Рання арабська драма

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to investigate the issue of Arabic or Islamic drama (both of which are not necessarily synonymous), which existed in the pre-modern period: that is, between the birth of Islam in the seventh century and the rise of theater in European models in the nineteenth century. The selected issues determined the broad context of the research. In particular, the author draws attention to the lack of a stable tradition of theater in the Western sense, which has become a problem that has for many years caught the eye of critics and scholars of both the Muslim and non-Muslim worlds. The research methodology is mainly based on the analytical-comparative-art-scientific approach, which provides a cultural and anthropological study of the evolution of the Arab theater, in particular, the ways of the early Arab drama formation and its development until 1847. Scientific novelty of the article. For the first time, with the involvement of extensive research material, early Arabic drama was systematized and scientifically conceived as a milestone component of the evolution of theater in the Muslim world. Conclusions. The Arab Theater certainly existed until 1847, but for a variety of reasons, its various manifestations did not grow into high art, as it did in Europe during the Renaissance. Some scholars, both Muslim and non-Muslim, Arab and non-Arab, have sought to find the causes of this situation, although most have proven to be speculative and not worthy of scrutiny. It is likely that the drama did not develop beyond embryonic forms for two main reasons: the hypocrisy to which the theater was exposed by religious figures, and the contempt shown by the literature figures. Ibn Danyal's dramatic work could not be fruitfully developed because the genre for which the works were created – the Shadow Theater – was technically restricted, and the so-called "Caliph Trial" remains the only example of Islamic theater that can only be regarded as a development of the art of worship. Later comedies tended to be either rude farcical or gross satire, which usually emphasized the corruptions, cruelty and arrogance of powerful power-holders, and the helplessness of the poor, naive and vulnerable peasant. These short improvised works did not contribute to the plot development or character. However, this does not mean that such plays have disappeared with the development of high European theater; on the contrary, and especially in Egypt, they continued to be popular until the twentieth century, despite the contempt that many educated Arabs felt for them.