Adab literature taught people to stay within their social station

Evidence

The body of literature being taught was known as adab, a word meaning manners, politeness, or propriety, ‘Polite letters’ was a literature that embodied the manners of a threatened social order and the values of an imperilled social class. There was an adab appropriate to every social position, establishing in life the patterns of proper conduct. The study of polite letters would establish among people the boundaries and the patterns of social action. ‘The real meaning of adab’, Marsafi explained, ‘is that each should know the limits of his position, and not overstep them.’ — Timothy Mitchell, Colonising Egypt, 428 (#expands, via linked claim)

With status as a universal phenomenon, everyone on earth has a specific status position—both within their local community and as part of the “global village.” Awareness of that position is integral to our lives. The anthropologist Edmund Leach writes, “All human beings have a deep psychological need for the sense of security which comes from knowing where you are. But ‘knowing where you are’ is a matter of recognising social as well as territorial position.” And as we think about our place in the hierarchy, one thing becomes very clear: higher status is extremely desirable. — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 58 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Adab literature taught each person the proper limits of their social position — Timothy Mitchell, Colonising Egypt, 428; Books taught conduct to newly urban literate classes; Knowing one’s social position is a deep human psychological need — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 58

Broader Connections

• Adab literature taught each person the proper limits of their social position #expands (0.96) — Timothy Mitchell, Colonising Egypt, 428
• Knowing one’s social position is a deep human psychological need #complicates (0.72) — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 58