origin – In the first chapter from this reading Menocal makes it obvious from the outset that the origins of the modern vernacular lyric has a much debated history. One in which many Europeans theorists have accounted for the rise of courtly love poetry as a phenomenon and ignore the elements that were almost certainly intertwined with that of literature from Andalusian, Hispano-Arab influences. The arabic precursors of the troubadour poetry exhibit many of the common themes such as unrequited love and the role of gender. But the unwillingness of western scholars to give credit where it is due has led to a constant debate between those who support the Arabist theory and those who refute it; creating what Menocal refers to as, “…the problems of the origins and formal characteristics of the vernacular lyric.” Menocal both questions and condemns the nearsighted views of western scholarship that dismiss the Islamic influence in poetry that became so popular so summarily within the Christian world. She also discusses that fact that regardless of the opinions concerning the origins of troubadour poetry that it is no secret that troubadour poetry provided the rudiments for all European literary forms thus being the origin of modern day works.
revolutionary- The antecedent texts of the muwashshahat are shown in a light which paints them as being integral influential texts for the troubadour poetry that followed in the western world. It made use of revolutionary form where a single poem displayed both elements of the old guard of literary pursuits as well as the previously dismissed vernacular tradition that began to creep to the forefront. These works used two different styles within the same poem and two different poetic voices, the first being a man in the classical form and the second being a woman relaying the poem in the vernacular. This marked a severe change in the discourse of popular literature, openly accepting the variable forms that the written/ spoken word could take. These two very different portions of the muwashshahat were known to have been compiled as a single text because of the elements of rhythm, meter, and song the remained constant throughout their relaying even when poetic voice changes.