later times, the collections began to be compiled, and what elements of scepticism, irreligion, mysticism and even rationalism entered into them. It is argued that the collections retained their popularity and freely circulated wherever Persian was cultivated down to modern times.

Obligation Versus Free Will in Khayyam’s Poetry. A Linguistic and Verbal Art Theoretic Account

Obligation Versus Free Will in Khayyam’s Poetry. A Linguistic and Verbal Art Theoretic Account. Maryam Bordbar; Ferdows Aghagolzadeh.
Advances in Language and Literary Studies, 7 (2016) 6, pp. 216–220.

Although Khayyam is one of the Persian poets whose school of thought and poems are studied the most, there is hardly a research in which his intellectual system is explained and made clear via a linguistic framework. In this paper one of the most debatable matters which is “Obligation” versus “Free Will” is dealt with by using Hasan’s (1989) linguistics and verbal art model. This model provides touchstones for clarifying the concepts which are foregrounded by the poet. In this study other than qualitative analysis of 33 Khayyam’s quatrains which are selected based on their contents they convey, quantitative analysis method of frequency calculation is used as well. The results approve this hypothesis that the notion of “obligation” is foregrounded by linguistic tools against “Free will” as background.

Nearer the heart’s desire. Poets of the Rubaiyat: a dual biography of Omar Khayyam and Edward FitzGerald

Nearer the heart’s desire. Poets of the Rubaiyat: a dual biography of Omar Khayyam and Edward FitzGerald. Robert D. Richardson. New York, Bloomsbury USA, 2016. x, 195 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm.
ISBN: 9781620406533

Summary:

“Weaving together the biographies of two poets separated by some eight-hundred years, Robert Richardson brings to life one of the most famous– and ancient works of poetry in all existence”–Front jacket flap

A Thousand and One Nights. The art of folklore, literature, poetry, fashion & book design of the Islamic world

A Thousand and One Nights. The art of folklore, literature, poetry, fashion & book design of the Islamic world. Hiroshi Unno. Tokyo, Pie Books, 2016. 295 p. ISBN: 978-4-7562-4816-9.

Summary:

Middle Eastern literature and poetry, including Arabian Nights and Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, has captured the imaginations of European people with its mysterious atmosphere and tales of exotic lands. From the 18th to the early 20th century, various European editions of these stories were published that included imaginative illustrations by notable European illustrators such as Nielsen, Dulac, Pogány, Bull and others. This book is a visual art collection of the world featured in such European illustrations and introduces the ancient Islamic manuscripts and art on which the illustrations are based. Text in Japanese, with an introduction and captions in English.

The man behind the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. The life and letters of Edward FitzGerald

The man behind the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. The life and letters of Edward FitzGerald. William H. Martin and Sandra Mason. London; New York; I.B. Tauris, 2016. ISBN 9781784536596. xii, 274 pp.

Summary:

Its lines and verses have become part of the western literary canon and his translation of this most famous of poems has been continuously in print in for almost a century and a half. But just who was Edward FitzGerald? Was he the eccentric recluse that most scholars would have us believe? Is there more to the man than just his famous translation? In The Man Behind the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam William Martin and Sandra Martin go beyond the standard view. Drawing on their unique analysis of the more than 2,000 surviving letters of FitzGerald, together with evidence from his scrapbooks, commonplace books and materials from his personal library, they reveal a more convivial yet complex personality than we have been led to suppose.”

Pope’s Iliad and E. FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát

Pope’s Iliad and E. FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát.
In: The Lesbian Lyre: Reclaiming Sappho for the 21st Century. Jeffrey M. Duban. Clairview Books, 2016. 832p. ISBN 9781905570799

Summary:

Hailed by Plato as the “Tenth Muse” of ancient Greek poetry, Sappho is inarguably antiquity’s greatest lyric poet. Born over 2,600 years ago on the Greek island of Lesbos, and writing amorously of women and men alike, she is the namesake lesbian. What’s left of her writing, and what we know of her, is fragmentary. Duban provides a reader-friendly overview of Sappho’s times and themes, exploring her eroticism and Greek homosexuality overall.

Le roman de Khayyam

Le roman de Khayyam. Normand Baillargeon. Montréal, Poètes de Brousse, 2016. 84 pp. ISBN: 9782923338941.

Summary:

A book born out of passion, regret and indignation, as the author explains. Passion for the immense and important work of Omar Khayyam that developed for more than thirty years, above all to his Rubaiyat. Regret for the rich and fertile civilization in which Khayyam was able to create this work which did not keep his promises, as the Muslim world, which had at that time such a considerable advance on the Western world, has since been, in too many places, frozen, fossilized, petrified. Indignation that one may feel in the face of racism against Arabs and Muslims, which, among all racisms, is now the only one that does not immediately provoke repugnance, as might be expected.

Analyse critique des transformations stylistiques dans les traductions des XIXe et XXe siècles des Robâïât d’Omar Khayyám

Analyse critique des transformations stylistiques dans les traductions des XIXe et XXe siècles des Robâïât d’Omar Khayyám. Exploration des quatrains communs chez FitzGerald, Arberry, Nicolas et Lazard. Bentolhoda Nakhaeï. Paris, 2016.
[Thèse de doctorat en Études anglophones]

Summary:

This thesis aims to carry out a meticulous analysis of the transformation of form and meaning in the rendition of the Rubáiyát in four significant 19th and 20th-century translations—two in English and two in French. The translators of the selected translations are Edward FitzGerald, Arthur John Arberry, Jean-Baptiste Nicolas, and Gilbert Lazard. The translations produced by these translators have offered opportunities of investigation within linguistic boundaries. In fact, one may wonder if the translators have transformed the meaning and the form of the Persian quatrains.