Michael Cooperson
· Professor; Department ChairUniversity of California, Los Angeles · Near Eastern Languages and Cultures
Active 1990–2025
About
Michael Cooperson is a professor and the Department Chair of Near Eastern Languages & Cultures at UCLA. He holds a PhD and MA in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University, obtained in 1994 and 1991 respectively, and a BA in Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard College. His research focuses on the cultural history of the early Abbasid period, classical Arabic literature, and biographical literature. Cooperson's projects include a visual-narrative history of pre-modern Arabic literature and a study of time-travel fiction as a global phenomenon. He has also collaborated on studies related to side-switching in Akritic poems and how non-native speakers learned Arabic in pre-modern times, with personal interests in modern Greek and Hawaiian language and culture.
Research topics
- Philosophy
- Theology
- Computer Science
Selected publications
Al-Shidyāq’s Account of the Maltese Language: An Annotated Translation
Cambridge semitic languages and cultures · 2025-01-31
book-chapterOpen access1st authorCorrespondingThis annotated translation presents Faris al-Shidyaq’s nineteenth-century account of the Maltese language. AL-Shidyaq, a Lebanese man of letters, describes Maltese as an Arabic dialect, dismissing the then-current claim that it is descended from Punic. He points out cases where the language preserves words and structures that have disappeared, or taken different forms, in other Arabic dialectsDespite borrowing extensively from Italian and other European languages, Maltese retains significant Arabic elements, including classical usages and dialectal parallels. The account initially dismisses Maltese as a "corrupt" version of Arabic, but gradually acknowledges its resilience and linguistic intricacies. It highlights the adaptability of Maltese speakers, who integrate foreign words seamlessly into their native linguistic patterns, demonstrating the dynamic nature of language evolution. The narrative critiques the lack of scholarly or literary works in Maltese and explores the cultural reasons for the reluctance of its speakers to embrace classical Arabic, despite the shared linguistic heritage. The discussion sheds light on broader themes of linguistic identity, the impact of colonization, and the evolution of vernacular languages in response to historical and social pressures. It emphasizes the power of language to endure and adapt despite external influences, noting how Maltese has survived successive attempts to suppress it. This study provides valuable insights into the historical interplay between Maltese and Arabic, offering a nuanced perspective on linguistic resilience, cultural identity, and the intersection of language and modernization in the Mediterranean region.
Der Islam · 2024-04-01
article1st authorCorresponding2023-11-15
bookNew York University Press eBooks · 2023-03-16
book-chapterOpen access900 Years of Trickery: Al-Ḥarīrī From Leiden to Los Angeles
Journal of Abbasid Studies · 2023-07-28
articleOpen access1st authorCorrespondingAbstract Al-Ḥarīrī’s sixth/twelfth-century story collection (the Maqāmāt , or Impostures ) is famous for its rhymes, obscure vocabulary, and complex wordplay. Despite its difficulty, it was used as a text to teach Arabic, a function it continued to serve even after it was introduced to Europe in the seventeenth century CE . After a reverent reception at the hands of early Dutch and English scholars, it was condemned by later French readers as emblematic of “Oriental decadence.” Of the various translations, the most successful are those into Hebrew and German, both of which celebrate the ludic element of the original. The recently published English translation attempts to work from the same principle.
Exordium: On (Not) Drinking: al-Ḥarīrī’s Maqāma 48
2022-01-01
book-chapter1st authorCorrespondingFictionalities in medieval Arabic texts: A roundtable
postmedieval a journal of medieval cultural studies · 2022-12-01
article1st authorCorrespondingNew York University Press eBooks · 2020
- Computer Science
- Computer Science
University of California Press eBooks · 2020 · 1 citations
1st authorCorresponding- Philosophy
- Theology
15. Three Accounts of Zoroastrian Conversion to Islam, by Muhammad b. ʿAbdūs al-Jahshiyārī, ʿAlī b. Yūsuf al-Qiftī, and Abū al-Faraj al-Isfahānī was published in Conversion to Islam in the Premodern Age on page 109.
Three Accounts of Zoroastrian Conversion to Islam
University of California Press eBooks · 2020 · 1 citations
1st authorCorresponding- Philosophy
- Theology
Frequent coauthors
- 1869 shared
Shawkat M. Toorawa
- 1867 shared
Joseph Lowry
- 1867 shared
Julia Bray
University of Cambridge
- 1866 shared
James E. Montgomery
Covenant Medical Center
- 1766 shared
Philip Kennedy
Neural Signals (United States)
- 1640 shared
Tahera Qutbuddin
Carleton University
- 1575 shared
Sean W. Anthony
Yale University
- 1475 shared
Amani Al-Zoubi
American University of Beirut New York Office
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