Al-risāla al-hazaliyya: Qirāˀa fī lwaǧh al-āḫar l-Ibn Zaydūn [“The comic epistle: a reading of the other side of Ibn Zaydūn”]

Abstract

“The comic epistle: a reading of the other side of Ibn Zaydūn”. In this article a new
reading is offered of the personality of Ibn Zaydūn from a different angle, focusing in a poorly side
of the poet, showing that Ibn Zaydūn’s prose is not less creative than his poetry, and that his comic
side is not less important than his serious side.
“The comic epistle” was chosen to this analysis and commentary as it is a literary work written
amidst an anxious state of humour, providing the warm of the trustful experience, without
devastating the artistic structure of the story, very well composed. Harmonising both elements,
namely, the personal feelings and the artistic structure is viewed here as one of the secrets for the literary creation, in addition to all literary aspects analysed in accordance with the theme and the
approach taken by this article.