Leg over Leg : : Volume One / / Aḥmad Fāris al-Shidyāq; ed. by Humphrey Davies.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter New York University Press Backlist eBook-Package 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: al-Shidyāq, Aḥmad Fāris,
• HerausgeberIn: Davies, Humphrey,
• Place / Publishing House: New York, NY : : New York University Press, , [2013]; ©2013
• Year of Publication: 2013
• Language: English
• Series: Library of Arabic Literature ; 6
• Physical Description: 1 online resource

Leg over Leg recounts the life, from birth to middle age, of ‘the Fariyaq,’ alter ego of Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq, a pivotal figure in the intellectual and literary history of the modern Arab world. The always edifying and often hilarious adventures of the Fariyaq, as he moves from his native Lebanon to Egypt, Malta, Tunis, England and France, provide the author with grist for wide-ranging discussions of the intellectual and social issues of his time, including the ignorance and corruption of the Lebanese religious and secular establishments, freedom of conscience, women’s rights, sexual relationships between men and women, the manners and customs of Europeans and Middle Easterners, and the differences between contemporary European and Arabic literatures. Al-Shidyaq also celebrates the genius and beauty of the classical Arabic language.Akin to Sterne and Rabelais in his satirical outlook and technical inventiveness, al-Shidyaq produced in Leg Over Leg a work that is unique and unclassifiable. It was initially widely condemned for its attacks on authority, its religious skepticism, and its “obscenity,” and later editions were often abridged. This is the first English translation of the work and reproduces the original Arabic text, published under the author’s supervision in 1855.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Letter from the General Editor -- Table of Contents -- Foreword -- A Note on the Text -- Notes to the Frontmatter -- Leg Over Leg, Volume One -- Contents of the Book -- The Dedication of This Elegantly Eloquent Book -- Author’s Notice -- An Introduction by the Publisher of This Book -- Proem -- Book One -- Notes -- Glossary -- Index -- About the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute -- About the Typefaces -- About the Editor-Translator