Poetics of Islamic Historiography.

• Position: Book review

Poetics of Islamic Historiography: Deconstructing Tabari's History. By Boaz SHOSHAN. Leiden: BRILL, 2004. Pp. xxxiv + 272.

In Poetics of Islamic Historiography, Boaz Shoshan tackles the daunting task of analyzing al-Tabari's History in its entirety, treating it not as history per se, but as a literary work. In doing so, Shoshan focuses his attention on the poetic techniques al-Tabari relied upon in constructing his History. While approaching al-Tabari as literature reveals interesting aspects of the work that many of us who have mined it for details might have overlooked, it also allows Shoshan to sidestep crucial questions about al-Tabari's sources and their authenticity. The result is a worthwhile but somewhat incomplete book.

Shoshan divides the book into two major sections, each comprising four chapters. The first section focuses on specific poetic techniques al-Tabari used, while the second section offers detailed case studies of al-Tabari's treatment of four major events in the early Islamic period.

In the first chapter, Shoshan describes the mimetic devices al-Tabari employs to make his account hold the reader's interest. He also provides numerous examples of al-Tabari acting as an omniscient narrator. The following chapter describes how al-Tabari utilized breaks in chronology to foreshadow events, or to insert irony. Shoshan also emphasizes the importance of al-Tabari's summaries at the end of each caliph's reign. While these two chapters offer interesting insights into al-Tabari's approach, they essentially devolve into long laundry lists of examples of particular narrative techniques. The third chapter, focusing on the insertion of theological themes into the History, offers more interesting analysis. Shoshan makes frequent references to al-Tabari's tafsir, suggesting that he was attempting to achieve consistency between the two works. The fourth chapter examines a number of methods al-Tabari employed to insert his own views in the History while seldom stating them explicitly. Shoshan argues that al-Tabari's arrangement of accounts, his omissions, and the occasional disruption of long narratives with...