Abstract
“Kitāb al-Bukhalā’ ” (The book of Misers) of al-Jāḥiẓ (d. 868/9), a light-hearted collection of stingy tales, is the most famous work not only for its funny anecdotes but also for being the major subject of many academic studies on al-Jāḥiẓ. Each character appearing in this work as “bakhīl” (miser) is the target of ridicule and criticism. However, readers may be baffled to learn that some of these misers were al-Jāḥiẓ’s masters, who contributed to his intellectual formation, or renowned academic scholars.
This paper examines al-Jāḥiẓ’s awareness and attitudes towards his reader through the stories of five literary figures: Sahl b.Hārūn (d. 830), Abū al-Aswad al-Du’alī (d. 688/9), Thumāma b. Ashras (d. 828), Abū al-Hudhayl (d. 842), and al-Aṣma‘ī (d. 828). Our study clarifies what kind of tales al-Jāḥiẓ intended to write for his readers.
To acquire a wide readership, al-Jāḥiẓ has made efforts to use various strategies. As one of these strategies in Kitāb al-Bukhalā’, this paper analyzes his criterion for selecting anecdotes and characters through analyzing the stories of those five literary intellectuals.
In conclusion, it turned out that al-Jāḥiẓ tried to present lesser-known stories that the public wanted to read, taking into account the appropriateness between the anecdote and the character as well as the veracity of the anecdotes. These ideas and strategies of al-Jāḥiẓ are a clear reflection of his awareness and concern toward the emerging reading public of that time.
