"Speaking through the voice of another": Forms of political thought and action in Medieval Islamic contexts
Medieval Middle Eastern scholars Ibn al-Muqaffa', al-Farabi, Kay Ka'us, Niz & dotbelow;am al-Mulk, and Ibn Khaldun had something in common. Though their voices emerged from vastly different circumstances, they were all able to express their perspectives on political subjects (such as how rulers ought to think, act and organize society) by interpreting stories, philosophies and sayings from contexts that preceded their own. In this dissertation, the term "speaking through the voice of another" refers to the rhetorical technique of interpreting and re-articulating a story, philosophy or saying to effect political action. I suggest, however, that the particular kind of work (e.g., literary, philosophical, etc.) that each scholar used may have allowed him to achieve a particular type of political action. I therefore look at three different kinds of texts (fables [amthal], philosophy [falsafa], and wisdom literature [h & dotbelow;ikma]) to observe what forms of political action were enabled by their interpretation and redeployment
Thesis, Dissertation, English, 2009