Studi sull'epica araba: ricerca e campo alla riflessione filologica

This article analyses a series of studies on Arab epics published in recent years (2002-2008), in particular by C. Ott (2003), F. Doufikar-Aerts (2003), M. Gavillet Matar (2005), T. Herzog (2006), and discusses the results in a broader perspective of research on Arabic literature of the post-classical period. After presenting the specific contents of these four studies, the article focuses on a range of research problems concerning philological questions (eg. manuscript traditions, the origin of a tradition and a sīra, the sources, the narrative archetypes and the various versions and variants), but also the relationship between orality and literacy and modes of transmission and reception of texts in Arabic literature