Beholding Beauty

Saʿdi of Shiraz and the Aesthetics of Desire in Medieval Persian Poetry
Erscheinungsjahr 2025
ISBN: 978-90-04-73344-2
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, 700 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 1329 g

Beholding Beauty: Sa'di of Shiraz and the Aesthetics of Desire in Medieval Persian Poetry explores the relationship between sexuality, politics, and spirituality in the lyrics of Sa'di Shirazi (d. 1292 CE), one of the most revered masters of classical Persian literature. Relying on a variety of sources, including unstudied manuscripts, Domenico Ingenito presents the so-called “inimitable smoothness” of Sa'di’s lyric style as a serene yet multifaceted window into the uncanny beauty of the world, the human body, and the realm of the unseen.

The book constitutes the first attempt to study Sa‘di’s lyric meditations on beauty in the context of the major artistic, scientific and intellectual trends of his time. By charting unexplored connections between Islamic philosophy and mysticism, obscene verses and courtly ideals of love, Ingenito approaches Sa‘di’s literary genius from the perspective of sacred homoeroticism and the psychology of performative lyricism in their historical context.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Ingenito, Domenico

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturwissenschaft: Lyrik und Dichter
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Naher & Mittlerer Osten
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Gruppen/Soziale Themen Gender Studies, Geschlechtersoziologie

Über Autor(innen)

Domenico Ingenito, Ph.D. (2012), University of Naples “L’Orientale,” is Assistant Professor of Persian Literature at the University of California, Los Angeles. He has previously taught at Oxford, and his research focuses on premodern Persian poetry, literary aesthetics, and geocriticism.