The Expected Efficiency of Stylometry Applied to the Arabographic Medieval

Forgeries

by Alexey KhismatulinInstitute of Oriental Manuscripts

St.Petersburg

The Forms of Medieval Islamic Nonfiction Literature

The primary compilationTa’lif (أتليف)

Source Oral tradition(mostly)

Form The primary jam‘ and ta’lif

Author Collector and compiler(jami‘ and mu’allif)

Genre Hagiographical (e.g. maqamat, manaqib, tadhkirat, etc.); hadith literature

Hagiographical PatternThe Contents Arrangement Source

Standard Foreword Opening address; answers to the questions: •what motivated the compiler to start his work; •who the compiler is; •what form his writing would take;

•how he would tackle the task he sets for himself

Compiler

Heading 1 Account 1 Informant 1

Account 2 Informant 2

Account … Informant …

Heading 2 Story 1 Storyteller 1

Story 2 Storyteller 2

Story … Storyteller …

Heading 3 Citation 1 Narrator 1

Citation 2 Narrator 2

Citation … Narrator …

The Forms of Medieval Islamic Nonfiction Literature

The secondary compilationTa’lif (أتليف)

Source •Written tradition (mostly — primary and secondary compilations and tasanif)•Oral tradition (rarely)

Form The secondary ta’lif

Author Compiler(mu’allif)

Genre Historiographic (e.g. tawarikh), geographical, bibliographical, theological, juridical, hadith, tafsir, etc. literature

A Typical PatternThe Contents Arrangement Source

Standard Foreword Opening address; answers to the questions: •what motivated the compiler to start his work; •who the compiler is; •what form his writing would take;

•how he would tackle the task he sets for himself

Compiler

Heading 1 Account 1 Book 1

Account 2 Book 2

Account … Book …

Heading 2 Story 1 Essay 1

Story 2 Essay 2

Story … Essay …

Heading 3 Citation 1 Informant 1

Citation 2 Informant 2

Citation … Informant …

The Forms of Medieval Islamic Nonfiction Literature

Classification/compositionTasnif تصنيف) )

Source •Written tradition (mostly)•Oral tradition (rarely)

Form Tasnif تصنيف) )

Author Classifier(musannif)

Genre All genres •often — theological and juridical literature;

•very rare — historiographic genre

A New PatternThe Contents Arrangement Source

Standard Foreword Opening address; answers to the questions: •what motivated the compiler to start his work; •who the compiler is; •what form his writing would take;

•how he would tackle the task he sets for himself

Classifier

Heading 1 Account 1 Book 1

Citation 1 Compilation 1

Story 1 Essay 1

Conclusions Classifier

Heading 2 Account 2 Book 1

Citation 2 Compilation 1

Story 2 Essay 1

Conclusions Classifier

Heading 3 Account 3 Book 1

Citation 3 Compilation 1

Conclusions Classifier

The first type of forgeries

1. An authentic text is supplemented at the end with aninauthentic one, and the whole compilation isintentionally ascribed to an author of the first textwithout any attempts of stylization

Roman de la Rose

The second type of forgeries

2. Segments of the authentic text(s) written by afamous author are intentionally combined andmixed with those of inauthentic in order to createthe illusion of authenticity and to achieve its goalsby appealing to authority of the author

Queen Sophia’s BibleA “multifaceted collaborative work, in which the

translatorial, authorial, and scribal signals are heavily mixed” (M. Eder)

The third type of forgeries3. An intellectual forgery when an authentic text is

edited by a forger in a way that the final text lookslike a pie with inauthentic filling.