Critical review of Arabic Literature of Africa 5.

What is it about?

ALA 5 represents the (preliminary) accomplishment of a marvellous project. The course of time, however, pushed this final volume in an unexpected position: it was not first but - 15 years after the Maurische Literaturgeschichte (MLG) of Ulrich Rebstock – second, it had to be shorter than complete, more general than precise. Moreover, the potential surplus, that remained, one and a half decades ahead of Arabic manuscript discoveries in Mauritania, was produced almost completely in an indigenous milieu, not anymore under the auspices and control of the project’s founder(s). In particular, but not only, the results of the systematic check of the arbitrarily selected parts (see above IV) generate the impression that ALA 5 was produced under conditions that did not guarantee a consistent and professional outcome, neither in terms of formal correctness nor in terms of conceptual transparency. Perhaps one day, the preparation of a digital version will offer the chance to remove the bulk of deficit and refine the access of data processing. The extraordinary increase with ALA of archival information on Arabic literature of the region renders it imperative to dispell all doubts about the credibility of the material exposed.

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Why is it important?

Without a thorough and and extensive reception of the state of the art - irrelevant of language, age and origin -, without a self-critical examination of the heuristic value of traditionally handed down scholarly knowledge, without the unceasing care for correctness in detail, and without a considerable investment of Islamic scholarship in editing and commenting upon the material collected, coordinated and harmonized, ALA 5 will but unfold a fraction of its value. The Arabic literature of Mauritania and the Western Sahara does not deserve this.

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