OUTCAST VOICES: REFLECTIONS ON THE MARGINALIZED, THE EXILED AND THE SECONDARY IN CLASSICAL AND MODERN ARABIC CULTURE

Announcement published by Jalal abd Alghani on Thursday, January 21, 2016

January 10, 2017 to January 12, 2017

Location: 

Israel

 

Subject Fields: 

Arabic History / Studies, Humanities, Islamic History / Studies, Literature, Middle East History /

 Studies

Call for Papers

Outcast  Voices:

Reflections   on   the   Marginalized,

 the  Exiled  and  the  Secondary  in  Classical  and  Modern  Arabic  Culture

An International Conference

held by the Department of Arabic Language and Literature,

University of Haifa, Israel

January 10-12, 2017

The Department of Arabic Language and Literature at the University of Haifa, Israel, seeks to encourage reflections on marginalized, exiled and secondary voices, persons, groups, thoughts, arts, language and trends in classical and modern Arabic culture.  Although these thoughts might perhaps appear as incompatible with one another, the marginalized, the exiled and the secondary all refer to an arena which exists parallel to the one formed by the centre and is controlled by its political, social and cultural systems. This arena, at times recondite and captivating, is still considered fruitful and fertile. It represents the deviations from norms, conventions, styles and thoughts that were formulated by the centre of Arabic culture over the centuries.  The disapproval of these deviations by the centre has created a space where all the "unacceptable" elements of Arabic culture are located, and has initiated the emergence of new identities of marginalized, exiled and secondary voices.

We invite proposals for papers that take an innovative and interdisciplinary approach to explore this issue in the realm of the following themes:

(1)— Theoretical and philosophical reflections on the marginalized, the exiled and the secondary in classical and modern Arabic culture.

—(2) Classical and modern secondary perceptions of the Qurᵓān.

(3) — Classical and modern secondary perceptions of the Ḥadīth traditions.

—(4) Literature: Marginalized poets; secondary literature; exiled authors; eccentric characters.

—(5)  Carnivalesque  elements in art and literature.

—(6)  The clown, the saint and the social reformer.

—(7) Language, Linguistics and Dialects: marginal languages and dialects.

—(8)  Poetics and Literary Criticism: secondary poetics and literary critical thoughts.

—(9) Philosophy: ostracized philosophers, secondary philosophical thought.

(10) The Craft of Medicine: quackery and charlatans.

—(11)  Historiography: “detached” historical writings; secondary observations on history; suppressed historical narratives.

—(12) Movements: marginalized social and religious groups.

—(13) Voices of Ambiguity: faces of wisdom under masks of madness.