Rhetorics of Distance: How Poets Negotiate Their Positions with Their Patrons at the Beginning of the Abbasid Era
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3989/alqantara.2016.001Keywords:
Proxemics, Patronage, Poets, Abbassid Caliphate, Ḥājib, Rules of precedence and propriety, Negotiating the distance, Departures, Intercessions, HomesicknessAbstract
This article investigates the relationship between the early Abbassid poet and his patron. Instead of focusing on verbal interactions or on the circulation of wealth between them, it analyses the spatial positions of both parties, which contribute too to negotiate the distance between them. This proxemics starts from the door of the patron who, even if he cannot be seen at this stage, is not totally absent and organises the entrance screening and therefore guarantees access to the poets who accept the rules of the game. Once in front of the patron, the contender’s behaviour and the expression of his pretences is organised by a set of rules of precedence and propriety. Eventually, separation is also strictly regulated in order to avoid a crisis. All these various forms of control ensure the efficient and generally peaceful functioning of the patronal institution.
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