Tag Archives: Arabic

9780863723872_m
Feb 6 2012

Early Arabic Poetry: Select Poems by Professor Alan Jones


Ithaca Press is pleased to announce the publication of Early Arabic Poetry: Select Poems by Professor Alan Jones. This new edition of Early Arabic Poetry combines the two volumes first published in 1992 and 1996, bringing them together with a new foreword and introduction by Professor Jones, which covers the major background problems faced by students of early Arabic poetry. The book will appeal to academics and students in the fields of Middle East Studies, Arabic, literature and poetry.
The book is divided into two main sections: the first section contains a study of fifteen poems from two of the more vivid genres: laments and poems by the outlaws. The second section focuses on famous odes. The poems are analysed in minute detail, providing the student with all the information needed to understand the texts and to consider each poem’s overall thrust and purpose.
The study of early Arabic poetry is a difficult one for a number of reasons; it is the work of people of a very alien milieu – the great composers were camel-dependant nomads; its grammar has many complications that do not survive in the later language; its texts were transmitted orally for up to two-and-a-half centuries; and there are serious problems about authenticity. It is nevertheless a fascinating and rewarding area of study, from which all later Arabic poetry stems.
This book provides unique insights into ideas prevalent in the region at the rise of Islam. In his introduction, Professor Jones describes how ‘Poetry had a number of facets that took it into the realms of magic’. As well as the inspiration of the poet by his own spirit, and the magic of the sound of poetry recitation, poetic utterances were believed to contain magical forces, particularly when the poem was intended to denigrate or curse. Thus the book transcends mere analysis of poetry to provide a rich critique of the complexities of the subject and the era.
Alan Jones taught Arabic, Turkish and Islamic Studies at Oxford from 1957 to 2000, when he retired from his post as Professor of Classical Arabic. Amongst his special interests are pre-Islamic poetry, the Qur’an, and the early growth of Islamic studies. He has also published key works on the poetry of Muslim Spain. His translation of the Qur’an was published in 2007.
FURTHER INFORMATION
For more information about Early Arabic Poetry or to request a free review copy, please visit http://www.ithacapress.co.uk or contact: Pamela Park, Production, Sales and Marketing Manager,
Garnet Publishing Ltd., 8 Southern Court, South Street, Reading, Berkshire RG1 4QS, UK. Tel: 0118 959 7847.
Email: pamelapark@garnetpublishing.co.uk

Ithaca Press is pleased to announce the publication of Early Arabic Poetry: Select Poems by Professor Alan Jones. This new edition of Early Arabic Poetry combines the two volumes first published in 1992 and 1996, bringing them together with a new foreword and introduction by Professor Jones, which covers the major background problems faced by students of early Arabic poetry. The book will appeal to academics and students in the fields of Middle East Studies, Arabic, literature and poetry.
The book is divided into two main sections: the first section contains a study of fifteen poems from two of the more vivid genres: laments and poems by the outlaws. The second section focuses on famous odes. The poems are analysed in minute detail, providing the student with all the information needed to understand the texts and to consider each poem’s overall thrust and purpose.
The study of early Arabic poetry is a difficult one for a number of reasons; it is the work of people of a very alien milieu – the great composers were camel-dependant nomads; its grammar has many complications that do not survive in the later language; its texts were transmitted orally for up to two-and-a-half centuries; and there are serious problems about authenticity. It is nevertheless a fascinating and rewarding area of study, from which all later Arabic poetry stems.
This book provides unique insights into ideas prevalent in the region at the rise of Islam. In his introduction, Professor Jones describes how ‘Poetry had a number of facets that took it into the realms of magic’. As well as the inspiration of the poet by his own spirit, and the magic of the sound of poetry recitation, poetic utterances were believed to contain magical forces, particularly when the poem was intended to denigrate or curse. Thus the book transcends mere analysis of poetry to provide a rich critique of the complexities of the subject and the era.
Alan Jones taught Arabic, Turkish and Islamic Studies at Oxford from 1957 to 2000, when he retired from his post as Professor of Classical Arabic. Amongst his special interests are pre-Islamic poetry, the Qur’an, and the early growth of Islamic studies. He has also published key works on the poetry of Muslim Spain. His translation of the Qur’an was published in 2007.
FURTHER INFORMATION
For more information about Early Arabic Poetry or to request a free review copy, please visit http://www.ithacapress.co.uk

Nov 14 2011

Early Arabic Poetry by Professor Alan Jones is here again


Early Arabic Poetry

Early Arabic Poetry: Select Poems
By Dr Alan Jones

Hardback
580 pp, Ithaca Press, ISBN: 9780863723872
November 2011

Ithaca Press is pleased to announce the publication of Early Arabic Poetry: Select Poems by Professor Alan Jones. This new edition of Early Arabic Poetry combines the two volumes first published in 1992 and 1996, bringing them together with a new foreword and introduction by Professor Jones, which covers the major background problems faced by students of early Arabic poetry. The book will appeal to academics and students in the fields of Middle East Studies, Arabic, literature and poetry.
The book is divided into two main sections: the first section contains a study of fifteen poems from two of the more vivid genres: laments and poems by the outlaws. The second section focuses on famous odes. The poems are analysed in minute detail, providing the student with all the information needed to understand the texts and to consider each poem’s overall thrust and purpose.
The study of early Arabic poetry is a difficult one for a number of reasons; it is the work of people of a very alien milieu – the great composers were camel-dependant nomads; its grammar has many complications that do not survive in the later language; its texts were transmitted orally for up to two-and-a-half centuries; and there are serious problems about authenticity. It is nevertheless a fascinating and rewarding area of study, from which all later Arabic poetry stems.
This book provides unique insights into ideas prevalent in the region at the rise of Islam. In his introduction, Professor Jones describes how ‘Poetry had a number of facets that took it into the realms of magic’. As well as the inspiration of the poet by his own spirit, and the magic of the sound of poetry recitation, poetic utterances were believed to contain magical forces, particularly when the poem was intended to denigrate or curse. Thus the book transcends mere analysis of poetry to provide a rich critique of the complexities of the subject and the era.

Alan Jones taught Arabic, Turkish and Islamic Studies at Oxford from 1957 to 2000, when he retired from his post as Professor of Classical Arabic. Amongst his special interests are pre-Islamic poetry, the Qur’an, and the early growth of Islamic studies. He has also published key works on the poetry of Muslim Spain. His translation of the Qur’an was published in 2007.

Oct 12 2011

10 Rules and 10 Translations from Dr. Issa J. Boullata


Dr Boullata has translated several books in the series Great Books of Islamic Civilization, by Garnet Publishing Ltd.

He has written and article called 10 Rules and 10 Translations on the Arab Lit blog. Here’s an excerpt:

Dr. Issa J Boullata is a Jerusalem-born Palestinian writer, literary scholar, critic, educator and translator. He started his career with a PhD in Arabic literature from London University in 1969 and went on to be a Professor of Arabic Literature at McGill University in Montreal. He introduced and translated the groundbreaking poetry anthology Modern Arab Poets, 1950-1975 (1976) and has given a number of contemporary Arab authors award-winning translations. He has also published his own novel and short stories, including the novel عائد إلى القدس and the English-language short-story collection A Retired Gentleman and Other Stories.

Ten Rules for Translation

Some translations from Arabic to English are commissioned by publishers or by interested institutions, and have therefore a sort of assured publication and remuneration. Others are ones of texts chosen by the translator, who has then to look for a publisher and negotiate terms and royalties. In all cases, my rules are the same.

(1) Translate only a text that you like and that gives you satisfaction on being published.

(2) Read the text well and, if possible, ask the author about meanings you may have missed or wanted explained.

(3) Accept the fact that cultures are different from one another, and that each has its own way of saying the same thing in possibly different words or ways.

Read the rest of the rules here.

Feb 15 2011

Grant for teaching Arabic : “The Language Of The Future”?


by Gadi Adelman
Family Security Matters
February 14, 2011

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.8715/pub_detail.asp

During a lecture Brigitte Gabriel, the founder of ACT! For America explained that 80 percent of Arabic speaking people in the U.S. are not Muslim. The reason; when Islam and the Caliphate “conquered minorities they forced the people to speak the Arabic language because the easiest way to strip a culture from its heritage is change the language.”

Continue reading →

Feb 1 2011

A Rumbling Octopus: Egyptians Take to the Streets in Protest


By Chip Rossetti, Words without Borders

“The square’s full.  The streets feeding into it are full…There’s never been a demonstration like this before…Egypt appeared to be one great demonstration, united in one person and a single chant.”
—from Palace Walk, by Naguib Mahfouz, translated by William Hutchins and Olive E. Kenny

So it’s finally happened.

The mass uprising by Egyptians against Hosni Mubarak’s thirty-year rule has finally come to pass.  In recent years, there have been sporadic protests and demonstrations against the stagnant political order and against incidents of police brutality and rigged elections, but none have had the sustained and growing impetus that the current wave of demonstrations have had.  No matter what transpires in the next days and weeks (and with the situation so volatile, this blog post may be out of date as soon as it’s posted), it seems clear that Mubarak’s era is over, even if he somehow manages to cling to his presidency until the September 2011 elections.

Between 2005 and mid-2007, I lived and worked in Cairo as an editor at the American University in Cairo Press.  My office was right off of Tahrir Square, the site of the city’s largest demonstrations in the last six days.  Perhaps unsurprisingly, given their location, the AUC Press’ offices have reportedly been looted in the last few days.  While living in Cairo, I heard confident assurances (by international expats and even by Egyptians themselves) that Egyptians were too complacent, too unmotivated, or too inured to oppressive rule to do anything about it.  The argument often went something like this:  Egyptians have been used to strong rulers since ancient times.  When the pharaoh wanted a pyramid built, they were only too glad to obey.  Centuries of subjugation to foreign rulers—Persians, Macedonians, Romans, Arabs, Turks, and British—left their mark on the national character.  Sure, there’s anger about Mubarak, and some brave activists willing to take him on, but the bulk of Egyptians too downtrodden and/or complicit to force a change. One of Egypt’s best short story writers, Yusuf Idris (1927–91), satirized this idea of eternal subservience to authority in one of his most famous stories, translated by Denys Johnson-Davies as “The Chair Carrier,” in which an ancient Egyptian appears on the streets of modern Cairo holding a heavy chair he’s been carrying for millennia at the behest of a long-dead pharaoh.

Jan 26 2011

Stanford slow to build offerings in Middle Eastern studies


Source: The Stanford Daily, 25/01/2011

Years after American interest in the Middle East began to experience a dramatic resurgence with the U.S. invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, Stanford is still racing to create a Middle Eastern studies program comparable to those of its peer institutions.

The University does not offer a degree-granting program in Middle Eastern studies. Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and UC-Berkeley all do.

“About two years ago we had an external review–a team from Princeton, Indiana and Chicago–come in and lay out a road map for developing our program in this area,” said Richard Saller, dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences.

Two major improvements were the creation of the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies and the Hamid and Christina Moghadam Program in Iranian Studies in 2005 and 2007, respectively. The University also recently launched a certificate program in Iranian studies and is in the process of hiring a second Middle East historian. Challenges have precluded further expansion, however.

“The truth is we have not added the faculty as quickly as we’d hoped because the recession really put a break on fundraising, and we need to raise additional funds in order to fund additional faculty positions,” Saller said.

In order to “put a strong foundation” under a degree-granting Middle Eastern studies program, the University would require an eight-figure gift, Saller added.

This race to catch up with the programs offered by peer institutions raises the question: why did Stanford not develop its Middle Eastern studies program when others did so?

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Dec 24 2010

Ibrahim al-Koni’s Great Desert is often mistaken for an empty land.


Elliott Colla, Wednesday 22 Dec 2010

Ahram online

This year’s Egyptian State prize for the novel, awarded to authors who write in the Arabic language, has gone to Ibrahim Al-Koni. As an event attesting to the broad enthusiasm among Arab critics and readers for Al-Koni’s great art, last week’s award was only one moment of recognition among many. By now, Al-Koni has earned as many literary awards as any other living Arab author, and he has done so across the entire breadth of the Arab world, from the Gulf to the Atlantic Ocean. Unlike most Arab novelists who still tend to be read as national writers (Egyptians, Lebanese, Iraqis and so on), Al-Koni is one of a few whose reception has effectively transcended the national borders that divide the Arab world.

The irony of this, of course, is that Al-Koni’s mother tongue is Tamasheq (not Arabic) and he writes largely about Twaregs, not Arabs. While it would be a mistake for us to draw a sharp line between these two peoples, for centuries this is precisely what the Arabic literary tradition did. In the accounts of pre-modern North African travelers and geographers, Twareg culture and society is presented as radically other. Indeed, Arab writers tended to draw sharp lines between Arabo-Berber-Muslim culture of the Maghreb, and that of the Twaregs—a people whose political structure is matrilineal and whose conversion to Islam was at times thought to be less than complete and sincere.

Taking the Twareg aspect of Al-Koni’s writing seriously allows us to recognize a radically redrawn map of the world—one in which the Sahara is a full, rather than empty space; one in which the Twareg lie not at the edges, but the center of history. Al-Koni’s novels take place in a desert world that is, despite its desolation, surprisingly rich in the sense that everywhere there are living beings struggling to live. In Al-Koni’s fiction, the meaning of life is always tied to struggle. Thus, Al-Koni’s novels paradoxically suggest that only here—in the harshest corners of the desert waste—does life emerge in its richest sense.

[Read More]

Dec 21 2010

Arab Novel Award goes to Ibrahim al-Koni, the author of Seven Veils of Seth


20/12/2010

ibrahim_alkoni.jpg

Libyan novelist Ibrahim al-Koni received in Cairo the Arab Novel Award and dedicated the value of the prize to the children of the Tuareg tribes from which he originally hails.

At the closing ceremony of the fifth round of the Cairo Novel Conference, prominent Libyan author Ibrahim al-Koni was chosen from 23 competitors to receive the Arab Novel Award, whose value is 100,000 Egyptian pounds ($18,000).

“Koni was chosen for his ability to breathe life into the desert on the human, natural, spiritual, and mythological levels,” said Syrian critic Sobhi Hadeedi, who headed the jury. The committee in charge of choosing the winner praised Koni’s ability to utilize folklore, oral tradition, death rituals, and aspects of everyday life in order to create a literary work.

“He creates his own individual anthropology,” added the committee statement.

Seven-Veils.jpg

The Seven Veils of Seth

Ibrahim al-Koni

Garnet Publishing, 2008

ISBN 9781859642023

 

Ibrahim al-Koni is a Libyan Tuareg who writes in Arabic. He studied comparative literature at the Gorky Institute in Moscow, and was a journalist in Moscow and Warsaw. He has lived in Switzerland since 1993, and authored over 50 novels, short stories, poems and aphorisms, all inspired by the desert. Some works have been translated into 35 languages, including eight into German and six into French.

Children of Tuareg

Upon receiving the prize from Egyptian Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni, Koni announced that he wants to donate the money to the children of the Tuareg, the tribes that inhabit the desert interior of North Africa and from which he also hails. Koni specified that he wanted the Tuareg children in Niger and Mali to be the beneficiaries of his award. Ibrahim al-Koni, born in 1948 in the desert town of Ghadames in the Fezzan region in southwestern Libya, studied comparative literature at the Russian Maxim Gorky Literature Institute and worked as a journalist in Warsaw and Moscow.

He wrote all his books in Arabic, which he learnt when he was twelve, and his novels were translated into 35 languages.

Koni is the recipient of numerous awards, on top of which is the Swiss State Award for his novel Bleeding of the Stone in 1995, the Libyan State Award for all his work in 1996, and the Japanese Translation Committee Award for his novel Gold Dust in 1997. He also received the French Order for Literature and Arts in 2006 and the Sheikh Zayyed Book Award in 2007.

Saudi author Abdul Rahman Munif received the first Arab Novel Award, given every two years, followed in 2003 by Egyptian author Sonallah Ibrahim, who refused to receive the award from a government that “does not possess the credibility to grant it.” In 2005, the third award went to Sudanese author Tayyeb Saleh and the fourth in 2008 to Egyptian author Edward al-Kharrat.

Dec 10 2010

Jobs: Arabic Language (Lecturer)


Deadline: January 10, 2011

University of Kentucky

University of Kentucky, the Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures and Cultures, invites applications for a Lecturer in Arabic whose appointment will begin August 2011. The position is in principle renewable indefinitely on the basis of satisfactory performance and may lead to promotion to Senior Lecturer after five years of continuous appointment. The successful applicant’s responsibilities will include articulation and coordination of the Department’s Arabic language courses, supervision and training of one or more graduate teaching assistants, and teaching three courses per semester. Qualifications include a PhD or ABD (PhD in hand by August 2011) in Arabic linguistics or literary and cultural studies with interest in Second Language Acquisition, substantial experience in teaching language courses, and native or near-native fluency in English and Arabic, including oral proficiency in a spoken Arabic dialect. Competitive salary and a full range of fringe benefits. Applicants should send letter of application, CV, teaching portfolio, and placement dossier with at least three letters of recommendation to: Prof. Ihsan Bagby, Chair, Arabic Search Committee, Modern and Classical Languages, 1055 POT, University of Kentucky, Lexington KY 40506-0027 (http://www.as.uky.edu/MCLLC/). The University of Kentucky is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity University that values diversity and is located in an increasingly diverse geographical region. It is committed to becoming one of the top public institutions in the country. Women, persons with disabilities, and members of other underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply. Applications will be acknowledged. Review of applications will begin January 10, 2011 and continue until the position is filled.

Dec 10 2010

Surge in US students of Arabic


By Karin Zeitvogel (AFP)

WASHINGTON December 2010 — Arabic was the fastest-growing foreign language for US university study last year, with enrollments growing by more than 46 percent compared to 2006, a study released Wednesday showed.

Besides English, Arabic leapfrogged Latin and Russian to land in eighth place on the most studied language list, which has been compiled 22 times since 1958 by the Modern Language Association (MLA).

Other countries that showed double-digit percentage growth were Korean, which grew by just over 19 percent; Chinese, up by 18.2 percent; American sign language, up 16.4 percent, and Portuguese, by around 11 percent.

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