The birth, life and the early years of ‘the Fariyaq’, the alter ego of Arab scholar Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq
“Leg over Leg” describes the life from birth to middle the age of “the Fariyaq,” alter identity for Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq, a important figure in the intellectual literature and history of the contemporary Arab world.
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The ever-edifying and frequently humorous experiences of “the Friyaq when he travels from his home in Lebanon across Egypt, Malta, Tunis, England, and France and England, give the author the basis for a wide-ranging discussion of the social and intellectual issues of the time, such as the insanity and corruption of the Lebanese establishments, both secular and religious and freedom of conscience.
The rights of women, sexual relations between females and males as well as the social and cultural norms that characterized Europeans and people from the Middle East and the distinctions between modern European as well as Arabic literatures and all while acknowledging the beauty and genius of the classic Arabic language.
The volumes Three and Four show the peripatetic Fariyaq fall love, and convert to Catholicism for a period of 24 hours to be married. While the story revolves around a series debates about the nature of relationships between males and females and the nature of marriage, there are opportunities for discussions on the moral and physical implications of diverse subjects such like the buttocks, non-reliability of tests for virginity, and the human capacity to self-delusion.
Long-term stays within England and France permit for a variety of controversies about the manners of dining and sexual aversions of their residents, but the debate, regardless of whether it includes dance halls or pleasure gardens, or poetry, always will end up revolving around the subject of gender relationships.
Like Sterne or Rabelais with his humorous view and technical ingenuity, al-Shidyaq produced in Leg over Leg an original work that is original and is unclassifiable. It was initially decried for its attack on authority, its faith-based doubt, and “obscenity,” and later editions were frequently abridged. It is also the only fully English translation of this revolutionary work.
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Product details
- ASIN : 147981329X
- Publisher : NYU Press; Abridged edition
- Language : English
- Paperback : 600 pages
- ISBN-10 : 9781479813292
- ISBN-13 : 978-1479813292
- Item Weight : 1.55 pounds
- Dimensions : 5.5 x 1.58 x 8.25 inches
