نحن و الآخر و صراع الهوية في السير الشعبية العربية : الصراع الإسلامي البيزنطي في السير الشعبية العربية

Abstract EN

This paper concerns the popular interpretation of the struggle between Islam and Byzantium during the period of Islamic conquest of Egypt, as reflected in the literary sources comprising the Arab folk epics and the popular interpretation of that event.

The study attempts to observe its dimensions and gauge the extent of its effect on the popular imagination and to what extent the popular epics provide us with a different interpretation of the traditional sources.

The popular mentality was little interested in the facts of the events, places, and historical characters, and the chronology of events in their real historical context.

Rather , it made use of all of these things to serve its artistic goal with its social/ cultural content, since this gave prominence to the role of the ordinary people in shaping their history.