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'[T]he book reviewed here certainly represents a landmark. It is the first monograph devoted to an integral study and interpretation of the entire corpus of literature preserved from the Egyptian Middle Kingdom.' --Joachim Friedrich Quack, Freie Universitat Berlin, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 124.2
'This is an extremely important book' --Piotr Michalowski, George G. Cameron Professor of Ancient Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations University of Michigan
'Dr Parkinson has produced a work which surpasses all that has been written on Egyptian literature of the classic period till now.' --E. Hornung, Professor Emeritus, University of Basel
'This is an extremely important book' --Piotr Michalowski, George G. Cameron Professor of Ancient Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations University of Michigan
'Dr Parkinson has produced a work which surpasses all that has been written on Egyptian literature of the classic period till now.' --E. Hornung, Professor Emeritus, University of Basel
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The Middle Kingdom (c.1940-1640 BC) was a golden age of Ancient Egyptian writing. This pioneering book is the first comprehensive study of this literary legacy. The status of literature is controversial in many ancient civilizations, and Middle Kingdom poems have often been regarded as propaganda for the ruling dynasty. This study radically reassesses their cultural role, drawing on recent studies of the individual texts, some by the author, and on general developments in literary criticism, to argue that they were entertainments that voiced potentially dissident views while also being integral to elite culture. The book explores literature's status as a differentiated form of discourse, suggesting what social practices made its role possible and offering an innovative model for the reader's engagement with these subtle and complex ancient works. The book also surveys the social and ideological context of literature and proposes readings of the main tales, discourses, and teachings. The conclusion sets the readings in a broad context, while an appendix surveys the entire range of surviving texts.
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Format:Hardcover
The "The Poetry and Culture in Middle Kingdom Egypt..." is not an easy lecture, and can hardly be recommended to persons lacking professional skill and interested only in "spectacular" Egyptology. Even the text used by the author is a highly academic one. Anyhow, it represents the first monograph devoted to the interpretation of the entire corpus of the Middle Egyptian literature, and are the results of a long term investigation period undertaken by R. B. Parkinson about the subject. Whenever are possible, modern theories relating to the understanding of the literary works are used. Parkinson stresses out clearly the poetical form of the works analyzed in his book, but emphasizing that: "...stichic writing in Middle Kingdom manuscripts does not correspond to verses...". He also refutes the propaganda model as basic for the literary compositions in ancient Egypt. According to the author, the true literature appears in Egypt only with the Middle Kingdom. Almost everything related to the concept of "literature" in ancient Egypt is debated by the author, such as: definition of the notion of "literature", genres, textual transmissions, the social context the texts were written, metrics, styles etc. In the 3-rd chapter (Readings) are studied in detail the tales, discourses and dialogues, and teachings. Appendix 1 contain a useful inventory of the Middle Kingdom literary texts, and Appendix 2 comprise a short debate about Kemit, a famous letter used in scribal training. "Poetry and Culture in Middle Kingdom Egypt: A Dark Side to Perfection" is addressed to Egyptologists and the people involved in the study of literary theories. Even if is a landmark in the perception and interpretation of the classical Egyptian literature, the high price of this basic book is not quite justified. It is a pity, because only a small category of the educated public will afford more than $220 to purchase Parkinson's masterpiece. Taking account the impact on the future studies about Egyptian literature as a whole, Parkinson's present book has the same value as A.Loprieno's "Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction"(1995)had on the understanding of the ancient Egyptian language for general linguistics.
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