Posts tagged literature

Book Launch at SOAS: These 13 stories of young activists from the MENA region (Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Jordan, Yemen, Palestine - West bank & Gaza), reveal how young Arab women and men, who come from very diverse backgrounds, regions, continents, share the same passion for their countries, the same audacity of hope for a better tomorrow, the same dream of making their country proud of them. All of the writers who were committed to this project were deeply convinced that one should not ask what their country will do for them, but rather what could they offer their countries. In a world where barriers are constantly being erased, where virtual communication turns the world to a global village, what is this strange bond that ties this Arab youth to politics and public affairs?

A fascinating, groundbreaking look at changing sexual attitudes and behaviour in the Arab world, and their part in 2011’s popular revolts

In the political unrest that has swept across the Arab region in 2011, all eyes have been on the streets and squares erupting in protest. But for the past five years, Shereen El Feki has been looking at upheaval a little closer to home - in the sexual lives of men and women across the Arab world. The result is Sex And The Citadel, an informative, insightful and engaging account of a highly sensitive and still largely secret aspect of Arab society. Sex might seem a strange lens with which to examine change in the Arab world; it is, in fact, a prism with which to refract the region’s complex social spectrum. Sexual attitudes and behaviours are intimately bound up in religion, culture, politics and economics. As such, they are not only a reflection of the conditions that led to the recent uprisings, as well as one of the engines of revolt, but will also be a measure of hard-won reforms in the years to come.

Love and Devotion

From Persia and Beyond

By Susan Scollay

Tales of earthly and spiritual love were recounted and reinterpreted by Persian poets from the 11th century onwards. Stories of lovers such as Yusuf and Zulaykha, Khusrau and Shirin, and Layla and Majnun were embraced not only in Iran but also in the neighbouring Mughal and Ottoman empires. In courtly settings versified epics and lyrical couplets were copied into illustrated manuscripts for elite patrons in the eastern Islamic world, for whom poetry was a key component of cultural life from the 14th to the18th centuries.

Susan Scollay is an art historian specializing in the Islamic world. She is guest co-curator of the ‘Love and Devotion: From Persia and Beyond’ exhibition.

The Dawn of the Arab Uprisings End of an Old Order?

Edited by: Bassam Haddad, Rosie Bsheer, Ziad Abu-Rish, Foreword by: Roger Owen

The Dawn of the Arab Uprisings sheds light on the historical background and initial impact of the mass uprisings which have shaken the Arab world since December 2010. The book brings together the best writers from the online journal Jadaliyya, which has established itself as an unparalleled source of information and critical analysis on the Middle East.

The authors, many of whom live in the countries affected, provide unique understanding and first-hand accounts of events that have received superficial and partial coverage in Western and Arab media alike. While the book focuses on those states that have been most affected by the uprisings it also covers the impact on Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Palestine, and Iraq.

The Dawn of the Arab Uprisings covers the full range of issues involved in these historic events, from political economy and the role of social media, to international politics, gender, labour and the impact on culture, making this the ideal one-stop introduction to the events for the novice and specialist alike.

Karachi Literature Festival 2013

Launched in 2010, the annual Karachi Literature Festival is open to all and free. The first of its kind in Pakistan, it brings together and celebrates Pakistani and international authors writing in diverse languages. It features creative writing workshops, debates, discussions, lectures, mushairah, a book fair, book launches, readings, signings, and more. In 2013 the Festival moves to a new, more accessible venue in the heart of Karachi where, for the first time, a Children’s Literature Festival will be held in parallel under the Karachi Literature Festival umbrella.

ISHRAQAH

Friday 15 February & Saturday 16 February
FESTIVAL OF MIDDLE EASTERN ART AND CULTURE

“She Who Tells a Story” Narratives of Creativity by Women from the Middle East

This half-day symposium will explore the rich variety of ways in which women working across the Middle East, and across various creative practices (art, literature, film, journalism, blogging, curating), have sought to tell their, and others’, stories. Reflecting on issues such as the politics of self-representation, the challenges and possibilities afforded by their identities as women, and the nature of their creative practice, the symposium seeks to construct a range of interdisciplinary, transnational conversations through which women are able to explore the ways their stories intersect and diverge, constructing dynamic narratives of creativity, gender and representation within the Middle East.

(Photo: Tanya Habjouqa)

What’s important for young people all over the world today? What do they care about? And how do they express it? It seems — through poetry. Join an exciting line-up of new poets from around the world to celebrate the launch of Global Youth Cultures, the latest issue of Wasafiri, the Magazine of International Contemporary Writing.

Occupation Diaries by  RAJA SHEHADEH

It is often the smallest details of daily life that tell us the most. And so it is under occupation in Palestine. What most of us take for granted has to be carefully thought about and planned for: When will the post be allowed to get through? Will there be enough water for the bath tonight? How shall I get rid of the rubbish collecting outside? How much time should I allow for the journey to visit my cousin, going through checkpoints? And big questions too: Is working with left-wing Israelis collaborating or not? What effect will the Arab Spring have on the future of Palestine? What can anyone do to bring about change? Are any of life’s pleasures untouched by politics?

How It Happened by Shazaf Fatima Haider

Dadi, the imperious matriarch of the Bandian family in Karachi, swears by the virtues of arranged marriage. All her ancestors – including a dentally and optically challenged aunt – have been perfectly well-served by such arrangements. But her grandchildren are harder to please.

Haroon, the apple of her eye, has to suffer half a dozen candidates until he finds the perfect Shia-Syed girl of his dreams. But it is Zeba, his sister, who has the tougher time, as she is accosted by a bevy of suitors, including a potbellied cousin and a banker who reeks of sesame oil.

Told by the witty, hawk-eyed Saleha, the precocious youngest sibling, this is a romantic, amusing and utterly delightful story about how marriages are made and unmade—-not in heaven, but in the drawing room and over the phone.

Business Networks in Syria
The Political Economy of Authoritarian Resilience
by Bassam Haddad

Collusion between business communities and the state can lead to a measure of security for those in power, but this kind of interaction often limits new development. In Syria, state-business involvement through informal networks has contributed to an erratic economy. With unique access to private businessmen and select state officials during a critical period of transition, this book examines Syria’s political economy from 1970 to 2005 to explain the nation’s pattern of state intervention and prolonged economic stagnation.

As state income from oil sales and aid declined, collusion was a bid for political security by an embattled regime. To achieve a modicum of economic growth, the Syrian regime would develop ties with select members of the business community, reserving the right to reverse their inclusion in the future. Haddad ultimately reveals that this practice paved the way for forms of economic agency that maintained the security of the regime but diminished the development potential of the state and the private sector.

Andersen in Istanbul: The Mawlid of the Prophet Muhammad

The Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875), famous for his stories and fairy tales, also captured his journeys abroad in a number of travelogues. The lengthy excerpt reproduced here recounts a visit to Istanbul (Constantinople) on the occasion of the birthday celebration, or Mawlid, for the Prophet Muhammad. He also recounts the public procession of the Sultan and his entourage from the Serail (meaning Topkapı Saray or Palace). The account gives yet another interesting outsider perspective on Ottoman life and society.

The Middle East at the Venice Biennale examines half a century of regional participation at the world’s oldest art event. Featuring interviews with curators, artists and commissioners, it looks at the history of Middle Eastern participation as well as representation today.

Banipal 45 is a doubly special issue, celebrating at the same time 15 years of publication and Palestine. The issue presents novels, short stories, and poems by 23 “new and young and uncompromising voices from all regions of Palestine” – 13 fiction writers and 10 poets.

Soldiers, Spies and Statesmen: Egypt’s Road to Revolt by Hazem Kandil

Gripping analysis of Egypt’s transformation from military regime to police state, on the road to revolution. Revolutions are difficult to understand and almost impossible to predict. Egypt’s 2011 revolt was no exception. The military’s abandonment of Mubarak—a turning point for the revolt—confounded many observers, who assumed that the leader and the generals stood or fell together. The officers, it was thought, ruled from behind the scenes and simply swapped the figures in the spotlight to preserve the status quo.

In a challenge to this conventional view, Hazem Kandil presents the revolution as the latest episode in an ongoing power struggle between the three components of Egypt’s authoritarian regime: the military, the security services, and the political apparatus. A detailed study of the interactions within this invidious triangle over six decades of war, conspiracy, and sociopolitical transformation, Soldiers, Spies, and Statesmen is the first systematic analysis of how Egypt metamorphosed from a military into a police state—and what that means for the future of its revolution.