Harem : ce que les femmes recluses font entre elles. Cet article tente d’éclairer le moment où, dans la perception de l’Orient musulman par les observateurs européens, s’instaure un lien d’évidence entre réclusion des femmes et homoérotisme féminin. Cette vision du harem générant par nature des pratiques homosexuelles va à l’encontre de la littérature islamique médiévale sur la question, dans laquelle le tribadisme ne peut résulter que d’une corruption externe à la clôture vertueuse de l’espace domestique. Les observateurs européens (...) de l’âge moderne transposent dans l’espace privé du harem l’homoérotisme (masculin) qu’ils observent dans l’espace public. Les femmes seraient induites à différentes formes de transgression sexuelle et de genre et le modèle du harem, assimilé à un couvent dévoyé, peut figurer en soi une forme d’imposture absolue. Cette analyse d’une séparation pathologique des hommes et des femmes, induisant des pratiques sexuelles elles-mêmes « pathologiques », a longtemps imprégné en retour le monde islamique et ses sciences sociales ; elle ne s’est vue remise en cause que tout récemment. (shrink)

Three of Aristophanes' eleven extant comedies use the typical comic device of role reversal to imagine worlds in which women are "on top." Freed from the social constraints which keep them enclosed within the house and silent in the public realms of discourse and action, women are given a field and context on the comic stage. They issue forth to lay their plans, concoct their plots, and exercise their power over men.The Lysistrate and the Ecclesiazousae stage of the intrusion of (...) women into the public spaces of Athens, the Acropolis and Agora, respectively, as an intrusion into the political and economic life of the city. The Thesmophoriazousae, however, resituates the battle of the sexes in another domain, that of aesthetics, and, more precisely, that of theatre itself. Instead of the collective confrontation of men and women, the play directs the women's actions against a single male target, the tragic poet, Euripides.Froma I. Zeitlin, an associate professor of classics at Princeton University, is the author of several articles on Greek tragedy and on the ancient novel. Her monograph, Under the Sign of the Shield: Language, Structure, and the Son of Oedipus in Aeschylus' "Seven against Thebes," is forthcoming, and she is presently completing The Divided World: Gender and System in Aescylean Drama. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Der Islam Jahrgang: 93 Heft: 1 Seiten: 139-169.

The subject of this study is Poetry in Arabs: Cultural Characteristics and Financial Supporters of the Ancient Literary Genre. The problem of this study is to question whether poetry can be evaluated from a cultural point of view in Arabs and a cute lifestyle, aesthetic, symbolic and semantic dimension. In this article, not only Arabic poetry is evaluated in terms of culture; the cultural dynamics that enable the development of poetry are also emphasized. There have been great developments in social (...) studies in the modern period. New sciences such as sociology, anthropology, archeology and cultural history were formed. Among these sciences, sociology primarily focused on Western societies, while anthropology investigated non-Western societies. These sciences have studied human diversity in ancient societies and peoples. As a result of these studies, a lot of data has been collected about the cultures of existing and ancient societies; The history of humanity has been tried to be understood and its future has been tried to be predicted. However, the poetry of the Arabs, one of the ancient societies, is known by everyone, and while the Arabs are an advanced society in poetry, the cultural aspect of poetry has not been adequately evaluated. Recent studies in this field are a repetition of the past as a method. These studies are certainly important, but as in the past, Arabic poetry is discussed in the context of history, content, form, subject and poets with the beginning date of poetry and the fairs where poetry is performed are emphasized. However, it is time to consider Arabic poetry around the cultural corpus, which is considered important today, with the dynamics of culture and cultural perspective. Therefore, in this study, ancient Arabic poetry has been evaluated in terms of culture. In this study, document analysis, one of the qualitative method techniques, was used; In addition to the works related to Arabic literature, some cultural and cultural history books were consulted. (shrink)

This piece challenges Michael Ruse on three points: (1) The charge that Christian myth and doctrine are incredible fails to take into account the scholarship that has clarified the genre to which myth belongs and its function. (2) Naturalistic explanations, like Ruse's, have fully as much difficulty dealing with questions of purpose and evil as religion does. (3) The concept of “deception” has a number of inherent problems that Ruse fails to consider, of which the chief is that it requires (...) a certainty about truth and falsity that Ruse cannot and does not claim to possess. (shrink)

Dans le Roman de Silence (XIIIe siècle), le comte de Cornouailles fait passer sa fille Silence pour un garçon afin de préserver son droit d’héritage. Heldris de Cornouailles, l’auteur de cet ouvrage, explore les jeux linguistiques et les possibles romanesques générés par cette transgression de l’identité sexuelle (quiproquos allant jusqu’à une scène de séduction, inspirée du topos de la femme de Putiphar, qui confronte virtuellement l’héroïne à l’homosexualité féminine).

Ce petit livre engagé propose une anthologie de textes grecs et latins relatifs au désir et à la sexualité, à l’érotisme et, plus particulièrement, à l’homosexualité, un concept né au xixe siècle et sans équivalent direct grec ou latin. Alors que se multiplient, ces dernières années (au moins depuis la fin du xxe siècle), les travaux de recherche sur ces thématiques, le plus souvent dans le cadre d’analyses consacrées à la construction des rapports de genre, l’objet dudit recueil est de (...) « fai... (shrink)

In “The Epistemology of Metaphor,” Paul De Man analyzes the problem of figural language in Locke, Condillac, and Kant, and suggests that the proliferation of figuration in language is a central difficulty for eighteenth-century philosophy. De Man, curiously enough, provides examples from philosophy while (aside from an oblique reference to the gothic novel) largely ignoring the "depository of the problem": Literature. And yet, readers of Sterne will find De Man's subject—the fear of metaphoric proliferation in eighteenth-century philosophy in general, and (...) Locke in particular, very familiar. In a sense, this "counterintuitive" reading of Locke and Condillac provides an apt description of the explicit epistemology of Sterne and Diderot. The figurative power of language itself becomes a figure for narrative and identity, and the instability of genres. The central crisis that metaphor causes for language—as far as Locke is concerned—is the mixed mode, the philosophical equivalent of catachresis. This abuse of language is a problem for Locke because of its tendency to be non-referential. De Man points out that Locke's examples are, inevitably, physical "mixed modes" as well: centaurs, monsters, changelings, fetuses that are half-man, half-beast. I would like to suggest that a narrative exploring the non-referentiality of metaphoric language, and its consequent proliferation of abstractions, is liable to be a "mixed-mode" itself. De Man hints at this point when he talks about literature and philosophy's shared "lack of specificity," and very generally about the consequences of his argument for writing a history of either discipline. This is not true for purely philosophical reasons: once the anxiety regarding the referentiality of language spills over into fictional narrative, the issues regarding a narrative's own referentiality inevitably move to center stage. Its own fuzziness becomes apparent, self-conscious, the elephant in the room. That is why the narrator of Marivaux's "Pharsamon" claims that he is writing about nothing, and why Diderot claims that he is not writing a romance, but the truth. Far from being a chimera, this kind of claim spins out a narrative of figurative difficulty. The anxiety about "mixed modes" in eighteenth-century philosophy that occurs in Locke and Condillac is self-consciously extended to genre travesty—a recognition on the part of eighteenth-century writers that the didactic anxiety regarding language and the same didacticism regarding genre were explicitly connected. (shrink)

Recluses, ermites ou engagées dans le monde, les saintes travesties sont nombreuses jusqu’à la fin du Moyen Âge. Ayant valeur de transgression et/ou d’initiation, le travestissement permet à Thècle, Pélagie, Marguerite, Marine ou Eugénie de redéfinir non seulement la notion de virginité mais d’affirmer une sainteté au nom d’une intégrité qui dérange les catégories sexuées et renverse les notions de genre. D’autres, comme Galla, Paula ou Wilgeforte, délivrent de l’antagonisme des sexes. Et toutes, jusqu’à Jeanne d’Arc, bouleversent la destinée des (...) femmes en perturbant l’ordre temporel des hommes. Ainsi apparaît la conquête d’un nouveau corps à travers la mission chrétienne et l’expérience mystique, qui déjoue la nature de femme et les vertus masculines. (shrink)

The standards for translating texts in specialized fields have become particularly rigorous with the increasing complexity of material and growing demand for its translation. While translations simply aimed at communication and produced by machine translation are proliferating, the need for reliable and high-quality translations is also increasing. The demand for expert-dependable legal translation is higher than ever, requiring competence-based training in the field of legal translation. This paper describes a guided-task framework for developing subject area competence at the earliest stage (...) of an English–Arabic legal translation course. It presents the three most problematic phases of concept processing in legal translation in terms of: legal systems; branches of law; and genre-based phraseology. The approach presented below is part of a more general study that aims to describe the first course in a series of three graduate courses on legal translation, each of them motivated by a guided-task framework that has the aim of developing three specific competences in legal translation: legal concept processing => subject area competence; documentary research => instrumental competence; and legal rhetorics => communicative and textual competence. In this paper we intend to focus on the first course of legal concept processing as a key prerequisite for legal knowledge development. We illustrate the relevance of addressing specific variables when analysing legal concepts in the text that is to be translated, before proceeding to the information search and communication, according to established formulae and conventions. (shrink)

Considers the literary genres in which logical texts were written in the post-classical period. Articles describe the kinds of texts that were written and the implications for educational practices, as well as the continuities and developments between one language culture and another.".

The reception of the rational sciences, scientific practice, discourse and methodology into Arabic Islamic society proceeded in several stages of exchange with the transmitters of Iranian, Christian-Aramaic and Byzantine-Greek learning. Translation and the acquisition of knowledge from the Hellenistic heritage went hand in hand with a continuous refinement of the methods of linguistic transposition and the creation of a standardized technical language in Arabic: terminology, rhetoric, and the genres of instruction. Demonstration more geometrico, first introduced by the paradigmatic sciences-mathematics, astronomy, (...) mechanics-and adopted by philosophers embracing the cosmology of Neoplatonism, was complemented and superseded by the methods of syllogistic demonstration. Faced with the establishment of philosophy as a demonstrative science, which claimed absolute and universal knowledge, even the hermeneuti. (shrink)

This study focuses on how Israeli Arab citizens perceive their media representations on Israeli television and why they consume television broadcasts even though they are marked mostly by negative representations. A new concept – “Communication Boundary Situation” – a development of Jaspers’ “Boundary Situation” theory, is the theoretical framework for the article. The empirical data was collected by conducting semi-structured in-depth interviews. The findings point to different attitudes among the interviewees towards their representation in various television genres, in particular, in (...) advertising as compared to satire and drama. The suggested theoretical framework and its empirical implementation might be useful in examining how various minorities perceive their media representations in other countries. (shrink)

Mankind have lamented for their deaths since their existence, wept for them and written poems and proses to utter their sorrows. Thus, history of lamenting goes back as far as the pain and tragedies occurring in their lives. Although it is challenging to determine the date of first elegy poem, it can be said that elegiac is one of the oldest genres among the poems. Sadness and joy are the two important emotions in human nature. Humans mostly experience two feelings (...) separately; yet sometimes together at the same time. It is possible to see reflections of this in some literary works. During the Umayyad period, the transformation of the caliphate into a structure inherited from father to son brought about some changes and transformations in Arabic literature and led to the birth of new literary genres. One of these types, elegy, is to express condolence and celebration at the same time, that is, both sadness and joy, in literary works. In Arabic literature, this type of elegy is considered a type of iftinā, the art of expressing two opposing themes at the same time. Although the art of iftinān had existed at a conceptual level before, it was first brought into the literature terminologically by Ibn Abi al-Isba'. These impressive examples, which constitute the type of elegy in question and are generally expressed by people with quick wit, are worth examining in many respects, thanks to their high literary quality. Literary material on the subject, which has an extraordinary theme due to sadness and joy being expressed together, is scattered in the sources. As far as we can determine from the examples that have survived so far, the addressees of this art are generally the administrative groups. When the examples in the sources are examined, it is seen that condolence and celebration are combined into a single expression on various occasions. These situations, which require mastery and quick wit in terms of language and literature, offer poets and writers the opportunity to display their skills and talents. This phenomenon, which is mostly directed to caliphs, princes, emirs and other statesmen, takes place in palace circles. There is different information in the sources about who was the first person to apply this art, emerging during the Umayyad period, in poetry and prose. In this study, samples of the relevant species found scattered in the sources will be analyzed. The main goal of the article is to analyze from various perspectives these examples in poetry and prose form, where condolences and congratulations, which are a special theme in classical Arabic literature, are expressed together. The importance of this genre, which emerged during the Umayyad period and transformed into a literary structure with its own characteristics in terms of form and content, will be emphasized through examples and its place in Arabic literature will be tried to be revealed. The absence of a separate study on the subject reveals the originality of the article and is thought to contribute to the field in terms of understanding and evaluating the development of the literary genre in question. The study will be conducted based on document analysis, which is one of the qualitative research methods. (shrink)

Repetitions (takrārs), which in the dictionary means ‘the repetition of something one after the other and its renewal in terms of wording and meaning’, are one of the most basic stylistic, address and textual structure features of the Qur’ān and at the same time one of the structural problems that have troubled the commentators. Repetitive nouns, verbs and letters in many verses, as well as sentences and phrases that sound like rhymes are of this kind. Although some of the benefits (...) of repetitions in the Qur’ān have been described in our tradition, it has also been stated by some that this is tiresome for a good and faṣīh word, far from any benefit, one of the disasters and defects of words that do not correspond to a mūciz word. At the same time, it has also been suggested that this is one of the things that indicate the corruption and weakness of the Qur’ānic naẓm and the existence of confusion in its naẓm. For this reason, literary scholars, linguists and commentators have considered the absence of repetition in phrases as one of the conditions of its feṣāhat (eloquence). In addition to all these, some in our tradition have treated these repetitive expressions not as a problem, but as a divine, transcendental style, and have sought a wisdom, a literary wit and a secret related to meaning. On the contrary, some have argued that the Qur’ān was revealed in the patterns of language use of the Arabs of that period, that the divine meaning and message was formed according to the speech patterns and styles of their words, advice and addresses, that the similarities of the patterns repeated in the Qur’ān were also found in their poetry, and for this reason, they associated the repetitions with the customs and habits of language use and literary tastes of the Arabs of the Hijāz region in daily speech and types of literature. Therefore, as some scholars in our tradition have argued, are these repetitions really a defect of expression, an artistic beauty? or structures that the Arabs of the nuzūl period did not know, were not familiar with, and did not hear, and that contain various subtleties of meaning? or on the contrary, are these expression patterns that were present and well-known in daily speech patterns and uses, in the literary genres of the Arabs of that day, and that were formed and manifested within the framework of their linguistic customs and traditions and literary tastes? İn this article, within the framework of these questions and problems, the relationship of the repetitions in the Qur’ān with the language usage customs, literary tastes, and linguistic cultural anthropological structures of the Arabs of the period of its revelation is examined. Therefore, as a result of this research, which is thought to be different from the existing academic studies, original and authentic, and the literature review method is used, ıt is clearly understood that the repetitions in the Qur’ān are ‘expressive structures related to the literary tastes, linguistic customs and traditions of the Arabs of the nuzūl period’ in terms of address/textual structure. (shrink)

Representations of the heavens in various levels of detail can be found in a number of branches of Arabic literature. One particular genre, the hay'a texts, has as its purpose a full though non-mathematical discussion of the arrangement of the celestial orbs; hay'a writers are particularly sensitive to the philosophical requirements which all systems must meet. The pivotal work in this genre, On the Configuration, was written by Ibn al-Haytham. Later writers continued to produce works in the spirit of On (...) the Configuration. In the east, al-Tusi and his followers developed new models; in the west, a group of thinkers tried to rediscover the models which, so they thought, were the ones endorsed by Aristotle himself. (shrink)

Undoubtedly, religion is the most important element in the life of nations. Arab, Persian and Turkish nations have experience dvery important changes and developments in the socialfield with the acceptance of Islam. Inordertomaketheirlives in accordance with the supreme principles of religion, they gradually gave up their ancient traditions, which did not comply with the orders and prohibitions of the religion of Islam, The Change That Took Place in social life was also reflected in the works produced in the field of (...) literature and art. It is possibletoseethatwiththe acceptance of Islam, newliterarygenresemergedaroundthe life of the Prophet and in this context, literary genres such as Hundred Hadith, Forty Hadith, Regâibiyye, Şefaat-nâme, Esmâ-ı Nebî were written. One of these species is the hilyes that deal with the life and physical characteristics of the Prophet and enable him to reach then extgenerations. They contain important information about the external features of the Hz. prophet at a time when the description was not appropriate, and present them in a visual richness for those who did not see the prophet in later periods. According To Sources, the poet's real name is Bedreddin Ömer Vanî, his birthdate is 1074/1664 and his death date is 1126/1714. Although There is noin form ation about his education life in the sources, he was known as a scholar and a virtuous person during his lifetime. As a person who knows enough Arabic, Persian and Turkish to write poem in these languages, it is mentioned in the sources that he has Works belonging to different disciplines outside the field of literature. In This Study, firstly, general information about the literary genre of hilye is given. Thenamesand Poets of the hilye worksortextswritten in verse whichareseparateorincluded in different works in Turkish Literature Mentioned. Information about the life and works of Bedreddin Ömer, the poet of the work, is given. Detailed Information in terms of form andcontentaboutthis hilye-typeworkwrittenbythepoet is given. Inthelastpart, the hilye text in Arabic wastranscribedan translated into Turkish. (shrink)

In late antiquity, the commentary became the most prominent genre of philosophical writing. Aristotle was the author who received the lion's share of attention, even though the commentators, beginning with Porphyry, were Platonists. Since Aristotle was seen not only as harmonious with Plato, but as more suitable for initial study in philosophy, commentaries for the use of students were naturally more often devoted to his works than to Plato's. The practice of writing commentaries on Aristotle, and the curriculum the commentaries (...) were meant to support, cut across confessional lines. The Arabic tradition of commentary on Aristotle focuses on the earlier parts of the Aristotelian curriculum, with most emphasis on the logical and physical works. Only the greatest commentator of the Arabic tradition, Averroes, commented extensively on the De Anima or the Metaphysics. As in the Greek tradition, confessional divides were no obstacle to continuous and even co-ordinated efforts to understand Aristotle. This is best shown by the group of commentators known as the “Baghdad school.”. (shrink)

The year 1492 is only the last in a series of “ends” that inform the representation of medieval Spain in modern Jewish historical and literary discourses. These ends simultaneously mirror the traumas of history and shed light on the discursive process by which hermetic boundaries are set between periods, communities, and texts. This book addresses the representation of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries as the end of al-Andalus (Islamic Spain). Here, the end works to locate and separate Muslim from Christian (...) Spain, Jews from Arabs, philosophy from Kabbalah, Kabbalah from literature, and texts from contexts. The book offers a reading of texts that emerge from its Andalusi, Jewish, and Arabic cultural sphere: Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed; the major text of Kabbalah, the Zohar; and the Arabic rhymed prose narrative of Ibn al-Astarkuwi. The author argues that these texts are written in a language that disrupts the possibility of locating it in a pre-existing cultural situation, a recognizable literary tradition, or a particular genre. At stake are issues – texts and contexts – that have gained particular urgency in the writings of such recent thinkers as Walter Benjamin, Jacques Derrida, Giorgio Agamben, Jean-Luc Nancy, and Avital Ronell. The book reads the place and taking place of language, interrogating the notion of disappearing contexts and the view that language is derivative of its true place, the context that, having ended, is mourned as silent and lost. (shrink)

Dès la Libération et bien avant la guerre d’indépendance, les Algériens de Paris ont été l’objet de procédures et de violences policières allant bien au-delà de ce qui était couramment ou légalement admis. Ces interactions, aux déterminants multiples, avaient notamment pour fondements des confrontations de genre et une police des mœurs visant à préserver les normes légitime de « l’arrangement des sexes ». Entre les Algériens, immigrants le plus souvent venus sans femme, et la police parisienne, marquée par une homo-sociabilité (...) masculine, c’étaient aussi des identités et des définitions de la masculinité qui s’affrontaient. (shrink)

Publication date: 29 September 2016 Source: Author: Khalid El Aref The Moroccan novel, being part of the Arabic novel, is a very recent invention. However, in Morocco the novel has become an emblematic genre, which has known a momentous development. This article attempts a critical analysis of three recently published Arabic novels from a cultural studies perspective by highlighting the translational dimensions inherent in their writing, as well as their tendency to redirect attention to more urgent issues related to Moroccan (...) identity. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Euripides' Escape-Tragedies: A Study of Helen, Andromeda, and Iphigenia among the TauriansHelene P. FoleyMatthew Wright. Euripides' Escape-Tragedies: A Study of Helen, Andromeda, and Iphigenia among the Taurians. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. viii + 433 pp. Cloth, $125.Due to their putatively lighter tone, exotic foreign settings, and concluding "resolutions" of past misfortunes, Euripides' Helen, fragmentary Andromeda, and Iphigenia Among the Taurians (henceforth IT) have often been described as (...) proto-romances or tragi-comedies. Wright's study follows recent trends in defining ancient Greek dramatic genres above all through their performance context; he argues that the plays belong firmly in the tragic camp and develop serious philosophical and religious themes that deliberately leave their audience in a state of aporia. The plots of these plays share an escape from disaster/remote and threatening environments. Although we cannot firmly date IT, Wright tries to make the case that these apparently unique shared elements suggest that the plays were performed as a coherent trilogy in 412 B.C.E. The book does not [End Page 465] attempt to address in detail many aspects of these (relatively neglected) plays that have been extensively discussed by other critics. Instead Wright focuses on the plays' generic status, their possible mythical innovations, their remote settings, and their philosophy and theology.Although there are many unusual mythical elements in these plays, Wright makes a detailed case that Euripides most probably recombined elements previously known in the tradition to a novel effect, rather than inventing them. He casts considerable doubt on Stesichorus' palinode and Herodotus as origins for Euripides' innocent Egyptian Helen, however. Wright challenges previous assumptions by arguing that Euripides does not develop the plays' barbarian settings. Indeed, there is little ethnic or geographical detail beyond a few initial sketchy references, and the plays blur the differences between Greeks and barbarian "others." The Egyptians Proteus, Theoclymenus, and Theonoe are, genealogically speaking, Greek (183). After a lengthy discussion of the problems of defining philosophical elements in tragedy, Wright links the plays' extensive treatment of the unreliable nature of human language and knowledge of reality to discussions of comparable themes in the fragments of the Sophists, especially Gorgias and Democritus. Finally, Wright argues that the plays, by stressing the impossibility of understanding the divine forces that govern the universe, represent an unusually bleak theological picture. The dei ex machina that conclude Helen and IT belatedly outline mysterious divine patterns governing the confusing dramatic events, but humans can only repeatedly misinterpret their experience and name the divine forces governing their lives, erroneously in Wright's view, as tuche\.These issues, above all the themes of illusion and reality and the nature of divinity in the plays, have in fact been discussed before, but Wright attempts a fuller (with the exception of his attenuated discussion of ritual) and methodologically tighter discussion. This represents both the book's strength and weakness. Without its exhaustive review of dated and (putatively) weakly argued earlier critical views, the book could, and in my view ideally should, have made its positive case more forcefully in half the length. At the same time, by failing to engage with important earlier treatments of central topics, Wright leaves the reader with the impression that scholarly work on these issues is far less nuanced than it has in fact been. To give a few examples that he neglects altogether, his discussion of Aristophanes' parody of Euripides in Thesmophoriazusae (120, n. 196; see also 50–51) does not take advantage of Zeitlin's seminal article on the topic ("Travesties of Gender and Genre in Aristophanes' Thesmophoriazusae," published most recently in her Playing the Other: Gender and Society in Classical Greek Literature [Chicago, 1996], 375–416); he does not make use of John H. Finley's extensive study of Euripides, Thucydides, and the sophists (Three Essays on Thucydides, [Cambridge, Mass., 1967]); other important methodologically sophisticated work on philosophy and tragedy, such as that of Mary Whitlock Blundell (Helping Friends and Harming Enemies: A Study in Sophocles and Greek Ethics [Cambridge, 1989]) or Christopher Gill (Personality in Greek Epic, Tragedy, and Philosophy: The Self in Dialogue [Oxford, 1996]), does not even appear in the notes. [End Page 466... (shrink)

Arabo-Islamic alchemy enjoyed considerable popularity until well into the 19th and 20th centuries. It can be considered both as a predecessor of modern chemistry and as a natural philosophy whose purpose is to explain the world. Yet one of the unresolved questions concerning alchemy is how one was supposed to learn it, since it was an art that was meant to be kept secret and only revealed to a few select individuals. While the practicalities of the learning experience remain obscure, (...) it is noteworthy that Arabic alchemical literature often makes use of the literary form of the dialogue, a genre strongly associated with teaching and learning. This paper focuses on three Arabic dialogues on alchemy; namely, Masāʼil Khālid li-Maryānus al-rāhib, Kitāb Mihrārīs al-ḥakīm and Risālat al-ḥakīm Qaydarūs, and discusses how the transfer of secret knowledge is represented. I will focus on the literary frames of these texts, their mise-enscéne, the master-disciple relation as represented within them, and the question of interaction between unequal partners. (shrink)

Mobile app stores provide an extremely rich source of information on app descriptions, characteristics, and usage, and analyzing these data provides insights and a deeper understanding of the nature of apps. However, manual analysis of this vast amount of information on mobile apps is not a simple and straightforward task; it is costly in terms of human effort and time. Computational methods such as topic modeling can provide an efficient and satisfactory approach to mobile app information analysis. Topic modeling is (...) a type of statistical modeling technique for discovering abstract topics that occur in a set of documents. This study explores the relationship between features of Arabic apps and investigates how well the current predefined Google Play app categories represent the type and genre of Arabic mobile apps. Based on the textual app description analysis, we aim to design and develop a sustainable classification system using the Latent Dirichlet Allocation method of topic modeling in order to cover the Arabic apps classification in Google Play app store. Our study supports the hypothesis that the textual app descriptions are effective in suggesting new categories for Arabic mobile apps in Google Play app store. Also, the results indicated that the current classification on Google Play app store is not suitable for our case study “Arabic apps,” as well as it is not sustainable, as it can not cover the new app types including Arabic apps. This study offers an important contribution to Arabic app analysis and design, to improve app search and exploration in several domains such as business, marketing, and technical development. Furthermore, it provides insights for the future of Arabic app research and provides guidance for the development of an Arabic app dashboard that will support users on how to select an app based on their specific needs. (shrink)

En arabe la poésie reste le genre adopté par le plus grand nombre d’écrivains, avec de nombreuses publications (recueils de poésie et surtout dans les journaux et revues, créneaux d’expression plus accessibles que les maisons d’édition). Il est vraiment difficile de citer tous les noms, surtout pour la nouvelle génération. Une des novatrices fut la poétesse Ahlam Mostaghanemi qui a frayé la voie pour cette forme d’expression qui était presque tabou jusqu’au début des années quatre vingt. Mais...

What does human evolutionary theory reveal about the origins of human nature and the constraints it imposes on human cognition, behavior, and society? “The whole field of human evolution is pregnant with philosophical questions of great interest”, Michael Ruse concludes in the final passage of The Philosophy of Human Evolution. This engaging and eminently readable romp through the philosophical landscape of human evolution fills a significant niche in the existing literature. There are numerous scientific texts surveying historical and contemporary problems (...) in the field of human evolution, and there are many philosophical texts exploring conceptual and methodological problems in evolutionary theory. Ruse interweaves scientific and philosophical work on human evolution with the latest work in biological theory to produce a unique and timely book, one that addresses a range of important topics that rarely find their way into works of this genre. With a relentless lucidity and charming, f .. (shrink)

This study discusses copious early Arab literature of "wonders and marvels". The authors of such books found their materials in the Muslim religion, in the ancient Arab heritage and in strange facts about other cultures. The study examines the themes addressed by these works, including magic, fantasy, strange customs, curiosities, humor, the absurd, mockery, nightly chats, puzzles, riddles, rebuke, satire, defamation, battles, animals, angels, demons, etc. Composers of "wonders and marvels" books chose rhyming names for their works in order to (...) attract the reader. The study found that the popularity of such books was due to the fact that certain phenomena and customs were perceived as incomprehensible by Arabs, who therefore sought transcendental or supernatural explanations, giving free rein to their imagination. Some books of this genre were apt to arouse fear in the reader and the oft-repeated stories in them were eventually believed by many and became means for realizing Arabs' desires and dreams. The study found that at first such books were perceived with scorn, as collections of superstitions and myths, and were therefore popular mainly among the lower classes. Because the genre did not attract the interest of the more educated, its scholarly study was neglected for a long time. (shrink)

L’école Millet, fondée en 1900 à Tunis, fut le premier établissement, non missionnaire et moderne dans le sens pédagogique, pour les filles indigènes dans l’Afrique du Nord française. Dans cet article, nous proposons quatre hypothèses. La première est d’ordre méthodologique : un modeste établissement pour jeunes filles peut servir à explorer des problématiques plus vastes sur les femmes et le genre de l’Etat-nation et de l’empire. Ensuite, la question de l’instruction des filles tunisiennes est traitée comme un enjeu dans des (...) conflits au niveau de l’État, ou plutôt de plusieurs États concurrents. Ces conflits ont provoqué des débats non seulement sur le rôle des femmes dans des sociétés arabo-musulmanes soumises à la France, mais aussi sur les « devoirs » des Françaises venues de métropole. Aussi est proposée l’idée que certaines colonies françaises étaient utilisées comme laboratoires expérimentant des programmes de réforme sociale. (shrink)

The earlier volume in this series dealt with two religions of Indian origin, namely, Buddhism and Jainism. The Indian religious scene, however, is characterized by not only religions which originated in India but also by religions which entered India from outside India and made their home here. Thus religious life in India has been enlivened throughout its history by the presence of religions of foreign origin on its soil almost from the very time they came into existence. This volume covers (...) three such religions—Zoraoastrianism, Judaism, and Islam. In the case of Zoraostianism, even its very beginnings are intertwined with India, as Zoroastrianism reformed a preexisting religion which had strong links to the Vedic heritage of India. This relationship took on a new dimension when a Zoroastrian community, fearing persecution in Persia after its Arab conquest, sought shelter in western India and ultimately went on to produce India’s pioneering nationalist in the figure of Dadabhai Naoroji ( 1825-1917), also known as the Grand Old Man of India. Jews found refuge in south India after the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70 C.E. and have remained a part of the Indian religious scene since then, some even returning to Israel after it was founded in 1948. Islam arrived in Kerala as soon as it was founded and one of the earliest mosques in the history of Islam is found in India. Islam differs from the previously mentioned religions inasmuch as it went on to gain political hegemony over parts of the country for considerable periods of time, which meant that its impact on the religious life of the subcontinent has been greater compared to the other religions. It has also meant that Islam has existed in a religiously plural environment in India for a longer period than elsewhere in the world so that not only has Islam left a mark on India, India has also left its mark on it. Indeed all the three religions covered in this volume share this dual feature, that they have profoundly influenced Indian religious life and have also in turn been profoundly influenced by their presence in India. (shrink)

Introduction: Globally, vitamin D deficiency is one of the most common deficiencies, affecting nearly half the world's population. The objective of this survey was to assess and compare the knowledge about vitamin D and the perceived state of health in Emirati and international tourist female students in Dubai, UAE. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that took place in universities in Dubai, UAE. This survey consisted of 17 multiple choice questions. The first part of the survey assessed levels of supplementation, (...) diet and UV exposure. Another section evaluated the participants’ self-assessed state of health regarding vitamin D testing, symptoms related to vitamin D deficiency and general welbeing. The collected data were statistically analyzed using SPSS statistics for windows version 26.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). Statistical significance was set at P<0.05. Results: 105 respondents were Emiratis and 65 were international students. The average age was 21, with an average BMI 23.3. Almost one-third of each group reported using Vitamin D supplements once weekly. The majority of both groups reported rarely getting tanned. Almost all participants reported regular consumption of Vitamin-D rich foods. In both groups, more than half reported consuming milk and cheese regularly and up to one-third reported consuming fish in a regular manner. Although more than half of the students rated their health as good; more than two-thirds reported experiencing muscle pain; only half reported having their blood Vitamin D levels measured once; half reported experiencing problems with concentration and more than three-quarters reported experiencing bad mood in the past month. The prevalence of these symptoms was almost similar across different categories of vitamin D supplementation, tanning habits, dietary intake, or nationality. No statistically significant differences were noted between the 2 groups. Conclusion: more Emirati students were aware of the association between vitamin D and osteoporosis than International tourist students (40% vs. 21.9%, respectively; p<0.05). On the other hand, both groups had lower knowledge about the relationship between vitamin D deficiency and depression, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Hypertension, and the optimal vitamin D level; however, no statistically significant differences were noted regarding this knowledge of Emiratis and international students. (shrink)

The present study examines the extent to which sociohistorical and political contexts influence the language attitudes of Israeli-Druze students to Hebrew as L2 and to Modern Standard Arabic in Arabic-speaking schools. It is a pioneer explorative research study that compares students’ attitudes toward diglossia and L2. Using the Foreign Languages Attitudes and Goals Survey, the attitudes of second, fifth, and ninth graders in two different Druze schools were assessed. The results indicate a positive attitude towards L2 Hebrew, not only for (...) instrumental purposes but also for integration into Israel’s multicultural society. The positive attitude to L2 Hebrew is greater in older students, while the attitude to MSA becomes more negative among older students. Their low motivation to learn cultural heritage MSA may contribute to an understanding of how to teach it better or differently, as well as how to encourage future generations to learn it. (shrink)

Que reste-t-il du « printemps arabe » et que peut-on soutenir à propos de l’identité du processus révolutionnaire, après que la naissance du « califat » de Daech en 2014 a fait apparaître le problème théologico-politique comme l’un des principaux effets de ce processus, que les théories du complot ont fusé de toutes parts pour tenter d’expliquer les causes des malheurs qui ne cessent de s’abattre sur le monde arabe, et que l’implication de nombreuses parties, régionales et internationales, da...

This article, divided into two parts, traces and discusses two pairs of analogies invoked in Sanskrit literature to articulate the paradox of God’s oneness and multiplicity vis-à-vis the souls and the manifest world, reflecting the philosophical positions of pariṇāmavāda and vivartavāda. These are, respectively, the analogies of fire in wood and dairy products in milk, and moon/sun in pools of water and space in pots. In Part I, having introduced prevalent ideas about the status of the supreme principle vis-à-vis creation (...) in Śaivism, Sāṅkhya, and Vedānta, I investigate instances of the first pair of analogies in multiple textual genres, and especially in Śaiva literature from South and Southeast Asia, to highlight the influence of pariṇāma-Vedānta on the Śaiva textual corpus. Arguing that the distribution of the two pairs of analogies may cast some light on the relationship between different strands of dualistic and non-dualistic scriptures, I propose that the first pair could be traced back to the “formative” period of Śaivism—that is, prior to the emergence of the fully dualistic Śaiva Saiddhāntika corpus known to us. (shrink)

. Besides a philosophical exposition of the tenets of a form of Śaiva Siddhānta, the Dharma Pātañjala contains a long presentation of the yoga system that apparently follows the first three chapters of Patañjal’s Yogasūtra , either interweaving Sanskrit excerpts from an untraced versified version of the latter text with an Old Javanese commentary, or directly rendering into Old Javanese what appears to be an original Sanskrit commentary. Although the Old Javanese prose often bears a strong resemblance with the arrangement (...) and formulation of the topics treated in the Yogasūtrabhāṣya , it diverges from that commentary in several respects. The Dharma Pātañjala often presents specific doctrinal details that are found in other (sub)commentaries or in the Arabic rendering of the sūtra s-cum-commentary composed by al-Bīrūnī before 1030 AD , or adds original elements that are unattested elsewhere. The testimony of the Dharma Pātañjala turns out to be useful in order to solve some of the dilemmas posed by the selected sūtra s. It may also help us to better understand the textual cultural transmission and cultural reception of Patañjali’s work in both South and Southeast Asia, for its author, rather than freely borrowing from different Sanskrit commentaries, appear to have drawn upon an as yet unidentified, and possibly lost, ‘common source’. (shrink)

Knowledge can be expressed in language using a plethora of grammatical means. Four major groups of meanings related to knowledge are Evidentiality: grammatical expression of information source; Egophoricity: grammatical expression of access to knowledge; Mirativity: grammatical expression of expectation of knowledge; and Epistemic modality: grammatical expression of attitude to knowledge. The four groups of categories interact. Some develop overtones of the others. Evidentials stand apart from other means in many ways, including their correlations with speech genres and social environment. This (...) essay presents a framework which connects the expression of knowledge across the world's languages in a coherent way, showing their dependencies and complexities, and pathways of historical development in various scenarios, including language obsolescence. (shrink)