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Popular Literature In The Abbasid Caliphate: How It Represented And Defined The Culture Of The Abbasids, Genevieve Weidner

University of Massachusetts Undergraduate History Journal

Often times, the study of history focuses on concrete events, such as wars or political measures. In a history classroom, this is usually not out of neglect, but for the sake of time. In order to cover the broadest timeline, history teachers often gloss over the culture of each region they study. However, the culture is an essential part of history. The culture explains what people valued, which contributes to the events that usually define the course of history. This paper examines two styles of popular literature during the Abbasid Caliphate. By examining poetry and the prose works of Kalila …