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Perception of Building Craftsmen in Mamluk Literature
Abstract
The image of Mamluk building craftsmen which depicted in literature reflects how this group was perceived by their society. This social perception that appears in Mamluk literature, especially the genre of artisan literature, for building practitioners complements the image emerges from other sources, documentary and chronical narratives, and pieces together elements of their identity. When trying to closely study and analyse the social and professional identity elements of the members of building craft, we face scarcity of direct pieces of evidence. Nonetheless, employing literature analysis could reveal its potential, thus improving our understanding of the social standing of building craftsmen in Mamluk society. What special about Mamluk literature is its popularity as appears in two meanings. On the one hand, it was becoming widely spread among society. And on the other, had a strong influence of colloquial dialect on the presentation of literary works. Both features represent distinctions in the perceived identity of selected building craftsmen who frequently appear in literature representing craftsmen: architect (muhandis), carpenter (najjar), and mason (banna’). Mamluk literati developed two sub-genres that represent various societal strata, among whom artisans belong to different crafts. The first sub-genre is ‘social assembly’, which belongs to the art of maqamah. The plot of this genre is a social gathering of artisans, each of whom is alternately asked to deliver a few rhymed verses (from two to four) followed by short prose employing jargons of his craft or job. The other sub-genre is a poetic form known as ‘dubit’ (a couple of poetic verses) devoted mainly to describe people of variant names, ethnicities, jobs, crafts, and even deformities. Although the declared purpose of these literary genres was humorous, they represent the essence of the identity of building craftsmen from a contemporary social perspective.
Discipline
History
Geographic Area
Egypt
Islamic World
Sub Area
Mamluk Studies