Heroes, Lovers, And Poet-Singers

Heroes, Lovers, and Poet-Singers: The Bedouin Ethos in the Music of the Arab Near-EastAuthor(s): Ali Jihad RacyReviewed work(s):Source: The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 109, No. 434 (Autumn, 1996), pp. 404-424Published by: American Folklore SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/541183 .Accessed: 05/05/2012 05:32

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ALI JIHAD RACY

Heroes, Lovers, and Poet-Singers The Bedouin Ethos in the Music of the Arab Near-East

This article investigates the music of the eastern Mediterranean Arab world across

nomadic, rural, and urban lines, with primary focus on sung poetry. Song genres expressing basic values within this region, particularly among the Bedouin nomads, are examined in specific village and city contexts. The aim is to gain new insights into the ideological and aesthetic components of traditional Arab music and to better understand the recent patterns of urbanization and change in the modern Near East.

Assessing current views on nomadic expressive culture and its role in modern life, the research also presents alternative perspectives, particularly regarding oral tradi-

tion, the media, and the rural-urban continuum.

NOMADISM, PARTICULARLY the cultural interlinks among nomadic, rural, and

urban communities, has been a topic of concern for historians, social scientists, and literary scholars. In the context of the eastern Mediterranean world, an area

also known as the Levant, researchers have attempted to identify those cultural

traits that recur across ethnic and communal lines, in some cases with attention

to the role of Arab nomadism, or "Bedouinness," in contemporary Arab life.

For those interested in studying the arts, this region appears to pose certain

conceptual and methodological challenges, in part because in Near Eastern folk

culture the various creative genres, music and poetry in particular, are very

closely interconnected (Racy 1992:160) and, furthermore, because in the tradi-

tional contexts sung performances tend to embrace significant ideological connotations. Researchers may have to address both the lyrical or evocative

efficacies of the literary and musical components, and the symbolic or ideological contents of individual performances and performance genres. A further concern

may be the musical elements this area seems to share with other Arab or

Mediterranean communities (Racy 1986c, 1994), as well as the cultural or

ideological traits that are similarly prevalent throughout the Mediterranean

world (see Gilmore 1982; Gilmore 1987b; Peristiany 1966). At the same time,

Ali Jihad Racy is a prqofessor of ethnomusicology at the University of California at Los Angeles

Journal of American Folklore 109(434):404-424. Copyright ? 1996, American Folklore Society.

Racy, Heroes, Lovers, and Poet-Singers 405

those traits that appear to make the Levant artistically or culturally distinct may need to be contextually understood. In fact, some cultural traits are believed to be characteristically Near Eastern and in some cases prevalent throughout the Mediterranean world. These include three sets of related traits that seem

particularly relevant to the present inquiry: (a) "honor" and "shame," phenomena that are associated with sexuality and power, as honor is linked to mascu-

linity and the social implications of maleness, whereas shame is experienced when manhood is undermined or when women's chastity is questioned (Gil- more 1987a:2-17); (b) "hospitality" and "chivalry," virtues that are expressed through the exercise and reciprocation of generosity and are usually indicative of the host's social prestige and moral superiority (Herzfeld 1987:75-89); and

(c) "bravery" and "militancy," qualities that, for instance, among the pastoral nomads of northern Arabia, are connected with tribal identification and the idealization of raiding and warfare (Meeker 1979:111-150).

Meanwhile, it has been maintained that nomadism as an ideology retains a somewhat concentrated or extreme form of these and other related values.

Accordingly, the tribal nomadic complex of mores and attitudes, often referred to as the "Bedouin ethos," is expected to proceed at decreasing levels of purity and intensity as we move closer to the more sedentary and urbanized contexts. Implying a process that is both social and historical, this interpretation may be traced back to Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406). In his Muqaddimah, this Arab historian and sociologist presented an explanation of how civilizations grow from a stage of tribal nomadism characterized by simplicity, tightly knit tribal lineages, social cohesiveness, and militancy to a phase of sedentary living marked by cultural sophistication, affluence, and mastery of the sciences. Accordingly, as societies become "civilized" their tribal heritage regresses and is gradually abandoned. Eventually, with decadence setting in and natural militaristic instincts lost, civilizations succumb to nomadic invaders, who in turn become sedentary and experience the same dialectic cycle of triumph, growth, decadence, and decline (see Rosenthal and Dawood 1967).1 At the same time, the culture of nomadism, although romanticized by early Western travelers, is looked at with some uncertainty and at times suspicion. As Elizabeth Fernea and Robert Fernea explain:

Even within the Middle Eastern world, the Bedouin has a special place in the hearts and minds of Arabs themselves, for the word still symbolizes a purity and courage associated with right living and right thinking....

Yet the attitude of today's settled Arabs toward the nomads is ambivalent. Generally, nomads and their life-style are seen as having no place in modern society. Old resentments also rankle, memories of the days when desert uprisings made travel risky and when Bedouin raids on towns and villages were common occurrences. Townspeople, in some contexts, also characterize Bedouins as ignorant, indifferent in the practice of Islam, and generally unreliable. Thus the logic follows that nomads, for their own good, must be encouraged to leave their historic ways and settle down in one place-preferably as farmers. Like the forest outlaws of medieval England, nomads may be unequivocally admired in the Middle East only when they no longer exist. [Fernea and Fernea 1987:293-294]

406 Journal of American Folklore 109 (1996)

In this study the nomadic-rural-urban continuum is examined in both artistic and ideological terms. Therefore, three related questions are asked: (a) how and to what extent are the characteristic Bedouin musical genres and the sentiments

they express manifested in the various musical traditions in the region? (b) how does Bedouin expressive culture inform on today's rural and urban music of the Arab Near East? and (c) how does Bedouinness and the ambivalence generally associated with nomadic life fit into today's Arab music culture? The material

analyzed represents geographically and historically related contexts within the Levant. Constituting a continuum of sorts, the area studied embraces the nomadic cultures of Jordan, northern Palestine and southern Syria, the rural communities of southern Lebanon, and the modern city of Beirut.

In this exploration, I posit that the historical relationship among the various

nomadic, rural, and urban communities is one of social and artistic interaction rather than unidirectional influence. Furthermore, I propose that the various

social-ideological, or for that matter, poetic-musical, "syndromes" that typify the larger Near Eastern world, including the Levant, are closely intertwined and embrace the more intimate, personal, and sentimental expressions as well. Such

expressions are demonstrated in the context of the Awlad 'Ali tribal group in western Egypt, where women sing poetry in response to stringent codes of behavior and authority associated with male dominance (Abu-Lughod 1986). Furthermore, a close examination of traditional nomadic rituals and related

expressive art forms shows that various traits can be discussed in terms of two

broadly defined but closely related categories: (1) an encompassing complex that serves as a social code and combines such values as generosity, honor, and

militancy; and (2) a complex of individually oriented and inwardly directed

expressions and sentiments. The first complex, which underlies social interactions within the community

and attitudes toward the outside world, consists of many interdependent com-

ponents. Direct correlations have been made among such phenomena as honor and hospitality (Gilmore 1987b:16) and others including tribal rank, distin-

guished family lines, masculinity, physical power, and wealth (Giovannini 1987:61). In the case of the Egyptian Bedouin shaykh (or tribal chief) for

example, social prestige, the ability to settle disputes, and the exercise of lavish

hospitality are all closely interlinked (Abou-Zeid 1966:250). Similarly, in the

Kabyle tribal culture of Algeria, a solid bond exists among respectability, generosity, boldness, and refusal to take a weak position in the face of insult

(Bourdieu 1966:211). In the same vein, we read that among Awlhd 'Al "the honor code" encompasses moral qualities embedded in such concepts as asg (distinguished family roots) and, by extension, such virtues as fearlessness, pride, and loyalty to one's own patrilineal kin. Accordingly, men and women tend to

pay allegiance to their own rather than their spouses' tribal groups (Abu-Lughod 1986:45-56). Also part of the Bedouin code of honor, specifically in the case of

males, is the premium on freedom and autonomy, whether in the context of

family relationships or political power (1986:45-71).


Applying to both male and female domains, the second complex centers around the sentiment of love and finds its prime expression in love poetry. This realm of individualized emotions, or "the sentiment of vulnerability antithetical to the ideals of autonomy" (Abu-Lughod 1985:258), occupies an unmistakable

position among Near Eastern tribal groups, as well as in Islamic society in

general, where sung love poems serve to channel emotions in ways that are socially and morally acceptable (Andrews 1985:112).

The Nomadic Context

In Near Eastern Bedouin culture, the first complex acquires special significance in social rituals. The emphasis on lineage, social status, and generosity is traditionally epitomized by the

mad.afah (guest house) tradition. A shaykh, or

any leading member of the tribal group, may have his own guest house, usually a tent next to, or part of, his own family tent or house. The maddfah (literally "place of hospitality") is where a chief or an eminent individual receives guests periodically (see Figure 1). The guest house may serve as a context for socializ- ing, solving political disputes, and seeking the chiefs council or arbitration. In the mad~fah, hospitality is expressed through a well-established social ritual, namely coffee drinking. Characterized by a set of carefully observed etiquettes

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Figure 1. A Bedouin chief with coffeepots in his madafah, at a Bedouin encampment in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon, summer 1979. Photo by Barbara T. Racy. Reprinted by permission.


that prescribe how the coffee is made and served, this ritual confirms the host's social prestige and consequently his prerogative to exercise generosity.2

In a more specific sense, the first complex of virtues is symbolized physically by the mihbaj (coffee grinder). Consisting of a large wooden pestle and mortar, the mihb-j may be considered: a household tool; a visually ornate object that has the pleasant, and perhaps symbolically significant, scent of coffee mixed with cardamon; a musical instrument; and last but not least, an emblem of generosity, honor, and social status. These different characterizations are inseparable from one another. The mihbaj is used by a member of the household to grind the coffee beans, but its musical or rhythmically articulated beat, often produced by a talented performer, becomes a sonic expression of the host's distinguished status and entitlement to the provision of hospitality. The musical aspects of coffee grinding are demonstrated by a performance that I recorded in Lebanon in the summer of 1980. The performer was ShiblI

.Hmid, a Druze poetry singer

from southern Syria (see Figure 2). The recorded material illustrates the typical rhythmic and timbral configurations, for example, when the handle hits the bottom of the mortar to grind the beans, thus producing a rich, low-pitched sound and as the handle hits the rim, particularly the area around the mouth of the mortar, in order to produce a high-pitched crisp sound. It also displays the

rhythmic variations produced in the course of a single performance.3 The length of the performance is somewhat finite. Coffee grinding comes to an end when the coffee beans and the added cardamon seeds are finely ground, as the

aesthetically pleasing crackling sound gradually ceases to exist. In a musically more elaborate sense, the first complex-the socially oriented

combination of honor, bravery, militancy and related values-is eloquently expressed by certain song genres. In the culture of Levantine Bedouins, the

primary example is a type of sung colloquial poetry generically known as shriiqT or qas~d. While the former word pertains to the sharq (east), the latter means

"poem" and brings to mind the Arabic classical form known as qas~dah. Recog- nized as the heroic genre par excellence, the shraqi is sung on a variety of

occasions, particularly in the madjfah, during the customary social gathering, usually referred to as ta'lilah. The term ta'lilah implies offering and receiving hospitality, including partaking in the coffee ritual, and listening to sawalif (sing. salifah), or folk narratives that incorporate sung poetry (al-'Azizi 1983:354-356). Like other Bedouin genres presented during the ta'lilah, the shraqi is performed by the sha'ir (poet-singer) who accompanies himself on the rababah, a single- string fiddle associated with poetry singing and somewhat comparable to the

gusle used by Yugoslav epic singers (see Lord 1960:18). The poetry of the shraqi is part of an oral tradition, although in some cases it

has appeared in published sources such as the dawawin (published collections; sing. diwan) of individual folk poets most of whom are known for their honorable or heroic deeds or for their defiance of political and social authority. Many texts are excerpts from memorable poems, for example, those by the late-19th-century Druze Shibli Basha al-Atrash, who wrote his heroic poetry when he was exiled to the city of Izmir by the Ottoman Turks. His poetry


so-

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Figure 2. Shibli Hamid, poetry singer and performer on the rababah (held) and mihbaj (sitting in background), in his Beirut home in 1980. Photo by Barbara T. Racy. Reprinted by permission.

reached the local community poets, who in turn performed it, thus prompting their listeners to rebel against the Turkish authorities

(F.dil 1980:59-64). But


the poems continued to be sung by later generations of southern Syrian poets. As illustrated by the poems of al-Atrash, shraqi texts are typically written in captivity or attributed to captive poets or poet-heroes, for example, when

subjected to forces that may cause them to be distressed or humiliated, forces

against which they take a rebellious stance.4 Meanwhile, the Bedouin lore is

replete with heroic utterances of unknown authors. These include numerous texts sung for their heroic significance and eloquent commentary upon the Bedouin value system. At times, such texts portray the dilemmas of their authors and even encompass an assortment of emotions and counteremotions.

In performance, this Bedouin genre emphasizes the utterance itself. The songs are not narratives in the literal sense of the term, since the background story, the historical setting, and the nature of the related circumstances are not sung out but recounted in regular, unsung speech prior to the song proper. What is

sung is the poet's words, or the poem uttered by the hero. As such, the narrative becomes a background for the lyrics, a context for the text, which embodies the core of the performance. Thus the entire performance sequence usually proceeds as follows: (a) the historical or contextual background narrated in regular speech; (b) the poetry, or lyrics, rendered in recited rather than sung form; and (c) the same poetry sung.

In one specific shraqi song, well-known among poets in Jordan and southern

Syria, we encounter a popular theme of heroism mixed with a dramatically engaging element of sentimentality. Attributed to "Khalaf," the hero of the

story, the sung poetry appears to belong to a large oral repertoire of thematically related song narratives.5 One rendition was recorded commercially on a cassette

tape by the late Jordanian poet-singer 'Abduh Miasi, who referred to it as "min sawalif al-'Arab al-aqdamin" (one of the tales of the early Arabs).6 The story can be summed up as follows:

Khalaf, the son of a tribal chief, was in love with the daughter of the chief of another tribe.

Because the father of the girl refused to allow her to marry Khalaf, there was a bitter war between

the two tribal chiefs. During a long battle Khalaf fell captive to warriors from the enemy tribe.

Not sure of the captive's identity, the tribesmen suspected that he was Khalaf, whom they knew

was in love with their chief's daughter. Therefore, they summoned her and asked her to identify him. While all assembled in a tribal house, the woman feared that if she identified Khalaf, he

would almost certainly be killed. She loved him too much to tell the truth and instead claimed

that he was a slave belonging to the Mawdly community, a feasible story since according to the

narrator, Khalafs skin was darkened by the sun as he had walked in the desert for days. When

Khalaf heard her testimony, he was overcome by a deep sense of honor and enraged by the insult

implicitly committed against his tribal lineage and family background. At this time, he asked to

be given a rababah, "since those days every house had a rababah." As he began to perform, he

chanted a poem in which he described his beloved's beauty but also criticized her own tribe,

rebuked her for describing him as a slave, and asked her to apologize, as he proceeded to reveal

his true identity and to boast about his own tribal background. But as the narrator tells us, the

story ends happily. Impressed by Khalaf's courage, defiance, and pride and realizing that "love

reigns above war and conflict," the enemy chief forgave him and gave him his daughter as a

bride.7


As demonstrated by this rendition, after greeting the guests and welcoming them to the ta'lilah, the performing sha 'ir first tells the story in familiar colloquial Arabic with soft droning on the rabdbah, thus clearly evoking the ambiance of the madcfah. Second, while maintaining the soft drone effect on the rababah in the background, he delivers the shraqi poem-namely, what was spontaneously uttered by Khalaf, the hero and poet-singer-in its original Bedouin colloquial form, without melody. In the process he adds brief interpolations to explain the

meaning of some Bedouin words, presumably to modern non-Bedouin listeners. As the performing poet establishes the poem in the listeners' minds through reciting it nonmelodically, thus giving it the semblance of an already heard or a memorably shared textual landmark, he proceeds to sing it while accompany- ing himself on the rabdbah.

Sometimes, heroic themes are conveyed in other song genres, for example, war songs prevalent among members of the Druze sect in southern Syria. The

Syrian Druze poet-singer ShiblI .HImid,

who performs many such songs, uses

regular speech to describe the life and captivity of the poet-hero ShiblI Bdshd al-Atrash. Then, after rendering the heroic text nonmusically, he delivers it in a traditional war-chant melody that is distinctly metric and highly animated. Furthermore, during the performance this shd'ir occasionally hits the skin- covered body of the rabdbah with the wood edge of the bow, thus producing a distinct accentual effect apparently to enhance the militaristic ambiance of the text.

The second complex, representing the realm of personal sentiments, is associated with a different set of song types. Unlike the shraqi and other thematically related genres, these song types use love as a central theme and address aspects of life that compliment, and at times conflict with, the socially oriented honor code. Constituting a major component in the poet-singer's repertoire, the individualized amorous complex is best conveyed by the song genre known as

'ataba. As a rule, texts of this genre portray the poet as a lover and, as such, describe him as being emotionally vulnerable, lovesick, and tormented by the tribulations of unrequited love. A Bedouin poet-singer may sing 'atdbd in a variety of social and festive contexts and sometimes ends his shraqi performance with a segment of 'atdbd.

In this genre, instead of the narrative implications of the shraqi we find a more lyrical delivery. As demonstrated by the recordings of 'Abduh

Moasi and others,

the singer provides no background plots and skips the introductory nonmelodic recitation of the text, as he confines himself to the sung performance itself. The poet-singer seldom tells, or even knows, who composed the 'ataba texts, which are themselves interesting. 'Atuba texts share with the shraqi the double-line verse structure, but instead of using regular rhymes, they use homonyms at three consecutive half-line endings. Thus the same word, but with a different meaning each time, reoccurs at the end of each half line, or hemistich, except for the last half line. The sequence of poetical cadences in the four half lines is AAAB respectively, with B following one of a few standard 'ataba closing syllables.8

412 journal of American Folklore 109 (1996)

The shriqi and 'atdbd genres, although both integral to the artistic culture of Levantine Bedouins, differ in terms of their emotional orientations, textual

styles, and musical contents. Unlike the shraqi, which tends to express com-

munally shared virtues, the 'ataba addresses individual, albeit stylized or ab-

stracted, sentiments. The former is a specialty of male singers, whereas the latter can be found in different variations among both male and female groups. Shrfqi texts are linked to memorable contexts and to heroic or honorable persons and

deeds; 'atabd texts are appreciated for their clever or even witty choice of words, as well as for their emotional expressiveness.

The musical distinctions between the two song genres are also very significant. In both, the verses are separated by rabdbah interludes consisting of short motific

patterns. Also in both genres, the melody of the verse is rendered with variational

flexibility, as the fiddle tends to imitate the voice and accompany it heterophoni- cally. But in the shraqi genre, we encounter a melodic contour that Levantine Arab folk culture generally associates with heroic songs and the heroic ethos in

general. Roughly, this contour resembles a zigzag pattern that moves above and below a tonal center. This tonal center, or tonic note, is prolonged considerably at the end of each verse. In rough intervalic terms, the melody fluctuates around one relative tonic pitch, thus rising up to about a third above or dropping down to about a third below before a cadence ascends stepwise to rest upon the sustained tonic note. In contrast, in the 'atdba and its generic variants in the

region the melodic structure exhibits a distinct descending tendency. Roughly, within each half line of text, the melody, which is rendered in a highly ornate

style, first leaps a fourth or fifth upward and descends gradually thus ending on the tonic note in the fourth, or last, half line. In short, these musical distinctions seem to symbolize, as well as evoke, the aesthetic and emotional moods that

identify each of these two expressive genres.

The Rural Context

The relationship between Levantine rural communities and Bedouin culture

is complex and somewhat ambivalent. On a visible level, Lebanon's village culture shares many traits with its Bedouin counterpart, as nomadic manners

seem to resemble the villagers' social codes of behavior. The values discussed

above underlie the villagers' ritual performances, as shown in a study on feasts

that closely related families celebrate together in a Christian village in northern Lebanon (Jabbra 1987:21). Accordingly, these occasions reinforce households as

basic social units, stress the essential virtues of hospitality and generosity, demonstrate the wealth and desirable status of the household, and establish

boundaries that define individuals who are morally fit and allowed to attend

these rituals. In Ibl al-Saqi, my village of birth, a small southern Lebanese

community of some 2,000 inhabitants, contacts with nomadic culture existed

mostly before the 1940s, particularly with Bedouins in neighboring northern Palestine, southern Syria, and occasionally within Lebanon itself. Despite the

village's sedentary and somewhat modernized ways of life, nomadic-related


customs are frequently encountered. The village coffee ritual, although less structured and perhaps less idealized than its Bedouin counterpart, has dominated social life, while the ideals of hospitality and honor have underscored much of the social interactions, particularly the ritualized exchanges of visits

among different family households. Bedouin themes make frequent appearances in the village's folk tales, oral histories, and even humor.

At the same time, Bedouin culture seems quite removed from the village's daily experience. Nomadic ways of life appear as if they belong to a vaguely familiar, but distant world "out there." Actually, in village humor, the badawi (Bedouin) is often stereotyped as someone who is crude or socially unsophisti- cated. Even Bedouin art proper seems to have become less visible in the villagers' lives. Nowadays the mihbaj is rarely seen except occasionally as a valued decorative item, although some elders in the village remember male and female relatives who had used it in the past. I knew one poet-singer who immigrated from southern Syria to the village, where he performed shrfiqi and 'atabd as he

accompanied himself on the rabdbah. But throughout Lebanese village culture the poetical arena has been traditionally dominated by poets who specialize in

zajal, the local tradition of sung folk poetry (Haydar 1989). On a deeper level, however, village culture betrays subtle yet unmistakable

identification with the nomadic lore. Bedouin expressions appear to exist latently within the community's conscience but also to surface in various degrees of intensity in specific well-defined social and ritualistic contexts. As such, Ibl al-Saqi expresses its own idealized view of the Bedouin world. At weddings and similar festive events, particularly during men's gatherings, in which 'araq (anise-flavored alcoholic beverage) and food may be served, village poet-singers perform the rural renditions of the shriaq and 'atdbd without instrumental accompaniment and with local textual and musical nuances. Although the shrfqi seems to enjoy a lesser position in the rural repertoire than it does in traditional Bedouin culture, some Bedouin-derived war chants continue to be performed by the Christian and Druze villagers.

Furthermore, Bedouin motifs are particularly prominent in the funeral, which villagers revere and consider a highly momentous social event (see Racy 1985:1 and 1986a:28). In the village, Christian and Druze funeral rituals seem to provide a unique context for resurrecting, or perhaps "reliving," the old world of nomadic Arabia. While processions with horses bedecked with battle regalia, including swords and firearms, may commemorate the departure of a male deceased, the songs generally depict him as a fallen hero and compare him to a valiant tribal chief. The secular part of the ritual usually includes several hours of sung poetry known by the broad generic term nadb (funeral singing). In the nadb proper, the central lament genre sung by either women or men in a solo-chorus format, the texts usually describe the village or the religious community as a distraught Bedouin tribe. Similarly, the deceased is depicted as a role model of hospitality, chivalry, and bravery. The names of historic figures known for their proverbial generosity and valiancy punctuate the sung texts. If the deceased is a male, war songs-mostly stressing Bedouin social virtues-are


sung, especially by men. Wedding songs with texts modified to suit the funerary ambiance may also depict the deceased as a groom and bestow upon him attributes of manhood and honor.9

In Lebanese villages, the shraqi, or qasid, is occasionally sung at funerals by male zajal poets. In this case it is referred to as qasidah ("poem"), usually qualified as qasidat ritha' ("poem of elegy"). In the elegiac qasidah, although the texts center around the deceased, they generally recreate an idealized Bedouin world. They evoke the themes of pride and honor, speak of distinguished lineage, and refer to related virtues such as bravery and generosity. Furthermore, like their Bedouin counterparts, these texts tend to express social or communal values, although frequently they also incorporate death-related philosophical notions. For example, they may describe the community's willingness to rise and redeem the deceased but hasten to add that death is muqaddar (preordained). Comparable to the Bedouin poet, who expresses the social, ethical, and political concerns of tribal life, the village poet (qawwdl, lit. "one who speaks") often acts as the spokesman of his village, religious sect, and even country. In a broader sense, he may also speak on the behalf of the living vis-a-vis death.

One illustrative example is a qasidah I recorded in the late 1960s. Performed by a Druze qawwdl from Ibl al-Saqi, the example used an historic text that was composed and originally sung around 1956 at the funeral of a distinguished Druze woman. Specifically, the poem eulogized Nazirah Junbulat, the mother of the late political leader Kamdl Junbulat. She came from a traditional family that enjoyed political and social privileges within the Druze community. Addressing her directly, the poet attributes to the deceased woman qualities of generosity, leadership, and wisdom and begs the Druze religious men "to bestow upon your soul blessings in direct proportion to your generous spirit" (Racy 1985:6). Incidentally, this example is in some ways unique and of special interest vis-a-vis gender distinctions in Arab folk culture. Because the deceased woman was socially and politically distinguished she is eulogized by a male poet-singer, although normally male poet-singers do not perform at women's funerals. Furthermore, as the deceased's eminence somewhat transcended the culture's traditional male-female boundaries, the qasidah, already a male-oriented genre, eulogized her by bestowing upon her old Arabian virtues such as honor, hospitality, and leadership, as well as idealized feminine attributes such as

decency, respectability, and good demeanor. Musically speaking, the Bedouin shraqi or qasid and the Lebanese elegiac

qasidah display the same type of strophic structure and roughly the same

fluctuating, or zigzag, melodic contour. But the last one displays urban musical influence and incorporates the intervals and the melodic progressions of certain

maqi~mt (melodic modes; sing. maqam). Typically used is the mode Sikah- Huzam, which is reminiscent of the Bedouin shraqi scale and similarly tends to evoke the feeling of pride and heroism.'0

Meanwhile, lament genres that women specialize in exhibit a more introspec- tive and individualized emotional orientation. Here, a variant of the 'ataba expresses the pathos experienced by the individual bereaved women and in


various degrees shared by close female kin or companions. Being the women's lament genre par excellence, this genre is called frtqiyydt, which means "songs of departure" or "songs of farewell" (Racy 1980:654). A woman who may be either a bereaved family member or a nadddbah-a specialized female dirge singer usually hired by the deceased's family-performs this genre, usually without chorus responses. She may create imagined utterances on the behalf of the deceased or members of his or her family, usually with the former bidding his or her family members farewell. As such, the sung texts resemble a tragic drama capable of being realistically experienced and are emotionally felt not as mere "representations" but more as "presences" (Geertz 1973:118). Indeed, the fr~qiyydt are recognized and appreciated for their cathartic value, or their appropriateness for making women cry, thus expressing their grief as they listen to and participate in the song performance.

In a sense, the performance exemplifies what Abu-Lughod describes as a counterideology, or "a set of contrary sentiments" (1986:255), as it provides an alternative to a socially sanctioned dominant ethos. In Druze and Islamic society in general, overt and exaggerated manifestations of grief-for example, women's wailing-are considered antithetical to religious doctrines, which preach accept- ing death as God's preordained will. Excessive pathos would also threaten the code of moral prudence and contradict the need for women to keep their voices modestly low and unheard by the men. Consequently, the dilemma-at times, the conflict-between the urge to express one's own grief and the premium on stoic or rational control over emotions is resolved through a compromise that gives the women an acceptable, albeit confined or private, venue for emotional release represented at best by the frdqiyydt as a lament genre.

Musically, the frdqiyydt genre exhibits many characteristics of the 'atdba proper. It maintains the flexibly interpreted strophic form and the overall poetical structure, although the homonyms or puns used in the 'atdbi are often absent. Also like the 'atdbd, the lament displays a distinctly descending contour, as the melody of each phrase, or half line, tends to start on a higher pitch and gradually fall down toward the tonic note about a fourth lower, finally ending on the tonic in the fourth and last phrase. Serving as a cadence, the tonic note usually terminates in a sigh or sobbing-like ornament, one that typifies the fraqiyydt and seems to express a powerful sense of pathos. Furthermore, the intervals here tend to betray some urban musical influence as the scalar structure veers more closely toward the traditional mode known as Bayyati, as shown by an example that I recorded in Lebanon in the late 1960s."

Apart from these folk manifestations, Lebanese village culture has also em- braced the shraq~i and 'ataba in their urbanized forms. Since the earlier decades of the present century, when 78-rpm phonograph records became accessible throughout the Near East, villagers heard and performed the urbanized renditions themselves, using the urban intonation and even accompaniment on urban instruments such as the 'id, qanun, and violin. In village artistic life, the Bedouin, rural, and urban musical orientations have long coexisted and overlapped one another. Whereas some musical expressions are peculiar to the rural communi-


ties, certain interpretations, particularly of the ubiquitous 'ataba genre, often illustrate the confluence of village and city musical idioms.

One representative example is a 'ataba performance recorded with a takht, or small ensemble of traditional urban instruments, during the early decades of the 20th century. Several features make this example even further removed from the Bedouin 'ataba example discussed earlier, despite their shared amorous content and certain broad musical and lyrical components. Here, in a distinctly novel format two singers, a man and a woman, alternate in singing 'ataba verses. Actually, the two singers, the male Yasuf Taj, who specialized in 'ataba and shraqi songs, and 'Alyd al-Atrash, the mother of the late Arab vocal celebrities Farid al-Atrash and Asmdhan, were both from the socially reserved Druze sect.

'Alya al-Atrash originally came from a distinguished Syrian family herself. The song was recorded commercially on a 78-rpm disc and was widely heard by 'ataba fans throughout the Arab Near East.12 In this and similar examples, we encounter lavish ornamentation, a highly melismatic treatment of the text, flexible interpretations of an established melodic structure, and basic adherence to the urban intonation. Furthermore, a few urban instruments begin the performance with a short prelude but accompany the singers either by holding a soft drone or roughly by echoing the vocal phrases, thus giving the performance an urbanized musical quality, without departing drastically from the manner in which the rababah accompanies the shi'ir in the Bedouin context.

The Urban Context

In the complex social and political climate of modern Arab cities, the nomadic ethos seems particularly elusive and hard to define. Indeed, Bedouin-related expressions appear to either adapt to established urban modalities or to exist in

separate, often marginalized domains. Unlike the nomadic and rural musical

styles of the area, the music of Beirut has been closely linked to the Arab musical mainstream, as well as distinctly shaped by the country's modern composers and

performers (Racy 1986b). Furthermore, throughout the Arab world there has been a tendency to create new urbanized folk repertoires, particularly with the rise of commercial recording and subsequently other mass media during the

present century. In Lebanon, especially before the outbreak of civil war in the mid-1970s, many folk-related genres and performance mannerisms had devel-

oped clear patterns of urbanization and recontextualization. Many of these

patterns continue to exist in postwar Beirut, whose cosmopolitan population has over the decades assimilated a large number of migrants from various

neighboring rural, nomadic, and urban communities. In 20th-century Beirut, Bedouin-related and other locally based Lebanese

song genres have been urbanized and recognized as part of an old and well-established song domain generally known as baladi (roughly, "local," "native," "folk-derived"; from balad, "country" or "countryside"). This category encom-

passes shraqi, 'atabi, and other closely related genres. As baladi song types, the

shraqi and 'ataba, despite their distinct folk "flavor," are presented and treated


essentially as urban songs. They are performed by either men or women, and in the case of the shrfqi the performance proceeds without a background story. The poetry, usually in the local Lebanese, rather than the Bedouin colloquial Arabic, is sung outright without its prior recitation in a regular-speech mode. The ritual-like ambiance created by the Bedouin song performance is dispensed with. The texts are typically written by modern poets, for example, lyricists employed by the government radio station. Furthermore, instead of commemo-

rating specific heroes or alluding to memorable tribal contexts, the urban shriqi texts tend to voice generalized sentiments of folk nostalgia and patriotism, for

example, praising the valiancy of the country's military forces and at times

expressing how as a nation or people "we" uphold such values as generosity, honor, and chivalry.

Musically speaking, the urban shraqi is accompanied by an urban ensemble with such instruments as the 'ad, qanen, nay, and violin. The instrumental introduction, usually a dihlab (a short instrumental prelude for the ensemble), and the collective heterophonic style of accompaniment are among the obvious features of urbanization. Although the vocal quality tends to maintain some of the timbral nuances generally associated with valor and is reminiscent of the vocal renditions of the Bedouin shd'ir,13 the ornaments and the melodic intervals are adapted to the urban practice. Furthermore, instead of the strident, high- pitched singing typical of the Bedouin sh4'ir, the baladi singer tends to use a lower vocal tessitura. While adhering to the general contour of the shraqi melody, the verses conform to the scalar structure and modal character of Sikdh-Huzdm. Such traits can be observed in dozens of shraqi recordings, for

example, one featuring Mary 'Atayv, a Lebanese female singer who specializes in the baladi style.14

Meanwhile, constituting a major component within this baladi repertoire, the

'ataba is extremely popular and is sung by many of the country's singing stars. In the broad domain of Lebanese urban music, it is much more prevalent than the shraqi. The urban 'ataba form, which like the urban shraqi is sung with an urban orchestra, retains the original strophic poetical and musical structure and the system of puns or homonyms. The amorous and highly individualized sentiments remain essential, as the urbanized version continues to describe the lover's amorous condition-or rather, ordeal-associated with the love experience. Often presented as a section within a regular urban love song, the 'atibd, like the shraq~i, continues to leave room for the singer's extemporized musical elaborations while adhering to the overall melodic structure of the sung genre.

Most often, 'ataba performances include a precomposed chorus refrain called mijana, one that alternates with the soloistic verses, or the 'ataba proper. 'Atiba songs, particularly with mjana refrains are sung by such artists as the celebrated Lebanese male singer Wadi' al-Safi and the female singer Sab

h..5 Furthermore,

the popularity of the " 'ataba and mljans" genre extends to the Lebanese immigrants in the United States, among whom this and other baladi genres have been associated with "the old country" and disseminated on hundreds of 78-rpm


and LP discs, as well as performed at festive gatherings and in nightclubs (see Rasmussen 1991:230-246).16

At the same time, the culture of Beirut has been open to other inroads and

manifestations of Bedouinness. Particularly in recent decades, Bedouin and Bedouin-derived musical genres have managed to exist in a variety of private and popular domains. Unlike the older and more stylized baladi category, such

genres tend to link the city more directly with nomadic folkways and artistic

expressions. One example is the traditional Bedouin songs that are sporadically performed

in private social contexts, as well as disseminated on commercial recordings and

through local radio stations. Some city dwellers who originally came from such areas as southern Syria-for example, Shibli Hamid-remain loyal to their native

genres, although they tend to present them on ad hoc bases, in socially and

artistically confined contexts, for properly initiated audiences. A living room

may temporarily turn into a mad~fah-like place, in which Bedouin coffee is

specially prepared and served. On some occasions, poet-singers may perform Bedouin renditions of 'ataba, shriqi, and other related genres and address a

variety of issues ranging from heroic themes of nomadic Arabia to modern

political affairs. Another example consists of staged and choreographed Bedouin repre-

sentations, namely, a small component within a newly developed urban popular genre known as "Lebanese folklore." Cultivated in Lebanon before the civil

war, Lebanese folklore was in part inspired by tourism, and local nationalistic sentiments (see Racy 1981:37). Folk festivals, often sponsored by ministries and other official agencies, have presented newly created versions of Lebanese village songs and dances but in some instances have incorporated stylized Bedouin music and dance performances as well. In these events, audiences have been

occasionally "treated" to coffee served in the traditional Bedouin manner with

cardamon and in small cups, at times with a background of mihbaj pounding and rababah playing (see Figure 3).

A further genre consists of highly popularized adaptations essentially in the

Bedouin style. This genre embraces old and newly composed songs and dance

pieces and is associated with a handful of folk artists, especially a northern

Lebanese performer known by the stage name Abaf Harbah. This artist's ensem-

ble, includes male and female Gypsy musicians and uses such instruments as the

rabdbah, the mihbaj, and the buzuq (a long-necked fretted lute typically played

by Gypsy musicians)."7 This category has become popular through radio,

television, and audiocassette recordings. Moreover, one genre consists of newly composed mainstream songs that

incorporate Bedouin themes, such as love, chivalry, generosity, and valiancy, through lyrics that betray a Bedouin flavor in terms of verbal expression and manner of pronunciation. Generally referred to as lawn Baddawi (Bedouin style; lit. "Bedouin color"), these songs are associated with popular Arab singers like

Samirah Tawfiq. Using the traditional Arab orchestra, they utilize the standard urban intonation and system of modes, although they usually contain certain


.7r.

?

J•,,

i n:

Figure 3. Receptionist corner at the entrance of the Ba'albak Castle, a site for folkloric festivals before the mid-1970s. Emulations of the traditional guest house appear through the coffee paraphernalia, rababah playing, and a mihbaj, the handle of which is shown here. Courtesy of the Lebanese Ministry of Tourism.

melodic and rhythmic allusions to the nomadic style. Furthermore, these urban

songs tend to exclude traditional generic formats such as the shraqi and 'ataba and owe largely to the talents of composers, lyricists, and arrangers from different Near Eastern Arab cities.

Conclusion

The study of specific Arab song genres across nomadic, rural, and urban

settings provides close perspectives into the expressive and ideological threads of contemporary Arab life within the Levant. Accordingly, many general assumptions regarding the manifestations of Bedouinness as an ideology and artistic expression need to be qualified, refined, and perhaps reconsidered. To

begin with, the investigation of key performance categories substantiates some of the premises presented earlier in the article. Specifically, the Bedouin ethos

appears to exist not as a monolithic concept or a discrete set of rules and

expressions but as a large network of interlinked cultural values and practices. Moreover, it is shown that within this network it is possible to understand the various expressive genres in light of two major configurations, or complexes. Specifically outlined is the role played by each complex along the nomadic- rural-urban continuum of the Arab Near East.

420 journal of American Folklore 109 (1996)

It is demonstrated that the complex embracing of the socially oriented and most widely recognized values such as honor, militancy, chivalry, and generosity plays a significant part in shaping the traditional artistic expression, particularly in the nomadic context. The shraqi genre is a prime illustration. But the study of sung poetry across nomadic, rural, and urban communities also attests to the

profound efficacy and prevalent appeal of the more individualized sentimental

complex. Indeed, the 'ataba and its derivatives occupy a central position in the

expressive culture of the Arab Near East at large. In rural life, for example in Lebanese villages, although honor and related values dictate various aspects of social behavior and manifest themselves in different song genres, the artistic

expression associated with individualized emotions seems ubiquitous and is

applicable to a variety of contexts. As best illustrated by one specific type of Lebanese funeral lament, and by the 'ataib songs as performed in both villages and cities, the ideology of sentiments appears to cut more effectively across

gender distinctions and to penetrate with more continuity and vigor across nomadic/rural/urban lines.

Similarly, as various manifestations of the Bedouin ethos have shown, the two

complexes are not mutually exclusive. Amorous sentiments, as well as themes of honor, permeate the repertoires of poet-singers and singers proper from both sexes and in various Levantine Arab contexts. The two areas often appear complimentary rather than oppositional, as the roles of hero, lover, and poet- singer converge within single idealized Bedouin profiles, and somewhat vicari-

ously within the sha'ir in actual performance contexts. Also, in ritualized

contexts, such as the Lebanese funeral, themes of honor, solidarity, and grief

appear closely intertwined.

Furthermore, the regressive interpretation of culture-or the notion that tribal

folkways tend to change drastically or lose their momentum across time and

space-has been illustrated by the present study. In rural and urban contexts, Bedouin-related genres usually adapt to local manners of performing and lose

their original connotations in favor of new ones. The roles of hero, lover, and

poet-singer become functionally separated and even yield to the specialized roles

of lyricist, accompanist, and professional singer. Broadly speaking, the city's Arab musical heritage, which is historically related to Islamic mysticism and to

various Ottoman and pan-Islamic traditions and which has been subject to

considerable Western influence, seems strikingly non-Bedouin and non-

nomadic. But seen in the context of modern Near Eastern society, the regressive

interpretation is proven to have serious limitations. To begin with, as Bedouin

tribes are gradually losing their social autonomy, yielding to local governmental

policies and becoming permanently settled (Kay 1978:139-150), the cultural and

demographic boundaries separating tribal, rural, and urban groups are becoming increasingly blurred and are marked by cultural and artistic crossovers. Usually in the form of multidirectional leaps and shortcuts, such crossovers have been

enhanced by the proliferation of the mass media-for example, the radio and the cassette tape-and the influx of populations from areas originally with strong


nomadic and rural traditions into the large cities. Similarly, the study illustrates some of the recent reversal patterns, according to which the urban aesthetic has fed into various folk repertoires. It is shown that the modern rural domain of

artistry incorporates locally cultivated genres but also reflects the incursions of both nomadic and urban cultures.

Meanwhile, the role Bedouin culture plays in the lives of the non-Bedouins is not always visible or consistent. Thus, depending upon the social circumstances and the immediate intentions, Near Easterners may switch into and out of the various types of expressive realms and modes of behavior. Particularly, in the case of the Lebanese village, we have observed that, although not so obvious in ordinary life venues, Bedouinness tends to surface most vividly in ritualistic contexts. Through a process of relegation, Bedouin motifs dominate the group laments performed at the highly revered funeral ceremony.

Finally, in modern Near Eastern society, the Bedouin ethos appears pervasive, yet highly elusive, gradually fading out across time and place, yet displaying an

ability to survive somewhat subliminally and in selective social domains. As an intricate set of attitudes and ideals, it is intimately linked to sung poetry, which

provides it with a powerful voice and enables it to be evoked or reenacted in various social and artistic contexts. In one sense, the present exploration illustrates the common threads that unite the Arab Near East and perhaps relate it to other neighboring regions. In another sense, the findings highlight the cultural patterns, dynamics, and tensions that make this area distinct and

internally diverse.

Notes

This article is based on a paper I gave on November 21, 1992, at a UCLA lecture event entitled "Measured Words and Structured Sounds: Learning from Arabic Lyric and Musical Tradition."

Including another speaker, Dwight Reynolds of UC Santa Barbara, the session was presented by the UCLA Center for the Study of Comparative Folklore and Mythology. I wish to thank the

Center, particularly Joseph F. Nagy, for inviting me to be part of the session.

'Accordingly, music is among the arts and sciences that communities cultivate when they become civilized. In a section on "the craft of singing and music," Ibn Khaldun wrote: "The craft of singing is the last of the crafts attained to in civilization, because it constitutes (the last development toward) luxury with regard to no occupation in particular save that of leisure and gaiety. It also is the first to disappear from a given civilization when it disintegrates and retrogresses" (Rosenthal and Dawood 1967:331).

2The historical origins of coffee drinking in nomadic cultures is not clear. One study (Hattox 1985:11) indicates that in the Near East coffee became a "social beverage" toward the mid-15th century. The work discusses coffeehouses in various urban centers but gives practically no information on the Bedouin coffee culture. But in a book on folklife in Amman, Jordan, between 1878 and 1948, we read about more than a dozen different madafat belonging to eminent local families. Also provided are descriptions of the various activities connected with the maddfah, including eating, serving coffee, and reciting poetry (Rashid 1983:235-239). Information on the

madIfah customs and etiquettes, as well as the relationship between hospitality and social status

among the marsh dwellers of southern Iraq, is included in (Eickelman 1981:192-195). Meanwhile, the etiquettes of the coffee ritual in Syria's nomadic and rural areas are discussed in a chapter entitled

"ddab al-Qahwah" (The Manner Codes of Coffee) in F.dil

1980:65-72.


3Excerpts of this and other primary musical examples discussed in the article can be heard on a specially prepared cassette tape of Near Eastern folk music placed in the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive.

41 have examined the diwan of Shibli B~sha al-Atrash, a published volume that consisted of more than 175 pages and included dozens of poems. The drwan was owned by poet-singer Shibli Hamid, who used it as a source for some of his own performances.

5This poem, whose hero is also introduced by 'Abduh Masi as Khalaf ibn al-'Ayjah, perhaps in reference to his tribal affiliation, is well known to Shibli Himid of southern Syria, who also sang it himself, thus providing his own rendition of it.

6The cassette is entitled " 'Abduh Masai fl Ajmal Aghdnih min al-'Atdbd al-Shuroqi" ('Abduh Mirsa in His Most Beautiful 'Atdbd and Shraqi Songs), issued by Morico, 168, Beirut, Lebanon. It was probably released in the early 1970s.

7The story has a vague but noteworthy resemblance to other Arabian love stories such as the one about Qays and Layli, and as it describes the hero's darkened skin color, it recalls the pre-Islamic Arabian black hero and poet 'Antar and his beloved woman 'Ablah. In fact, Antar's sfrah (life story) has served as material for epic singers and story tellers in Arab folk culture (see Dhuhni 1965:9-13).

8Such closing syllables vary but tend to follow typical endings, particularly those marked by the sounds "Ab," "an," "da," and "yd," the last syllables, for example, appearing in one of 'Abduh Masi's recordings. For further information on 'atabd endings see (Hijdb n.d.:29-31).

9Modified wedding songs are also sung by female singers when the deceased is a young unmarried woman, although typically without the heroic Bedouin themes found in the male song counterparts. In both cases, these songs seem to create a rite of passage feeling, which may characterize the ritual as a whole.

101 use this bifold modal name to refer to the common urban Arab practice of mixing the two maqmdit conceptually and tonally, but with the mode Huzdm as a dominant component. Thus in relative pitch, the scale of the mode in ascending order would be roughly e half-flat (or flattened by approximately a quarter-tone); f; g; a-flat; b; c'; d'; e' half-flat. Some pitch accidentals may also appear, particularly on a and b. Meanwhile, among today's zajal poets, the funerary qasidah is sometimes rendered in the mode Hijaz, which uses the scale d, e flat, fsharp, g, a, b flat (or half-flat), c', d'.

11The scale of the mode Bayysti is roughly d; e half-flat; f; g; a; b flat (or half-flat); c'; d'. 121 heard this performance on an LP reissue of earlier and other more recent recordings by Arab

immigrants in the United States. The LP is entitled "Atabd and Dabky Dance," issued by the Alkawakeb Record Company.

13Perhaps this vocal quality can be explained as one resulting from making the voice resonate in an enlarged mouth cavity with the jaws split more widely apart, but with the mouth opening kept relatively narrow. This timbre is typical of men's heroic and war-related songs.

14This and other examples appear on a recording of Mary 'Atayd, an LP entitled "Al-Aghani al-Baladiyyah: 'Atdbd-Mawwdl" (Folk Songs: 'Atdba Mawwal), LPO 130, Orient Records, New York.

15Representative recordings by these and numerous other singers are quite common and accessible on commercial recordings, for example, through the above-mentioned Orient Records.

160ne interesting illustration is a 78-rpm disc featuring the Lebanese American actor and comedian Danny Thomas singing 'atdbd to 'ad accompaniment by Toufic Barham. Here the text follows the traditional 'ataba format, although the choice of homonyms in one verse specifically the expression "wa judi" appears to deliberately evoke the theme of St. Jude. The record was released by St. Jude Hospital Foundation in 1952.

17Recruiting the relatively more accessible Gypsies into this and other related contexts is not surprising. In Lebanon Gypsies generally emulate the Bedouins in their nomadic lifestyle, dress, tatoos, and even the use of the rababah, although the buzuq remains basic to their itinerant lifestyle and their role as wandering musical entertainers. Many Gypsy chiefs have madf~it, serve coffee, and use the mihbij. Actually, the word 'Arab (lit. "Arabs"; more accurately, "nomadic Arabs") is sometimes used loosely and confusingly to include nomadic Gypsies, although unlike the Bedouins,


Gypsies have a very low social status and are considered lacking the most fundamental Bedouin virtues.

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Heroes, Lovers, And Poet-Singers

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