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THE MAPMAKER: Research Item #35
I want to make the ship a character in the novel. The choice was whether to make
the vessel historical or magical, and in deciding to give the ship a speaking
role, for want of a better phrase, I'm plumping for the latter. Nevertheless,
the ship's general appearance will be rooted in the era, by contrast and
comparison: basically, a hybrid sailing and galley ship, with three masts
carrying lateen sails. I have some rough ideas in respect of its design. The
guests 'quarters' will be located underneath the cabin's 'cabin' just forward of
the stern, accessed by a spiral staircase on the main deck behind. The 12
guests' quarters will be along a narrow corridor, 6 on either side, with the
servant/slave quarters under the staircase and a door to the crew/galley decks
at the other end. This latter door can only be accessed from the guests' side
using a key hung up beside it. At night, the door leads to magical places, and
the adventures therein involving al-Idrisi and other guests will provide
exposition for various characters, with the magical realities evoked pertinent
to such an exposition.
THE MAPMAKER: Research Item #34
I’ve just been reading some of Abu
Nuwas‘ poems, in R. Irwin’s The Penguin Anthology of Classical Arabic
Literature (London: Penguin, 2006). I gather he was (and is) something of a
folklore figure — a trickster. I’m beginning to appreciate how
tricksterism brings absurd cultural mores into sharp relief, and in that role is
the mother of Swift’s darker satirical impulses. Somehow, I want
The Mapmaker –
perhaps through al-Idrisi’s Vardøger
(rather than evil twin) –to evoke that troubling but ludicrously funny spirit.
THE MAPMAKER: Research Item #33
I was hoping that The Jaariya could be attacked by pirates along the way,
but there was one big problem - what kind of pirates were sailing the med in 1149?
Probably quite a few kinds, actually, including Byzantium thugs, but information
on them is thin on the ground compared to the earlier Andalusian pirates who set
up shop on the South French coast, or the much later Corsairs. By chance, I have
a discovered a more local
and contemporaneous group of pirates, with a history of picking on Christian shipping: the Zirids, Berber rulers
of Ifriqiya. However, by 1149, the Zirid dynasty pretty much had its ars against
the harbour wall, due to none other than Roger II himself, who was in the
process of capturing most of their kingdom, focusing particularly on the ports.
However, it would be quite plausible to summon up one or two stragglers still
loyal to the last Zirid ruler, Abul-Hasan al-Hasan ibn Ali - who was officially
top Zirid until 1152. Interestingly, Abul-Hasan outlived his political dynasty's
demise, final leaving this world in 1171.
THE MAPMAKER: Research Item #32
There would seem to be another theme emerging, and one which suggests others:
that of social class. The class system which emerged in the occident in the
medieval period, notably in England, contrasts with the relatively egalitarian
culture of the Islamicate in the Early Middle Period. This is an issue which has
contemporary resonances. I also think it's one which demands critical
evaluation.
In my view, class still pervades British society - but I don't think 'class' as
Marx defined it here. Marx may have defined a new facet of class in Britain, one
which emerged as a result of industrialization, but this was as much created by
the development of a politicised class consciousness. But this merely intruded
on the class formations that had developed from the Middle Ages. My thesis is
this: the medieval class system in England, which was multilayered and largely
centred around particular institutional forms, is mirrored in contemporary
'employment cultures'. I think Savage hints at this in his analysis, but the
problem is that class tends to be something discussed sociologically or, if
historically, then eurocentrically.
THE MAPMAKER: Research Item #31
Humour is important in The Mapmaker. I want al-Idrisi to be a wry, rather acidic
narrator. He starts off world-weary, but events and friendship change him. I
want there to be a certain amount of bawdiness, especially surrounding the
Danish brothers. Satire? Perhaps - but directed at things al-Idrisi thinks are
deserving of it - violence and power being his key targets. But other than
satire, is there any way of drawing on the humour of the time and culture and
incorporating it into the novel. Step one is finding about the same. Clearing
some of the poets of the time were quite funny, and some of the stories were
(Arabian nights). All in all, I think humour has to emerge from character and
situation.
But here's an interesting find: Mubeen, H. (2008)
Humour and Comedy in Arabic Literature (From the Birth of Islam to Ottoman
Period) Al-Hikmat Volume 28, pp. 13-30 --
ironically, amusement may be derived from Mubeen's bloody awful English,
particularly his struggle with the definite article.
One thing I want to include - hyperbole, and an impressionistic rather than
empirical approach to recounting experiences, but apparent to a lesser or
greater degree in other characters, but not al-Idrisi -- who gets accused of
being "a boring little cunt" by one of the Varangian Guards.
THE MAPMAKER: Research Item #30
I have consciously avoided adding Ibn Battuta to my reading list. I've read
enough of Dunn's translation to conclude that, in researching this particularly
project, a re-reading isn't required. I don't actually like Ibn Battuta, the
person and I
want al-Idrisi to be a completely different person. I also want to avoid
Ibn Fadlan
because he belongs to almost another era (10th century), plus his journey became
the basis for a catatonia-inducing novel by Michael Crichton and an equally dire film
based on the same.
Ditto
Nasir
Khusraw (Persian).
The same cannot be said for
Ibn Jubayr - he was a geographer, and was born in 1145, while al-Idrisi was
still alive. I am thus bound to add a translation of his travel writings to the
core research bibliography.
Broadhurst, R. [Trans and Ed.] (1952/1990) The Travels of
Ibn Jubayr (India: Goodword Books)
I've relegated a few books on the core list to reference and Watt's book on the
influence of Islam on Europe has been chucked off the list completely -- it's
dated, and I'm primarily interested in the influence of Islamic narrative forms
on European culture, which is intrinsic to the novel by the dint of the place it
gives story and stories. However, there is one historical hole missing -
Byzantium:
Norwich, J. J. (1996) Byzantium: The Decline and Fall
(London: Penguin)
And I've added another contemporary account, by
Usamah
ibn Murshid ibn Munqidh
Hitti, P. (2000) An Arab-Syrian Gentleman and Warrior in
the Period of the Crusades: Memoirs of Usamah Ibn-Munqidh: New Edition
(Columbia: Columbia University Press)
I'll read the two primary sources next, insha Allah -- as follow up to Hodgson's
and Lindsay's histories.
THE MAPMAKER: Research Item #29
How fantastic should The Mapmaker be? The incorporation of fantasy elements will
only work if they pertain to the era/story. Hence, automata (which were popular
enough to provoke a compendium of them to be published in the early 13th
century). Importantly, fantasy elements pertaining to more abstract facets of
12th century culture, such as Sufism, are equally admissible. What I want to
avoid at all costs is hackneyed Arabian nights 'abracadabraism'. Absolutely
NO flying carpets, bottled genies or doors that respond to the
command open fucking sesame!!! Any kind of magical fantasy must have a sense of
wonder attached to it, hence such elements should be original or at the very
least unusual.
The crew - two futuwwah, two shifts: night/day. How do they sail safely at
night? Using an oil powered lamp on the bow of the ship, perhaps? Or luminous
fish?
Thomas Strutt - occidental corporativism, thus have him resembling (if a little
symbolically) a gothic cathedral, e.g. give him what looks like a golden spire
hat, but turns out to be a horn made of gold. The onocentaur is a cousin of the
unicorn, or perhaps a "fallen" unicorn. Also, dramatic conflict between this
cultural attitude and Islamic contractualism.
THE MAPMAKER: Research Item #28
Approximately 68 000 words of 33 chapters.
31 chapters each of 2000 words, 2 chapters
(introduction, endpiece) of 3000 words.
On the format I write with, that amounts
to about 9 pages for longer chapters, 6 for the shorter.
Listing chapter notes in tabulated form.
THE MAPMAKER: Research Item #27
Thomas Strutt is an onocentaur (human head and chest, everything else donkey):
...only no one knows this because he is the kind of onocentaur with just two
donkey legs, and the hoof prints provide a mystery for al-Idrisi (detective story
subplot).
THE MAPMAKER: Research Item #26
Journey time: 01 Sha'ban 0543 - 01 Ramadan 0543 (15 December 1148 - 13 January 1149).
Book starts on the evening of 01 Sha'ban 0543, 14 Dec. 1148,
and goes up to 01 Ramadan 0543, 13 Jan. 1149.
NB: 14 Sha'ban - Laylat al-bara'a: Night of Remembrance.
This would put them in the Bay of Biscay in the stormy season, and see a
sufficiently dramatic contrast in temperatures. According to stats (see below),
average global temperatures and precipitation were normal, so we'll work on that
assumption.
Palermo December: average high: 16°C; average low: 12°C.
Bristol, December: average high: 8°C; average low: 4°C.
So it would seem reasonable to see the Jaariya leave Palermo on a bright,
breezy, sunny 16°C day and arrive in Bristol to a bracing, grey, rainy/sleeting
4°C.
Abbasid Caliph: Al-Muqtafi.
Byzantine Emperor: Manuel I Komnenos aka Manuel The Great (not friends with
Roger II).
Patriarch of Constantinople: Nicholas IV Muzalon.
THE MAPMAKER: Research Item #25
The weather:
Source:
http://www.longrangeweather.com/1100ad.htm
THE MAPMAKER: Research Item #24
Reinaud, J. T., Haroon Khan Sherwani [Trans] (1955)
Muslim Colonies in France, Northern Italy and Switzerland (Pakistan :
Sh. Muhammad Ashraf) - for reference purposes only.
Probably sufficient information at this website:
http://www.geocities.com/athens/troy/4040/pirates.htm
Not sure how historically accurate the linked narrative is - Troubadours in the
10th century? Is that too early? But it's too early for our pirates.
What about Crusader pirates? NO - because Christians controlled Mediterranean
sea lanes in 12th century, so more likely to be Muslim pirates. What about
Byzantine pirates?
THE MAPMAKER: Research Item #23
A couple more random ideas:
THE MAPMAKER: Research Item #22
![Abolqasem Ferdowsi, Dick Davis [Trans] (2007) Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings (Penguin Classics)](bkfbok.jpg) Here's
an important quote From Hodgson, Volume 2:
"In the Islamic Middle
Periods, as the whole population from Nile
to Oxus shared in a common culture in which
the religious dimension as such was only one
of the common ingredients, the image of the
adventurous hero as the ideal man come to
play such a role." (p.155)
And this "...image of the adventurous hero found its most influential form in
the Iranian heroic tradition." (p.155)
Al -Idrisi would likely have been familiar with Shahnameh (Book of
Kings), by
Firdawsi (935–1020), a poetic opus written around 1000 AD, telling the
mythical and historical past of Persia from the creation of the world up until
the Islamic conquest of Persia in the 7th century.
So what about making al-Idrisi's narrative a wannabe hero narrative, but where
it is hard to know whether he's telling the truth or not? Especially with the
preface opening about meeting the traveller as a child, who teaches him to doubt
most second-hand accounts of places in favour of looking (empiricism).
Antarah -- Arabic, see
translation of Hanged Poem.
Rustam/Rostam -- Persian, see
Shahnameh (Book of Kings), by
Firdawsi.
THE MAPMAKER: Research Item #21
I realise now that everyday life (including maritime life) needs to be a
much more prominent part of the research: everything from units of measurement
to toileting to taxation. In fact, in order to effectively research the cultural
milieu, the starting point may often be the everyday. Knowing, for example, that
merchant trade was a defining economic activity of the era, compared to land or
manufacturing investment (and why), provides an important clue to the mindset of
people living in that region and time.
"...the overall pattern of the economy remained that of local subsistence in the
countryside and individual craftwork in the towns, capped by extraction of
revenue from the peasantry for the benefit of an increasingly military class and
its dependents." (Hodgson Volume 2, 1977, p.140)
THE MAPMAKER: Research Item #20
A few stray ideas:
THE MAPMAKER: Research Item #19
In a
post on the
Cultural
Anarchlyst,
I postulated
a structure
in order to
focus
reading
research for
my intended
novel.
However,
this
structure
has started
to evolve,
such the
relationship
between what
I am reading
and what I
intend to
write is
becoming
increasingly
complex. The
linear model
of one book
at a time is
breaking
down as
ideas start
to gather
pace.
For example,
while
reading Marshall
Hodgson’s
“The Venture
of Islam:
Volume 2″
(Chicago
University
Press, 1977),
I’ve concluded
the outline
development
of a set of
core
characters.
But fleshing
out
characters
also demands
additional
reading.
Take Abraham
Ibn Ezra. He
is based on
a real
person of
the same
name,
necessitating
further
reading in
itself (not
that easy),
but I also
want to
contrast him
with the
slightly
aloof,
cynical,
savant al-Idrisi.
I want some
tension to
exist
between
them.
One idea was
that Ezra
might be a
private
farter, to
the extent
that Ezra’s
cabin reeks
of farts,
much to
Idrisi’s
rather
pompous
disdain (and
the
disgusted
amusement of
his
streetwise
servant,
Dwadar). But
would
passengers
have
“cabins” on
a 12th
century
Arab-Norman
vessel, and
if so, what
kind? Would
they be
stuffy? To
discover
that, I will
need to read
something
like
Dionisius A.
Agius’s
“Classic
Ships of
Islam”
(Brill,
2007). I
haven’t yet
purchased
Agius,
primarily
due to the
fact it’s
currently
selling for
approximately
£90. For
that price,
it ought to
write the
novel for
me.
CODA:
I think I’ve
found a much
cheaper and
more
regionally
appropriate
alternative
to Agius’s
doorstep:
John H.
Pryor’s
“Geography,
Technology,
and War:
Studies in
the Maritime
History of
the
Mediterranean,
649-1571″
(Cambridge
University
Press, 1992).
THE MAPMAKER: Research Item #18
The 99 crew, who are each name Abdul + one of
the 99 names, to be divided into two rival
futuwwah, one called Tanzih and
Tashbih!
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