lundi 30 décembre 2019

LES VERS APOTROPAÏQUES


LES VERS APOTROPAÏQUES
ARTICLE PUBLIÉ LE 23/12/2019
Par Florence Somer Gavage

©Luisa Ricciarini / Leemage /AFP



Pour conjurer l’emprise des démons en cette période de l’année, il faut être poète. Les mots des aèdes, des rhapsodes, des bardes ou des trouvères ont ce pouvoir, issu de leur statut divin car émanant de l’inspiration, de protéger le monde même au milieu de la nuit. Alors que le jour s’éteint et que la Nature est abandonnée à la noirceur de la plus longue nuit, en ce solstice d’hiver, les tables iraniennes se garnissent de pastèque et de grenades, de noix et de fruits. Au centre de l’espace dressé pour célébrer le passage de cette nuit où le jour est le plus court, se trouve un livre, leDivān-e Hāfez, un recueil en vers mi-philosophique, mi-prophétique, un sortilège implacable, assurant la fin funeste de tout soldat d’Ahriman, le principe du mal.
Le ghazāl
Shams al-Dīn Muhammad Shīrāzī (1315-1389) est le poète persan incontournable dont la spécialité, le ghazāl (1), lui a valu une renommée internationale. Qu’il ait été auteur prolixe ou que son nom ait été utilisé pour produire des œuvres savantes, nous n’en savons rien car peu d’éléments biographiques et bibliographiques nous sont parvenus. Loin de rebuter l’âme du lecteur, elle se laisse charmer par les flots des vers de son recueil de vers de métrique identique, se terminant par les mêmes mots précédés du même motif rimé.
Le ghazāl est à la fois un style poétique et un genre musical qui apparaît dans la poésie arabe au VIème siècle et dont la renommée atteint son paroxysme entre les XIIIème et XIVeme siècle à Chiraz avec le poète Sa’di Shīrāzī (1210-1291), puis avec la production poétique de Hafez qui inspirera une longue descendance s’étendant sur tous les continents. En Europe, le ghazāl persan fait son entrée par le biais de traductions en latin, en allemand, en anglais et en français à la fin du XVIIème siècle. Goethe s’inspire de la traduction des ghazāl de Hafez et le poète romantique Friedrich Rückert (1788-1866), professeur de langues orientales, traduit Hafez et en tire ses Roses Orientales (1822). August von Platen (1796-1835) publie deux livres de Ghasels qui sont ceux dont Franz Schubert (1797-1828) s’inspirera pour certains de ses Leider. Le leid, qui traverse la moitié de l’œuvre du compositeur romantique éprouve une certaine proximité avec le ghazāl. Comme lui, il encense l’essence de l’impermanence, de l’instant et du voyage. Louis Aragon rendra hommage au style avec son poème Ghazel au fond de la nuit paru en 1963.
Ustad du dernier sultan moghol Bahadur Shah Zafar (1775-1862), le poète persanophone et ourduphone Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib (1797-1879) nous a, lui aussi, légué un divān où il modèle ses vers sous la forme de ghazal. En Asie centrale, le poète perso-ouzbeck Nizomiddin Mir Alisher Navoiy (1441-1501) écrit en tchaghataï à la cour du sultan timouride Husayn Bay à Hérat où il est né et s’éteindra. Poète relativement inconnu en Occident, sa poésie, légère et subtile, regroupe les grands thèmes traités par le genre : l’amour, la philosophie et le vin. En voici un exemple traduit (2) :
Sur cette nuit couleur de musc,
L’hiver a saupoudré de la poudre de camphre
Pour jouer à mêler le noir avec le blanc !
L’Inde ne connaît pas les flocons de la neige
Mais grâce à cette neige, cet hiver opiniâtre a transformé la nuit.
Et fait que ce pays resplendit comme l’Inde !
Noir est couleur du peuple et c’est grâce à la neige
Que l’hiver le transforme, passant du noir au blanc,
Changeant ce peuple sombre en peuple lumineux !
C’est une tradition que de boire du vin
Dans une maison blanche, habillée par l’hiver ;
Que l’hiver soit béni pour ses règles aimables !
Le feu chauffe la pièce lorsque l’hiver est là ;
À cette période le vin chauffe la tête ;
Il est donc faux de dire que l’hiver n’est que froid !
On dit que c’est l’hiver qui pousse à boire du vin
Mais si l’on devient gourd de par sa dévotion
Il conviendrait vraiment de pardonner l’hiver !
Il est bien difficile de vivre dans des ruines
Mais si grâce à du vin tu transformes ton bouge
Reconnais-le aussi et remercie l’hiver !
Si l’ivre hiver te prive de ton vin de la veille
Bois du vin le matin, tu pourras acquérir
La richesse que Jamshid apporta à ce monde !
Ô ! Navoiy, On ne peut échapper à ce type d’enfer
Qui est fait de poussière et de nuages chauds
L’influence des ghazals sur la littérature anglaise est également présente dès le XIXème siècle chez des poètes comme Shelley (1792-1822), Byron (1788-1824), ou Thomas Moore (1779-1852). Des auteurs contemporains ont repris le ghazāl pour enrichir leurs vers. On peut citer Robert Bly, Adrienne Rich, W.S. Merwin, Jim Harrison, Galway Kinnell (traducteur de Mirza Ghalib) ou encore Marilyn Hacker.
Agha Shahid Ali (1949-2001), poète érudit originaire d’une famille noble de Srinagar et exilé aux Etats-Unis, a dédié une partie importante de ses compositions à ce style si particulier (3) et consacré une anthologie regroupant 107 poètes à ce genre métrique (4). Sa connaissance des traditions urdues, persanes, arabes et européennes du genre lui ont permis de produire des poèmes en style ghazāl d’une grande sophistication et d’une intense richesse.
Le caractère philosophique et mystique de la tradition du ghazāl portée par ses auteurs a entrainé son adaptation par la musique classique iranienne, arabe ou indienne sous forme de dastgāh, de maqām ou rāgas. Les instruments de prédilection de l’expérience ghazālienne sont le sitar et le tanpura, le robab et les tablās, le kamāncheh et le dāf. Ces instruments peuvent également dialoguer comme le prouvent les musiciens iraniens et indiens Kayhan Kalhor et Shujaat Husain Khan par la création du groupe éponyme du style : Ghazāl.
Les règles du ghazāl
De 5 à 15 sher (5) de deux vers chacun, chaque sher est considéré comme une entité indépendante au point de vue du sens de sorte que, même pris séparément, chaque vers est un poème en lui-même. L’art du poète consiste alors à assembler ces vers les uns aux autres, comme on le ferait de perles sur un collier.
Au commencement est le matla, et chaque ligne se termine par un radif, une sorte de refrain composé d’un mot ou d’une phrase qui apparaît à la seconde ligne de chaque sher qui suivra. Selon la règle du beher (6), la longueur des sher doit être constante tout au long de la composition. La norme appelée kaafiyaa rend l’exercice encore plus complexe car elle impose une rime intérieure avant chaque radif. Le maqta clos le ghazāl, faisant parler le poète.
Un exemple parmi d’autres de mise en pratique de ces règles par le maître du genre se trouve dans la version persane de ce ghazāl (7) :
« Cette demeure sublunaire, quitte-la sans plus supplier
L’avide maître de maison, futur assassin de son hôte !
Qui doit n’avoir un jour pour couche qu’une pauvre poignée de terre
Qu’a-t-il à faire d’édifices bâtis pour atteindre le ciel ?
Ô ma beauté de Canaan, le trône d’Égypte t’attend,
Voici venu le temps prescrit de dire adieu à la prison.
Tu peux bien te plaire, ô Hâfez, à boire et te rire des lois,
Mais sans jeter sur le Coran, comme eux, filet d’hypocrisie ! » (8)
Réenchanter le monde
Si la poésie a ce pouvoir incontestable sur les démons, c’est parce que la plupart se réfugient en nous. En exaltant le moment, en rendant toutes ses couleurs et ses saveurs à l’instant, nous incluons notre puissance créatrice au centre d’un tableau dont le profane ne peut (plus) voir la magie. Le poète, souvent mélancolique, est, par sa production, touché par la grâce des dieux qui l’inspirent et le poussent à montrer l’infinie complexité de ce qui est donné à voir. Réenchanter le monde en sublimant le lien entre le macrocosme et le microcosme, l’environnement et les sentiments, et permettre d’écarter la monotonie, le fatalisme et la reddition. En arabe, en persan et en urdu, le style poétique et musical partage également son nom avec une créature aussi légère et fugitive que lui : la gazelle dont on dit que celui qui possède le don et la patience de l’apprivoiser est protégé de Dieu.
Notes :
(1) Origine du mot ghazal : Ghazali : en arabe, flirter, faire des gestes amoureux. Voir le précédent article sur l’histoire du mot divan.
(2) Traduction par Mourodkhon Ergasgev, adapté par Jean-Jacques Gaté. Voir : http://www.georama.fr/f/index.php?sp=liv&livre_id=4
(3) Call Me Ishmael Tonight : A Book of Ghazals (W. W. Norton, 2003), Rooms Are Never Finished (2001), The Country Without a Post Office (1997), The Beloved Witness : Selected Poems (1992), A Nostalgist’s Map of America (1991), A Walk Through the Yellow Pages (1987), The Half-Inch Himalayas (1987), In Memory of Begum Akhtar and Other Poems (1979), and Bone Sculpture (1972). He is also the author of T. S. Eliot as Editor (1986), translator of The Rebel’s Silhouette : Selected Poems by Faiz Ahmed Faiz (1992).
(4) Ravishing Disunities : Real Ghazals in English (2000)
(5) Voulant dire à la fois couplets et poésie.
(6) Mètre.
(7) http://www.hafizonlove.com/divan/01/042.htm
(8) Ghazel dans la traduction de Gilbert Lazard (« Cent un Ghazals amoureux », éd. Gallimard, coll. Connaissance de l’Orient, Paris).
Quelques liens :
Hâfez de Chiraz, Le Divân. Œuvre lyrique d’un spirituel en Perse au xive siècle, introduction, traduction du persan et commentaires par Charles-Henri de Fouchécour, Lagrasse, Verdier, 2006.
Hâfez de Chiraz, Cent et un ghazals amoureux, traduction du persan par Gilbert Lazard. Introduction et notes de Gilbert Lazard, Collection Connaissance de l’Orient (n° 120), Série persane, Gallimard, 2010
Benvenuto, Christine. “Agha Shahid Ali.” The Massachusetts Review, vol. 43, no. 2, 2002, pp. 261–273. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25091852.
https://www.cairn.info/revue-philosophique-2012-1-page-61.htm#no1
https://www.bookforum.com/print/1601/agha-shahid-ali-s-poems-are-charmed-whispers-that-can-console-and-devastate-3523


Ευχές για το 2020.

Σε όλους όσους τυχαίνει να διαβάζουν εδώ, 
στους φίλους μας, 
στα μέλη μας, 
στα μέλη του Διοικητικού Συμβουλίου, 

χρόνια πολλά και καλά, με υγεία, χαρές, επιτυχίες!
και με μια προσευχή: αυτός ο τόπος της Μέσης Ανατολής, ο τόπος με τόσους θησαυρούς, υλικούς και πνευματικούς, να βρεί την επί γης ειρήνη και την ευδοκία μεταξύ των ανθρώπων...

EURAMES Info Service 52/2019


Dear Colleague,
All best wishes for a happy and successful new year to you and your family!
Guenter Meyer

Please find below the following announcements:

CONFERENCES

  1. Annual Conference of the Academy in Exile on “Dire Times: Critical Thinking Then and Now“, Freie Universität Berlin, 16-17 January 2020

2.    Graduate Student Conference of the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies, Columbia University, 5-6 March 2020

3.    First Conference on "Healthcare Communications in the Middle East", Weill Cornell Medicine, Doha, 27-28 March 2020

4.    Second Mid-Atlantic Ottoman Studies Workshop on "Global Ottoman Empire", Hagop Kevorkian Center for the Near Eastern Studie, New York University, 27-29 March 2020

5.    11th Western Ottomanists' Workshop, California State University Sacramento, 10-11 April 2020

6.    4th Annual International Conference on Social Sciences on "Identity, Economics and Politics", Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul, 16-18 April 2020

  1. 2nd International Congress on “Women and Politics in a Global World” (Focus onTurkey), Altinbas University, 17-18 April 2020

  1. Conference: "The Basic Social Effects on the Problems of Muslim Societies", 18-19 April 2020, Sakarya University, Turkey

  1. Fifth Annual Student Symposium on Gulf Studies (SSGS) on “Asia and the Gulf States; Growing Interactions“, Gulf Studies Center, Qatar University, 19 April 2020

10.  International Symposium: "'The National Sovereignty and Representation' on the Centenary of the Inauguration of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey", Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University, 20-21 April 2020

11.  Conference: "Navigating the Non/Confessional in University Islamic Studies", Department of Theology and Religion, University of Birmingham in Partnership with MBRN, 20-22 April 2020

  1. International Conference of the EU – Middle East Jean Monnet Network (EUMENIA) on “EU – Middle East Relations“, University of Jordan, Amman, 21 April 2020

  1. 4th AEGIS Thematic Conference on “Africa in the Indian Ocean“ (Interconnections with Middle East), ISCTE-University Institute of Lisbon, 23-24 April 2020

14.  Interdisciplinary Graduate Conference: "Decolonial Histories: Imperialism, Resistance, and Liberation", Stony Brook University, New York, 24 April 2020

15.  Spring Workshop: "Public Scholarship of Religion in an Age of Hypermediation", Boulder, Colorado, 6-10 May 2020

16.  Academic Roundtable: “Jerusalem in Memory and Eschatology: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Visions of the Past and Future of Jerusalem”, Swedish Theological Institute, Jerusalem, 25-28 May 2020

17.  42nd  Annual Conference of Middle East Librarians (MELCom International), University of Marburg, 26-28 May 2020

18.  46th Annual Meeting of the French Colonial Historical Society on "Francophone Borderlands", Buffalo, New York, 28-31 May 2020

19.  International Conference: “Religion and Culture in Conflict and Peace: Impact in Reconciliation and Peacebuilding”, University of Winchester, 2-3 June 2020

20.  Panel on “Geo-ethnographic Research in the Indian Ocean” during the Conference “Anthropology and Geography: Dialogues Past, Present and Future”, British Museum, SOAS, London, 4-7 June 2020

21.  Conference: “Discursive Challenges: Power, State Legitimacy and Counter-narratives in the Arab World”, Durham University, 9-11 June 2020

22.  Symposium: “Making Home Away: Displacement, Migration, and Resettlement”, University of Reading, 12 June 2020

23.  Conference: "Global Cities: Middle Eastern Metropoles 2020", University of London, 17-19 June 2020

  1. Workshop on “Colonial Concentration Camps: Imperial Origins and Global Legacies“ (Including MENA), Monash University Prato, 29 June - 1 July 2020

25.  51st International Conference of the ARAM Society for Syro-Mesopotamian Studies on "The Cultural Heritage of the Aramaeans B.C.: History, Literature, and Archaeology", Oriental Institute, University of Oxford, 20-22 July 2020

26.  52nd International Conference of the ARAM Society for Syro-Mesopotamian Studies on "The Decapolis: History and Archaeology", Oriental Institute, University of Oxford, 27-29 July 2020

27.  Annual Conference of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), Washington, DC, 10-13 October 2020

28.  Seventh International Conference of the International Iranian Economic Association on Iran's Economy, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, 15-17 December 2020

29.  Conference: "Knowledge Systems and Ottoman-European Encounters: Spatial and Social Dynamics", University of Zurich, 21-23 January 2021


POSITIONS

  1. PhD Candidate / Research Associate in Islamic Studies for Project “Romanization and Islamication in Late Antiquity – Transcultural Processes on the Iberian Peninsula and in North Africa”, RomanIslam Center for Comparative Empire and Transcultural Studies, University of Hamburg

31.  Post-doc Research Associate for Project “Romanization and Islamication in Late Antiquity – Transcultural Processes on the Iberian Peninsula and in North Africa”, RomanIslam Center for Comparative Empire and Transcultural Studies, University of Hamburg

32.  Doctoral Researcher in Sociology of Religion, University of Münster

  1. Post-Doctoral Fellowship Position in the Project “Striking from the Margins: From Disintegration to Reconstitution of State and Religion in the Middle East”, Central European University, Budapest

34.  Three Vacancies in the Project '"Source of Life: Water Management in the Premodern Middle East (7th-15th century)", Radboud University Nijmegen

35.  Professorship and Faculty Positions in Humanities and Social Sciences, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar

36.  Multiple Faculty Positions in Public Policy, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar

37.  PhD Research Grant Announcements 2020, Orient-Institut Istanbul

38.  Open Rank Professor in Political Science with Specialization in International Relations, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies

39.  Open Rank Professor in Political Science with Specialization in Comparative Politics, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies

40.  Assistant or Associate Professor in Comparative Literature, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies

41.  Assistant Professor in Islamicate South Asian Studies, Columbia University

42.  Graduate Research Fellowship at the Center for Jewish History, New York

43.  Postdoctoral Fellowship in North African Studies, Yale University

44.  Postdoctoral Fellowship in Modern Middle East Studies, Yale University

45.  Doctoral Fellowships in Israel Studies, Brandeis University

46.  Assistant Professor in Gender, Post-Colonialism, and the Islamic World, York University, Canada


OTHER INFORMATION

47.  Faculty Fellowship: The Summer Institute for Israel Studies, 10-21 June 2020 at Brandeis and 22 June – 1 July 2020 in Israel

48.  Research Travel Grants: Rubenstein Library, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina

49.  Prix de thèse Moyen-Orient et mondes musulmans 2020

50.  Book Prize of the Mediterranean Seminar for the Best Book on the Mediterranean Region Published 2016-2019

51.  Richard Gillespie Mediterranean Prize for Early Career Researchers

52.  Call for Projects in the Priority Program "Transottomanica: Eastern European-Ottoman-Persian Mobility Dynamics" for 2020-2023

53.  Summer School Languages Program: Modern Turkish, Ottoman Turkish, Arabic, and Persian, Ibn Khaldun University Süleymaniye Complex, Istanbul, 8 June - 24 July 2020

  1. Chapters for Edited Book on “Water, Energy, and Environment in Eurasia”, Cappadocia University Press

55.  New Open Access “Journal of Material Cultures in the Muslim World“, Brill

  1. Contributions to “Muqarnas: An Annual on the Visual Cultures of the Islamic World“, Volume 38, 2021

If you want to distribute an announcement via DAVO-Info-Service (about 1300 recipients) and EURAMES Info Service (more than 6000 recipients, only English and French announcements), please apply the usual format of the text with no more than 50 words and no attachment. Please send only the most important information to davo@geo.uni-mainz.de and refer to further details with a link to the respective website or an email address.

Best regards,

Guenter Meyer, Centre for Research on the Arab World (CERAW), University of Mainz, in cooperation with the University of Sharjah, UAE

____________________


CONFERENCES

  1. Annual Conference of the Academy in Exile on “Dire Times: Critical Thinking Then and Now“, Freie Universität Berlin, 16-17 January 2020

Academy in Exile is a fellowship program for displaced and exiled scholars located at Universität Duisburg-Essen and Freie Universität Berlin. It offers scholars who are threatened in their home countries because of their academic or civic engagement the opportunity to resume their research abroad. The conference assembles international experts and fellows of Academy in Exile to jointly reflect on perspectives for critical thinking in contemporary academia.

For program and registration contact academy-in-exile@fu-berlin.de

_____________________________________


2.    Graduate Student Conference of the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies, Columbia University, 5-6 March 2020

The conference brings together graduate students working on the social and intellectual traditions of those three regions related to political economy and social history; study of mysticism; devotional traditions; imperialism and colonialism; law and political structures; etc.


_____________________________________


3.    First Conference on "Healthcare Communications in the Middle East", Weill Cornell Medicine, Doha, 27-28 March 2020

The conference will be valuable for clinicians, policy makers, allied health professionals, translators, and language specialists in the Middle East region, or international participants interested in delivering culturally sensitive care and forging international collaborations.


_____________________________________


4.    Second Mid-Atlantic Ottoman Studies Workshop on "Global Ottoman Empire", Hagop Kevorkian Center for the Near Eastern Studie, New York University, 27-29 March 2020

The workshop will emphasize the connectivity not only between the Ottoman Empire and the surrounding polities, but also among communities, individuals, and many other groups within and beyond its imperial boundaries. We encourage submissions from history, literary studies, manuscript studies, art & architectural history.


_____________________________________


5.    11th Western Ottomanists' Workshop, California State University Sacramento, 10-11 April 2020

Scholars and graduate students interested in Ottoman studies are invited to present work in progress, and engage in broad dialogue with colleagues in different fields and disciplines.

Deadline for abstracts: 13 January 2020.

_____________________________________


6.    4th Annual International Conference on Social Sciences on "Identity, Economics and Politics", Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul, 16-18 April 2020

Scholars of Economics, Political Science, Sociology, Psychology, Anthropology, Humanities and Arts, Law and any related issues are invited to analyse social identity issues at national and global scale, especially in economic, politic and social spheres, including economic decision-making processes, poverty, immigration, social exclusion, inequality, welfare state and social and political clashes among different identities.

Deadline for abstracts: 2 February 2020. Information: http://www.aicss.yildiz.edu.tr/

_____________________________________


  1. 2nd International Congress on “Women and Politics in a Global World” (Focus onTurkey), Altinbas University, 17-18 April 2020

The place and significance of women within the spheres of family, law, science, art, politics, culture and socio-economy throughout the ages will be assessed in context of interdisciplinary studies involving women in throughout Turkey and the world.

Deadline for abstracts extended until 20 January 2020.

_____________________________________


  1. Conference: "The Basic Social Effects on the Problems of Muslim Societies", 18-19 April 2020, Sakarya University, Turkey

The conference will present civilizational and native thoughts and solving styles to the social problems of Muslim societies and will present new movements of thought and institutional models to the Muslim world as alternative approach.

Deadline for abstracts: 25 January 2020. Information: Prof. Dr. Sami Sener, samis843@gmail.com

_____________________________________


  1. Fifth Annual Student Symposium on Gulf Studies (SSGS) on “Asia and the Gulf States; Growing Interactions“, Gulf Studies Center, Qatar University, 19 April 2020

The major themes of the Forum are political relations, economic relations and development, social and cultural interactions. The aim of is to provide a platform for undergraduate students, post-graduate students, PhD students/candidates, and post-doctorates who have graduated within the last two years to share their research.

Deadline for abstracts: 16 February 2020. Information: GSEvents@qu.edu.qa

_____________________________________


10.  International Symposium: "'The National Sovereignty and Representation' on the Centenary of the Inauguration of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey", Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University, 20-21 April 2020

The Symposium aims to present a scientific representation of the related developments in Turkey by focusing on the debates on global and local "democracy deficit", which directly concerns national sovereignty and representation. The accommodation of the paper presenters will be covered by the organizers.

Deadline for abstracts: 15 January 2020.Information: https://hacibayram.edu.tr/web/egemenlik2020duyuruen

_____________________________________


11.  Conference: "Navigating the Non/Confessional in University Islamic Studies", Department of Theology and Religion, University of Birmingham in Partnership with MBRN, 20-22 April 2020

The conference will bring together scholars from across Europe working in different policy and educational settings to look at how Islamic education operates, and the implications of this for the transmission and representation of the Islamic tradition, as well as the teaching of Islam in universities.


_____________________________________


  1. International Conference of the EU – Middle East Jean Monnet Network (EUMENIA) on “EU – Middle East Relations“, University of Jordan, Amman, 21 April 2020

This conference will involve Middle Eastern Studies, European Studies, History, Sociology, Anthropology, Geography, Economics, Law and Political Science. Suggested topics include: Pedagogical issues such as the decolonisation of the curricula and the decentring agenda, including the study of the Middle East in European Universities and of Europe in Middle Eastern Universities; EU-Middle East relations, including relations between individual Middle Eastern Countries and the EU or EU member states; etc.


_____________________________________


  1. 4th AEGIS Thematic Conference on “Africa in the Indian Ocean“ (Interconnetions with Middle East), ISCTE-University Institute of Lisbon, 23-24 April 2020

The conference will consist of interdisciplinary thematic panels focusing on the interconnections between Horn of Africa & Eastern Africa societies and the Middle East countries, with a special focus on the challenges of recent geopolitical, religious and economic ties between these regions.

Deadline for abstracts: 31 January 2020. Information: https://gulfstreams.cei.iscte-iul.pt/

_____________________________________


14.  Interdisciplinary Graduate Conference: "Decolonial Histories: Imperialism, Resistance, and Liberation", Stony Brook University, New York, 24 April 2020

The conference will focus on the experiences and transnational connections of colonialism, decolonial resistance, liberation movements, and related subjects. Graduate students from across the world will engage with innovative scholarship from multiple disciplines, and receive feedback from fellow students as well as established scholars.

Deadline for abstracts: 31 January 2020.

_____________________________________


15.  Spring Workshop: "Public Scholarship of Religion in an Age of Hypermediation", Boulder, Colorado, 6-10 May 2020

The present era has been said to be defined by “hypermediation” where the features of ubiquitous mediation have become the conditions of contemporary knowledge-building. This calls into question traditional approaches to public scholarship which conceive of it according to a “publication model”. Hypermediation means that this model is too simple and at least fails to account for the range of ways and locations that religion and knowledge of religion are produced today.

Deadline for abstracts: 31 January 2020.

_____________________________________


16.  Academic Roundtable: “Jerusalem in Memory and Eschatology: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Visions of the Past and Future of Jerusalem”, Swedish Theological Institute, Jerusalem, 25-28 May 2020

This conference invites to reflect on how Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions of the religiously remembered past and the religiously anticipated future shape understandings of Jerusalem within each tradition. It also aims to apply these reflections to an analysis of current views of Jerusalem within diverse religious traditions, through an investigation of how these sacred histories and eschatologies shape the way that Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities understand the significance of the complex and conflicted city of Jerusalem today.


_____________________________________


17.  42nd  Annual Conference of Middle East Librarians (MELCom International), University of Marburg, 26-28 May 2020

The local convenor will be Dr Susanne Saker. Papers are invited on: Librarianship, collection development and acquisition policies of Middle Eastern collections as sources for area studies; Cataloguing policies and practices; Current issues in information studies on the Middle East, etc. An excursion will also take place on 29 May.

Information: http://www.melcominternational.org/; Contact: melcomintl.secretary@gmail.com

_____________________________________


18.  46th Annual Meeting of the French Colonial Historical Society on "Francophone Borderlands", Buffalo, New York, 28-31 May 2020

Papers are invited to consider the peripheries of the French Empire ascentral to understanding the French colonial empire and the people who inhabit it, as well as the ways zones and points of contact are particularly revealing of imperial and colonial experiences. Proposals on other aspects of overseas France and its legacies will also be considered.


_____________________________________


19.  International Conference: “Religion and Culture in Conflict and Peace: Impact in Reconciliation and Peacebuilding”, University of Winchester, 2-3 June 2020

The conference will take the outcomes of practical peacebuilding initiatives as a starting point from which to retrospectively analyse the complex factors, ideas, processes and dynamics which led to that point. An emphasis on impact can enable contributors to critically consider: the direct and indirect links (if any) between theory, practice and impact in religion, reconciliation and peacebuilding; the range and type of variables which might contribute to determining the outcome and impacts of projects; etc.

Deadline for abstracts: 1 February 2020. Information: https://www.winchesterpeaceconference.com/

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20.  Panel on “Geo-ethnographic Research in the Indian Ocean” during the Conference “Anthropology and Geography: Dialogues Past, Present and Future”, British Museum, SOAS, London, 4-7 June 2020

Convenors: Veronika Cummings (University of Mainz), Franziska Fay (Goethe University Frankfurt). This panel focuses on the potential and limitations of geo-ethnographic research in the Indian Ocean region. We seek to explore geographers' and anthropologists' methodological use of (visual) research tools like photography or mapping to engage with concepts like mobility, belonging, or identity.

Deadline for abstracts: 8 January 2020. Information: https://nomadit.co.uk/conference/rai2020/p/8294#

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21.  Conference: “Discursive Challenges: Power, State Legitimacy and Counter-narratives in the Arab World”, Durham University, 9-11 June 2020

The prime aim of this conference is to understand the dynamics of the protests gripping many states and communities in the Arab region and also the current challenges to regime legitimacy in the MENA region. We would like to explore how the sources of legitimacy multiplied and diversified following the erosion of state power across the region, and how new actors contributed to altering the nature and narrative of this legitimacy.

Deadline for abstracts: 17 January 2020.

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22.  Symposium: “Making Home Away: Displacement, Migration, and Resettlement”, University of Reading, 12 June 2020

Inviting academic, practical, political, and personal response to the many challenges faced by refugees in losing and making homes, this symposium intends to cultivate both renewed research efforts and policy action. Funded by the British Academy’s “Tackling the UKs International Challenges” grant scheme, this symposium will focus on the complex ways in which refugees move across regions and nations in pursuit of ‘home’, and asks how attention to refugee experiences might shape and enhance our understandings of migration.

Deadline for abstracts: 2 January 2020.

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23.  Conference: "Global Cities: Middle Eastern Metropoles 2020", University of London, 17-19 June 2020

In a context in which China finances the construction of the "New Cairo" and the Abu Dhabi government employ the British architect Foster and Partners to design Masdar City as global icon of sustainable design, this conference queries the nature of the Islamic and Middle Eastern city in a global context. What role does religion, culture and social and historical traditions still play in the life and design of these cities? Etc.


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  1. Workshop on “Colonial Concentration Camps: Imperial Origins and Global Legacies“ (Including MENA), Monash University Prato, 29 June - 1 July 2020

The workshop will study the history of concentration camps, from the American Civil War, to the settler conquests of the New World, to conflict in colonial Africa and Asia and the ongoing “War on Terror.“

Deadline for abstracts: 31 January 2020. Information: https://www.colonialcamps.network/

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25.  51st International Conference of the ARAM Society for Syro-Mesopotamian Studies on "The Cultural Heritage of the Aramaeans B.C.: History, Literature, and Archaeology", Oriental Institute, University of Oxford, 20-22 July 2020

All papers given at the conference will be considered for publication in a future edition of the ARAM Periodical, subject to editorial review.

Information: aram@orinst.ox.ac.uk

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26.  52nd International Conference of the ARAM Society for Syro-Mesopotamian Studies on "The Decapolis: History and Archaeology", Oriental Institute, University of Oxford, 27-29 July 2020

All papers given at the conference will be considered for publication in a future edition of the ARAM Periodical, subject to editorial review.

Information: aram@orinst.ox.ac.uk

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27.  Annual Conference of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), Washington, DC, 10-13 October 2020

MESA is primarily concerned with the area encompassing Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, Israel, Pakistan, and the countries of the Arab World from the 7th century to modern times. Other regions including Spain, Southeastern Europe, China and the former Soviet Union, also are included for the periods in which these territories were parts of the Middle Eastern empires or under the influence of Middle Eastern civilization.

Deadline for abstracts: 18 February 2020. Information: https://mesana.org/

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28.  Seventh International Conference of the International Iranian Economic Association on Iran's Economy, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, 15-17 December 2020

The proposed topics may be in any field of economics, economic history and political economy. The Program Committee welcomes both empirical and theoretical papers that use quantitative or analytical narrative methods.


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29.  Conference: "Knowledge Systems and Ottoman-European Encounters: Spatial and Social Dynamics" 21-23 January 2021, University of Zurich

The conference will focus on knowledge from or about the Ottoman Empire in the early modern period, addressing two questions: from a spatial perspective, how can the Ottoman Empire be included into a European history of knowledge? From a social viewpoint: how was knowledge inside or about the Ottoman Empire organized and what kind of social functions can there be distinguished?

Deadline for abstracts: 30 January 2020.

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POSITIONS


  1. PhD Candidate / Research Associate in Islamic Studies for Project “Romanization and Islamication in Late Antiquity – Transcultural Processes on the Iberian Peninsula and in North Africa”, RomanIslam Center for Comparative Empire and Transcultural Studies, University of Hamburg

Requirements: An excellent MA in a relevant field of Middle Eastern and North African studies and the history and culture of the Iberian Peninsula. Excellent Arabic skills, experience with Arabic historical primary sources, excellent knowledge of English, and French.

Deadline for applications: 15 January 2019.

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31.  Post-doc Research Associate for Project “Romanization and Islamication in Late Antiquity – Transcultural Processes on the Iberian Peninsula and in North Africa”, RomanIslam Center for Comparative Empire and Transcultural Studies, University of Hamburg

Requirements: An excellent PhD degree in a relevant field of Middle Eastern and North African studies and the history and culture of the Iberian Peninsula. Excellent Arabic skills, experience with Arabic historical primary sources, excellent knowledge of English, and French.

Deadline for applications: 15 January 2019.

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32.  Doctoral Researcher in Sociology of Religion, University of Münster

The doctoral researcher will teach 2 hours per week and will contribute to a research project on organization-specific approaches to the negotiation of secularity from an internationally comparative perspective. Requirements: A master‘s degree in sociology and research interest in the sociology of religion.

Deadline for applications: 5 January 2020.

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  1. Post-Doctoral Fellowship Position in the Project “Striking from the Margins: From Disintegration to Reconstitution of State and Religion in the Middle East”, Central European University, Budapest

Applications are invited from researchers whose work falls under this thematic field from any of the following disciplines: comparative gender, policy studies, sociology, anthropology and religious studies. Required qualifications: Eligible applicants should have held a doctoral degree for a period of less than five years, and have a demonstrable record of achievement and promise in a relevant thematic field and discipline; etc.

Deadline for applications: 15 January 2020.

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34.  Three Vacancies in the Project '"Source of Life: Water Management in the Premodern Middle East (7th-15th Century)", Radboud University Nijmegen

This project studies the interrelationship between water installations, governance, and legal and cultural frameworks in five Middle Eastern cities (Basra, Baghdad, Mosul, Damascus and Cairo) from the first Arab conquests to Ottoman rule (7th-15th c).

* A four-year PhD project: History of Middle Eastern Water Management, subproject 1, Cairo; full details: https://www.ru.nl/werken-bij/vacature/details-vacature/?recid=1069298&doel=embed&taal=nl

* A four-year PhD project: History of Middle Eastern Water Management, subproject 2, Damascus; full details: https://www.ru.nl/werken-bij/vacature/details-vacature/?recid=1069326&doel=embed&taal=nl

* A four-year postdoctoral project: History of Middle Eastern Water Management, subproject 3, Basra, Baghdad and Mosul; full details: https://www.ru.nl/werken-bij/vacature/details-vacature/?recid=1069343&doel=embed&taal=nl

Deadline for application: 9 January 2020. Information: Maaike van Berkel (m.vanberkel@let.ru.nl)

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35.  Professorship and Faculty Positions in Humanities and Social Sciences, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar

The successful candidates will have long-standing professional experience and a dynamic and innovative research agenda, as evidenced through an internationally recognized, strong record of peer-reviewed publications. Candidates with research expertise and a PhD in any of the following areas are encouraged to apply: Translation Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, Digital Humanities, Culture and Heritage, Sociology, or Intercultural Communication.

Applications will be accepted until the positions are filled.

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36.  Multiple Faculty Positions in Public Policy, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar

Required qualifications: PhD or terminal degree from an accredited university in the fields of public policy analysis, policy evaluation and implementation, global public policy, or public management; evidence of proficiency and success in teaching, student supervision, and curriculum and program development.

Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. Information: https://socioloxy.com/multiple-faculty-positions-in-public-policy,i6114.html

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37.  PhD. Research Grant Announcement 2020, Orient-Institut Istanbul

Grants are available to support research in the following research fields:
1. Musicological research on the Ottoman Empire and Turkey
2. Narrative sources on Istanbul and the Ottoman Empire
3. Historic and contemporary forms of religious expression in Anatolia since the 11th century
4. Sociolinguistics
5. Human, medicine, and society, in cooperation with ITAS at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
6. Manuscript cultures of the Ottoman Empire and Iran


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38.  Open Rank Professor in Political Science with Specialization in International Relations, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies

Required qualifications: successful candidates will have a Ph.D. in Political Science from an internationally recognized academic institution. Applicants should have a broad theoretical and methodological training in Political Science with preference given to candidates who can design and teach courses on International Relations, Foreign Policy Analysis, and International Organizations with a special focus on the Middle East and North Africa region. The candidate must have the ability to teach in Arabic.

Deadline for application 31 December 2019. Information: https://chroniclevitae.com/jobs/0000513697-01

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39.  Open Rank Professor in Political Science with Specialization in Comparative Politics, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies

Required qualifications: successful candidates will have a Ph.D. in Political Science from an internationally recognized academic institution. Applicants should have a broad theoretical and methodological training in Political Science with preference given to candidates who can design and teach courses on Comparative Politics, Research Methods (qualitative and quantitative), Gender and Politics, and Political Economy with a special focus the Middle East and North Africa region. The candidate must have the ability to teach in Arabic.

Deadline for application 31 December 2019. Information: https://chroniclevitae.com/jobs/0000513158-01

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40.  Assistant or Associate Professor in Comparative Literature, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies

Qualifications and experience: PhD degree in Comparative Literature, with focus on the following areas: Literary Theory, Approaches to World Literature and the New Comparative Literature, Arabic Literature and an Asian, African or Latin American Literature. Excellent record of research and publication and a proven record of excellence in teaching, preferably at the graduate level. The ability to teach in both Arabic and English.

Deadline for application: 1 February 2020.

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41.  Assistant Professor in Islamicate South Asian Studies, Columbia University

Required qualifications: Applications from scholars working in Urdu and a second South Asian language are especially welcome. The successful candidate will be expected to sustain an active research and publication agenda, to teach both broad courses for undergraduates as well as graduate seminars, and to direct MA and PhD theses. The appointment will begin on 1 July 2020.

The review of applications will begin 1 January 2020; the position will remain open until filled.

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42.  Graduate Research Fellowship at the Center for Jewish History, New York

The Center offers ten-month fellowships to doctoral candidates to support original research using the collections of the Center's partners: American Jewish Historical Society, American Sephardi Federation, Leo Baeck Institute, Yeshiva University Museum, and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.


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43.  Postdoctoral Fellowship in North African Studies, Yale University

Candidates must have research and teaching experience relevant to North Africa, including any period from early modern to contemporary (1500 - present). The Council invites applications from across the social sciences and humanities.

Deadline for applications: 1 February 2020. Information: http://apply.interfolio.com/71069

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44.  Postdoctoral Fellowship in Modern Middle East Studies, Yale University

Candidates must have research and teaching experience relevant to the Modern Middle East, including any period from early modern to contemporary (1500 - present). The Council invites applications from across the social sciences and humanities with a focus on the Levant, the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, or Turkey.

Deadline for applications: 1 February 2020. Information: http://apply.interfolio.com/71070

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45.  Doctoral Fellowships in Israel Studies, Brandeis University

Full and partial fellowships supporting doctoral students whose research focuses on Israel. Candidates must be accepted into Brandeis University graduate school programs of Anthropology, History, Literature, Middle East Studies, Near Eastern & Judaic Studies, Politics or Sociology. Competitive living stipend with generous health care benefits. Renewable for up to five years.

Deadlines vary by department.

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46.  Assistant Professor in Gender, Post-Colonialism, and the Islamic World, York University, Canada

The successful candidate’s research should complement the present scholarly profile of the Department of Politics in the study of gender, post-colonialism, anti-imperialism, and the Islamic World, conceived to encompass not only "Islamic countries" but in a diasporic sense.

Deadline for applications: 25 January 2020.

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OTHER INFORMATION

47.  Faculty Fellowship: The Summer Institute for Israel Studies, 10-21 June 2020 at Brandeis and 22 June – 1 July 2020 in Israel

Created to address the need for serious and nuanced study of Israel in the academy, the Summer Institute for Israel Studies is a rigorous program that equips faculty members to develop and teach courses about modern Israel in any discipline. Stipend of up to $2,500, plus group travel, accommodations and most meals provided.

Deadline for application: 31 January 2020. Information: www.brandeis.edu/israel-center/siis/index.html.

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48.  Research Travel Grants: Rubenstein Library, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina

Anyone who wishes to use materials from the designated collections for historical research is eligible to apply, regardless of academic status. Grants of up to $1500 will be awarded and may be used for: transportation expenses.

Deadline for applications: 31 January 2020.

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49.  Prix de thèse Moyen-Orient et mondes musulmans 2020

Sont éligibles des travaux soutenus en français ou en France entre le 1er septembre 2017 et le 31 décembre 2019, dans toutes les disciplines des lettres et sciences humaines et sociales.

Deadline for application: 10 janvier 2020. Information: prix.momm@gmail.com et direction.gis@ehess.fr

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50.  Book Prize of the Mediterranean Seminar for the Best Book on the Mediterranean Region Published 2016-2019

The winner will be announced on 1 May 2020 and, funding permitting, will be invited to present at the Mediterranean Seminar workshop in fall 2020. Funding permitting, the prize will include a cash honorarium.


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51.  Richard Gillespie Mediterranean Prize for Early Career Researchers

This Prize is for the best research article on the contemporary social and political dynamics of the Mediterranean region published in the Journal "Mediterranean Politics" by an early career researcher. We welcome contributions on politics and international relations as well as economics, human geography, sociology, anthropology and other relevant disciplines in the humanities and social sciences.


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52.  Call for Projects in the Priority Program "Transottomanica: Eastern European-Ottoman-Persian Mobility Dynamics" for 2020-2023

The program will focus on the "Transottoman" ties and communication practices which emerged as a consequence of mobility between these dominions between the 16th and the 19th centuries and which have not previously become visible in studies of individual regions or bilateral relations. Non-German nationals can apply, but need an affiliation with a university or research institution in Germany.

Deadline for applications: 31 December 2019.

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53.  Summer School Languages Program: Modern Turkish, Ottoman Turkish, Arabic, and Persian, Ibn Haldun University Süleymaniye Complex, Istanbul, 8 June - 24 July 2020

This programme offers intensive language instruction for international students and professionals. This is a full Summer Term that over seven weeks offers twice the transferable credits as a regular 14-week semester. A wholly immersive experience is designed to comprise co-curricular and extra-curricular activities such as conversation tables and study hours; seminars by top scholars on Turkish history, politics, literature, and art; cultural events, movie screenings, and field trips to historical sites and archives.

Application deadline: 31 March 2020.

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  1. Chapters for Edited Book on “Water, Energy, and Environment in Eurasia”, Cappadocia University Press

Given the both academic and policy-related importance of this topic, we would like to invite scholarly contributions from the regional and international universities and research centers to our edited volume, which is to published in 2020.

Deadline for abstracts: 31 January 2020.

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55.  New Open Access “Journal of Material Cultures in the Muslim World“, Brill

In cooperation with the Aga Khan University (London) and the Aga Khan Museum (Toronto), this Journal focuses field archaeologists, (art) historians, anthropologists, curators, and scholars and students of the archaeology, art history, architecture, anthropology and ethnography of the Muslim world.

Information: https://brill.com/page/2100?language=en

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  1. Contributions to Journal “Muqarnas: An Annual on the Visual Cultures of the Islamic World“, Volume 38, 2021

Muqarnas is a scholarly journal that publishes articles on art and all aspects of Islamic visual and material cultures, historical and contemporary. Full-length articles are accompanied by shorter submissions grouped under a separate section titled “Notes and Sources,” for which we particularly welcome studies that introduce textual and visual primary sources.

Deadline for submissions: 1 March 2020.
Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/11419/discussions/5595959/muqarnas-annual-visual-cultures-islamic-world-invites-submissions

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