You are invited to attend

– THE MUWASHSHAH –

History, Origins and Present Practices

an international weekend conference on Arabic and Hebrew

strophic poetry and its Romance parallels.

to be held at the the School of Oriental and African Studies,

University of London,

Thornhaugh Square, London WC1 [tube: Russell Square]

Friday 5 October – Sunday 7 October 2007

Website http://www.thefreeuniversity.net/muwashshah

OUTLINE

¶ The song form known as the muwashshah has a 1,000-year history in and around the Mediterranean basin. It originated in Andalus, where it was cultivated by both Arabic and Jewish poets and musicians. It enjoyed cult status in its time. Nowadays the muwashshah continues as a widely-enjoyed musical form throughout the Arab world, still preserving forms which go back to its Andalusi origins.

¶ The muwashshah and its associated verse-form, the zajal, had an important and largely undocumented influence on the forms of poetry and song in the Christian West. To some extent this has been examined in academic research on the kharjas of the muwashshahāt. Other aspects, however, have remained as unexplored territory.

¶ The purpose of our conference is to open new ground in these areas of research, and to examine a range of issues ranging from historical origins to present performance practices of the muwashshah in countries of North Africa and the Middle East, among both Arab and Jewish practitioners. For this year’s conference we are particularly interested in cultural crossovers and transmissions between al-Andalus and early Europe. Music-Studies and Romance-Studies contributions are particularly welcome.

¶ Our panel of speakers will include participants of the earlier Madrid [1989], Exeter [1990] and London [2004] “kharja” conferences. Our programme will combine the presentation of academic papers with live performance, audio-visual materials and a Saturday-night concert.

¶ Edited proceedings of the 2004 SOAS conference have now been published in book form. The book can be ordered via this link .

Registration and further details from muwashshah @ soas.ac.uk

or by post to:

Ed Emery

[Muwashshah Conference]

Peterhouse

Cambridge CB2 1RD

Programme of the 2007 Conference

Programme of the 2004 Conference

– Conference organised with the support of the –

Music Department, School of Oriental and African
Studies [SOAS], University of London

and the AHRC Research Centre for Cross-Cultural Music and Dance Performance

Website: Universitas adversitatis

Last updated: 18.vi.09