Zajal

The Zaǧal ( from Arabic زجل (loud) sing or tempers stir; . Sp zejel, fr zadjal, kat zagal, it zaggial, English Zajal. .. . ) Is an Arab- Spanish poetry and song form of the Middle Ages, the Moorish al - Andalus was invented and has emerged from the muwaššah. Linguistically, the Zagal is held in dialekter vernacular.

Today, the tradition of Zagal is now maintained as impromptu poetry in the Levantine area, especially in Lebanon, where the Zagali enjoy high recognition and popularity.

Metric scheme, literary motif and tradition

The rhyme scheme of the muwaššah:

The muwaššah is sealed in Arabic or Hebrew high-level language, except for the closing verses of the last stanza, AA, the Harga. The Harga Decorated in Arabic or old Spanish dialect.

The rhyme scheme of the Zagal:

The Zagal consists of a refrain ( aa ) and several three-line stanzas ( bbb ccc, etc., is appended to each of which a fourth verse ( a), the rhymes throughout the poem points to (a).

In contrast to muwaššah the entire Zagal is composed in dialectal colloquial language.

Literary motif is the love that is sung in folk - dialektalem tone.

In the vulgar Arabic verses of medieval manuscripts can often be found even Spanish words, which - recorded with Arabic alphabet and not in Latin characters - in Aljamiado notation.

The most important and most extensive medieval Arab Zagal seal contains the 1881 re-found in Saint Petersburg sofa, el cancionero ( song collection ), the Arab- Andalusian poet Ibn Quzman from Córdoba ( 1078-1160. )

Text example of a Castilian Zagal

The invented by Arab poets in al - Andalus genus of Zagal was continued by Spanish poets. Here is an example from the Cancionero de Baena (15th century), the extensive collection of poetry Sephardic Marrano Juan Alfonso de Baena. Ledo Vivo con razón is sealed in Castilian vernacular and is traditionally associated with the work of Alfonso Álvarez de Villasandino:

Influence of Zagal to other songs and poetic forms

The American musicologist Ned Sublette quotes the Spanish Romanists Ramón Menéndez Pidal and attracts a breathtaking connection line nawba of the two in al - Andalus invented in the 11th century Arab song and poem forms, muwaššah and Zagal, about Arab- Andalusian ", nouba music, " old - Galician - Portuguese Cantigas, the Trobadorlyrik and the Castilian villancicos montuno up to the Cuban son and mambo ranges ( Spanish conquistadors in Cuba):

The influence of the Zagal to other Romanesque poem and music forms, especially on the Trobadorlyrik, however, remains controversial in the literature.

Lebanese Zagal

The Lebanese Zagal is declaimed in the Lebanese dialect. The earliest Zagali in present-day Lebanon was probably the bishop Gabriel Al- Qla'i Al- Hafadi (1440-1516), although some scholars fix the beginnings of Zagal two centuries earlier, and with the poet Suleiman Al- Ashluhi (1270-1335) and bring some of his contemporaries in conjunction. How were many of the early Zagali clergy. Zagal became in the 19th century to an extremely popular art form, as the numerous poets have contributed to a refinement in content and form.

The shape of the modern Lebanese Zagalabends most successful expiry

• Debate and verbal duel between two or more poets in the Qassida form ( an ode ), followed by
• Debates in M'anna and Qerradi forms, followed by
• Love recitation in the ghazal form and ultimately completed often with
• A love lament Shruqi form.

The whole is accompanied by a chorus with tambourines and other Perkussionnstrumenten.

The regional differences in the appreciation of Zagal in Lebanon reflect a remarkable extent to which ethnic and religious fragmentation. On the one hand lift communities such as Sunnis, Greek Orthodox or Armenians who inhabit the cities relatively little affinity for Zagal and have only a few Zagali spawned on the other side, Maronites, Druze and Shiites live in the Lebanese mountains and rural areas, a disproportionate number of Zagali produced in the centuries- long development of Zagals. This regional focus is also reflected in the imagery of the Zagal, which reflects the bucolic and sensual sensibilities of the rural landscape and interests of urban intellectuals. However, many poets were able to exceed this fluid boundaries and compose verses that almost take expressive the entire spectrum of human concerns addressed.