Bibliography


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Selected readings on the issue of Islam and homosexuality...Ý

Islamic Homosexualities: Culture, History, Literature, ed. Stephen O. Murray and Will Roscoe, New York: NYU Press, 1997.Ý Interesting essays from a variety of perspectives.


A good short overview which doesn't assume a deep knowledge of Islam is:

Easterman, Dan.
The Erection Is Eternal.
NEW STATESMAN AND SOCIETY (UK), 12th Feb. 1993, pp. 26-27

and (if you can find it...)

Wormhoudt, Arthur.
Classic Arab Poetry, 600-1299
GAY BOOKS BULLETIN, Autumn 1980, Vol 4. pp.23-27

Note: In Persian and Turkish there is no gender distinction in the third person pronoun. Consequently, many translations have she instead of he.Ý By the context, however, you can tell that the beloved is male. There was an article on that subject in 'Studia Islamica':

"The Theme of Wine-drinking and the Concept of the Beloved in Early Persian Poetry"Ý Studia Islamica, Vol. 13, Paris, 1960.
Ý

**Recent short academic overviews are...

Daniel, Marc (Leyland, Winston. Trans.)Ý
Arab Civilisation and Male Love.
IN:Ý Goldburg, Johnathon (Ed.)Ý Reclaiming Sodomy.Ý Routledge, London, 1994. pp. 59-65.

Schild, Maarten.
The Irresistible Beauty of Boys - Middle Eastern attitudes about boy-love.
PAIDIKA, Vol 1, No.3.

Baldauf, Ingeborg.
Boy-love, Folksong and Literature in Central Asia.
PAIDIKA, Vol 2, No. 6.

Sikand, Yoginder.
A Martyr for Love - Hazrat Sayed Sarmad, a Sufi gay mystic.
PERVERSIONS, Spring 1995, Issue 4, pp. 149-157

More material on sacred pederasty in the Sufi tradition can be found in:

ÝÝ Schimmel, Annemarie.Ý
   Mystical Dimensions of Islam.
   University of North Carolina Press, 1975.Ý 506pp.Ý [See pages 287-343]

and...

ÝÝ Wilson, Peter Lamborn.ÝÝ
   Scandal : essays in Islamic heresy.
ÝÝ Brooklyn, New York, Autonomedia, c1988.Ý 224 p.Ý Biblio.

the address of the publisher for the latter is...

ÝÝ Autonomedia
ÝÝ Box 568
ÝÝ Brooklyn, New York
ÝÝ NY 11211

and is available in Europe from:

ÝÝ Counter Productions,
ÝÝ PO Box 556,
ÝÝ London SE5 0RL
ÝÝ England, UK.

'Scandal' is also in some large University libraries in the USA (eg Washington)

**the mythical Hakim Bey translated a selection of the poetry of Abu Nuwas...

ÝÝ Bey, Hakim (Ed and Trans.)Ý
   Nuwas, Abu.Ý
   O Tribe That Loves Boys - adaptations by Hakim Bey.Ý
   Abu Nuwas Society, 1993.
 

**The work of NORMAN ROTH is well worth following...

Roth, Norman.Ý
"The Care and Feeding of Gazelles" - medieval Hebrew and Arabic Love Poetry.Ý
IN: Lazar, M. and Lacy, N.Ý(eds.), Poetics of Love in the Middle Ages, Fairfax, VA, 1989.

Roth, Norman.
Fawn of My Delights - boy-love in Hebrew and Arabic Verse.Ý
IN: Sex in the Middle Ages,Ý New York, 1991.Ý pp.157-172.

Roth, Norman.
Boy-love in Medieval Arabic Verse
PAIDIKA, Vol 3, No.3, Winter 1994.Ý pp.12-17
Ý

**Several books are forthcoming on Arabic homosexuality - see the Lesbigay Scholars Listing (enquire in Listserv list QSTUDY-L if
Ý you're an academic or student who hasn't yet got a copy of this vital document)
 

**Other items, from Sa'di:

Sa'di.Ý The Bustan, trans. H. Wilberforce Clarke.Ý London:Ý Darf, 1985.
Homoerotic poetry from 13th-century Persia.

Sa'di.Ý The Gulistan, or Rose Garden of Sa'di, trans. Edward Rehatsek.Ý London: Allen and Unwin, 1964.Ý
Homoerotic poetry from 13th-century Persia.

Sa'di.Ý Morals Pointed and Tales Adorned:Ý The Bustan of Sa'di, trans. G. M.ÝWickens.Ý Toronto:Ý University of Toronto Press, 1974.Ý
Homoerotic poetryÝfrom 13th-century Persia.

Yohanna, John D.Ý The Poet Sa'di:Ý A Persian Humanist.Ý Lanham, MD:Ý UniversityÝPress of America, 1987.

** Misc:

Dynes, Wayne R., & Donaldson, Stephen, eds.Ý Asian Homosexuality.Ý New York: Garland Publishing, 1992.Ý
Volume 3 in their Studies in Homosexuality series.
(Includes chapters on China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Oman, Persia, Philippines, Turkey.)

Mrabet, Mohammed.Ý Chocolate Creams and Dollars, trans. from Arabic by Paul Bowles.Ý New York:Ý Inanout Press, 1993.Ý
Mrabet, a Tangiers storyteller, relates a loosely autobiographical story of a Moroccan houseboy.

Paz y Liberacion (Africa/Middle East ed.).Ý Houston, TX:Ý [s.n.], 1989-.
Gay magazine.

Schmitt, Arno, & Sofer, Jehoeda, eds.Ý
Sexuality and Eroticism Among Males in Moslem Societies.Ý New York:Ý The Haworth Press, 1992.Ý
Includes studies of male homosexuality in Morocco, Syria, Iran, Turkey, and Israel.
Ý

**Some anthologies...

Christman, Henry. M. (Ed.)Ý Gay Tales and Verses from the Arabian Nights.ÝÝ
Edward-William Publishing Company/Banned Books, USA 1989.Ý 104ppÝÝ 0-934411-27-1 Trade Paper $7.95

The Glory of The Perfumed Garden - the 'Missing Flowers' - an English translation from the Arabic of the second and hitherto unpublished
part of Shaykh Nafzawi's Perfumed Garden.Ý London, 1975.
(Ch. 2: On Sodomy and the tricks of Sodomites)

Lacey, E. A. (Translator)Ý The Delight of Hearts: Or, What You Will Not Find in Any Book.Ý Gay Sunshine Press, 1988.
240pp, illus.Ý ISBN:ÝÝ 0-940567-08-3 Library BindingÝÝ 0-940567-09-1 Trade Paper
[Al-Tifashi, Ahmad (Compiled by, Preface by); Lacey, E. A. (Introduction by, ); Khawam, Rene R. (Introduction by).
An anthology of Arabic gay literature - is a translation of a translation of a translation, so has probably lost something in the process...]

Garcia Gomez, Emilio, ed.Ý In Praise of Boys:Ý Moorish Poems from Al-Andalus, trans. from Spanish by Erskine Lane.Ý San Francisco:
Gay Sunshine Press, 1975.

Ibn Dawud (Muhammed Ibn Dawud Al-Isfahani).Ý Kitab al-zahara. (The Book of the Flower)Ý Nykl, Richard (Ed.)Ý Oriental Institute,
Chicago, USA, 1932.Ý 406pp.
[Arabic text.Ý 9th Century anthology which includes love poetry to boys by several authors.Ý There are also translations in E.G. Browne's 'Literary History of Persia' and Franz Rosenthal's translation of Ibn Khaldun's 'Muqaddima'.]

Reid, Anthony. (Ed.)Ý The Eternal Flame - a world anthology of homosexual verse, 2000 B.C.- 2000 A.D.Ý Volume 1 - Greece,
Italy, Islam, France.Ý New York, Dyanthus Press, 1992.
[Available mail-order in the EC from Prinz Eisenhart, Berlin - ask for the poetry list.Ý In USA try Ariel's Pages mail-order.Ý New translations]

**Other citations pulled off Bibliographic Databases, which are known to have gay love poems...

Author:ÝÝIbn Hazm, Ali ibn Ahmad, 994-1064.
Title:ÝÝÝÝÝÝA book containing the Risala known as The dove's neck-ring, about love and lovers, composed by Abu Muhammad Ali ibn Hazm al-
ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ Andalusi ... Translated from the unique manuscript in the University of Leiden, edited by D. K. Petrof in 1914, by A. R. Nykl.
Pub. Info.:ÝÝ Paris, P. Geuthner, 1931.

Author:ÝÝÝIbn Dawud al-Isfahani, Abu Bakr Muhammad, 868 or 9-909 or 10.
Title:ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝal-Nisf al-awwal min kitab al-Zahrah, talif Abi Bakr Muhammad ibn Abi Sulayman Dawud al-Isfahani.
Pub. Info.:ÝÝ [Baghdad, Maktabat al-Muthanna, 1968?].
Series Info.: Studies in ancient oriental civilization ; no. 6.
Ý

Author:ÝÝÝÝNykl, A. R. (Alois Richard), b. 1885.
Title:ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ Hispano-Arabic poetry, and its relations with the old Provencal troubadours, by A.R. Nykl.
Pub. Info.:ÝÝ Baltimore [Printed by J.H. Furst Company] 1946.
 

Author:ÝÝÝÝIbn Hazm, Ali ibn Ahmad, 994-1064.
Title:ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ The ring of the dove; a treatise on the art and practice of Arab love. Translated by A. J. Arberry.
Pub. Info.:ÝÝ London, Luzac, 1953.

Ý

**Burton, Richard, "Terminal Essay, Part IV, Social Conditions - Pederasty",
IN: The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, 10 vols., (privately printed, 1886 onwards), Vol 10, pp. 205-254

A paper "Beyond the Sotadic Zone: Colonization and Sexuality in Richard Burton's Terminal Essay" was presented to the Society for
the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) meeting, Aug. 1993, by John Hollister:Ý e-mail bb05246@bingsuns.cc.binghamton.edu (John Hollister)

**A possibly useful Listserv list is:

Homosexuality In The Middle Ages.
List address:Ý medgay-l@ksuvm.ksu.edu
Sub Address:Ý listserv@ksuvm.ksu.edu

**More citations, many of which are for works not in English, can be found IN:Ý Dynes, Wayne.Ý Homosexuality - a research guide.Ý Garland, USA, 1987.Ý [Cf 'Islam' - pages 156-166]
Ý
 
 

ianthe@duende.demon.co.uk
****************************************************
Ý

The following is a copy of a letter I had in respose to
posting the above guide...
Date: Thu, 1 Jun 1995 10:45:21 -0400 (EDT)
From: Daniel Eisenberg 
To: Ianthe 
Cc: Multiple recipients of list MEDGAY-L
ÝÝÝ 
Subject: Re: Islam Homosexuality Research Guide (.2)
In-Reply-To: <199505312256.AA197749@garnet.acns.fsu.edu>
Message-Id: 

Thanks Ianthe for your very helpful bibliography.

In English, see _The Banners of the Champions_ of Ibn Said al-Maghribi,
trans. James Bellamy and Patricia Steiner (Madison: Hispanci Seminary of
Medieval Studies, 1988), available in research libraries and still in
print, I think.Ý The Arberry translation of this is bowdlerized (gender of
pronouns changed).

In Spanish, the anthology _Poemas ar'abigo-andaluces_ of
Emilio Garc'ia G'omez, Espasa-Calpe, Madrid (several eds. adn reprints).

I might suggest the following items of mine (Daniel Eisenberg, Florida
State University, deisenbe@garnet.acns.fsu.edu, soon changing to
deisenbe@mailer.fsu.edu) might be added:

The article "Spain" in the _Encyclopedia of Homosexuality_ (New York:
Garland, 1990), II, 1236-1243.

The article "Granada" in the same, I, 489-490.Ý (The article on "Judaism,
Sephardic" might also be of interest, I, 644-648.)

The following deal with how Islamic homosexuality in Spain was viewed or
reacted to by Christians:

"Cisneros y la quema de los manuscritos granadinos," _Journal of Hispanic
Philology,_ 16 (1992 [1993]), 107-24. [Title translated: "Cisneros and the
Burning of the Granadine Manuscripts."] [A well-documented bonfire in 1499
or 1500, of thousands of manuscripts, including illustrated volumes of
poetry, so as to prevent us from knowing the culture of the lost kingdom
of Granada, and its pederastic poetry in particular.Ý This was done by the
Archbishop of Granada, Cisneros.]

"Noches en los jardines de Espa~na," _Ang'elica_ [Lucena, Spain], 5 (1993
[1994]), 177-84. [Title translated: "Nights in the Gardens of Spain."] [On
"Nights in the Gardens of Spain" of Manuel de Falla, and his vision of
Islamic Spain; there is also an article on Falla in the _Encyclopedia of
Homosexuality_.]

"Por qu'e volvi'o Cervantes de Argel?" __In _Essays in Golden Age
Literature Presented to Geoffrey Stagg on His Eightieth Birthday,_ ed.
Ellen Anderson and Amy Williamsen. [Title translated: "Why Did Cervantes
Return from Algiers?"] [This is the sixteenth century rather than
medieval, but the context is much the same.Ý Algiers was in the sixteenth
century the city in the world (the Western world, anyway) where boy-love
was most openly, indeed publicly practiced.Ý There are a few paragraphs in
English in the "Research Topics" referred to below.

"Una temprana gu'ia gay: _Granada (Gu'ia emocional)_ de Gregorio Mart'inez
Sierra (1911)," _Nueva revista de filologia hisp'anica._ [Title
translated: "An Early Gay Guidebook: _Granada (An Emotional Guidebook)_,
by Gregorio Mart'inez Sierra (1911)."]

"El buen amor heterosexual de Juan Ruiz," _Actas del Primer Coloquio de
Er'otica Hispana_ (Madrid: Libertarias, in press). [Title translated:
"Juan Ruiz's Heterosexual otivated, in part, by the desire to combat the
influence of HispanoArabic and Jewish homosexuality.]

I also published in the _[Modern Language Association] Lesbian and Gay
Studies Newsletter_, 18.2 (1991), 1, 5-7; 18.3 (1991), 27-30; 19.2
(1992), 6-8; 19.3 (1992), 7-11 some suggested topics for further work in
gay and lesbian Hispanic studies.Ý If there is interest I can post the
relevant portions.



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