Topic: Languages

rss-iconSubscribe to feed
Lebanese installation artist, author and publisher Nadine Touma (photo: Nadine Touma, Dar Onboz)

Beirut publisher Nadine Touma

Dar Onboz' cases full of exquisite Arabic picture books

If she just played with the image of the victim, it would make things a lot easier for her, but that’s not what she’s going for: the Lebanese children’s book publisher Nadine Touma and her colourful portfolio. Lena Bopp paid her a visit.More

Germanyʹs Arabic Childrenʹs Literature: Festival Karimʹs adventuresThe Hakawati bookshop for children and young people in Amman: Huge appetite for exciting storiesReflecting cultural diversity in publishing: German kidsʹ books need more dark-skinned protagonistsQantara-Themenseite: Arabische Literatur Qantara dossier: Arabic literature
Proud of the comic "Temple of Refugee" – refugee Sartep Namiq and project manager Alexander Koch (photo: The New Patrons)

Art, life, and the New Patrons

Sartep's graphic journey to a better world

The New Patrons seek to sponsor art projects initiated by citizens in order to better dovetail art and life. Anyone can become their client. In Berlin, the impressive comic "Temple of Refuge" was created on behalf of the Iraqi-Kurdish refugee Sartep Namiq, describing the story of his flight and the hope for a better life. By Stefan DegeMore

Picture books explore the fate of refugees: A gentle yet honest approachThe first German graphic novel in Arabic: Sketches with global appealBook review: Riad Sattouf’s graphic novel "The Arab of the Future": Between worlds
Illustration from Samad Behrangi's "Little Black Fish", by Farshid Mesghali (screenshot: YouTube)

Modern Persian literature

Five Farsi novels and their impact on Iranian pop culture

Thinking of novels about Iran, the first titles that spring to mind might be "Persepolis", "Reading Lolita in Tehran" or "Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America". Internationally acclaimed books they may be, yet few will have heard of them inside the Islamic Republic. Changiz M. Varzi selects some seminal modern works penned in FarsiMore

Interview with the Iranian author Fariba Vafi: "Cliches have no place in writing″Iran and its authors: The perils of writingContemporary Iranian literature: Reading outside the box
Forough Farrokhzad, "Poem about love", by Michael Ghahari (graphic design) based on Majid Mehdizadeh's calligraphy (photo: Michael Ghahari/Majid Mehdizadeh)

Book review: Kurt Scharf's "Halt aus in der Nacht bis zum Wein"

A window on modern Iranian poetry

Iran’s contemporary poets are less well known in Germany than the old Persian classics. Kurt Scharf has now translated 32 of them into German. Marian Brehmer dipped into the anthologyMore

Goethe and the Orient: Why did the poet's mind wander to far-off climes?Interview with the Iranian writer Abbas Maroufi: ″Self-censorship is the worst″The "Green Memories" project of Forough Farrokhzad: Desperation and hope set to music
Miniature from the Divan of Hafez, a.k.a. Khwaja Shams-ud-Din Muhammad Hafez-e Shirazi (photo: picture-alliance/CPA Media Co. Ltd)

Professor Nasser Kanani on the Persian poet Hafez

"The joyful audacity of his spirit, the melody of his poetry"

Over the centuries Hafez' legacy has exerted a unique influence on numerous poets in Europe, with many an Orientalist falling under his spell. In interview with Yasmin Khalifa, Nasser Kanani explores the great poet’s sensuality, mysticism and eleganceMore

Hafez in Europe: Persian poetry as reflected in German RomanticismGoethe anniversary: Orient and OccidentCyminology: A finely woven fabric of mysticism and music
Author and activist Kubra Gumusay (photo: Imago)

Non-fiction: Kubra Gumusay's "Sprache und Sein"

Beyond the linguistic pigeonhole

In "Sprache und Sein" (Language and Being) the activist Kubra Gumusay critically examines the function of language – the narratives that reflect and determine the realities of human coexistence, which classify and empower individuals while also curtailing their rights. It is all about privilege, stereotypes and exclusion. By Melanie Christina MohrMore

Muslim bloggers in Germany: Creating a counter-public to traditional mediaGermany and Islam: "Muslims are already German"Debate on Muslim identity in the West: Constructing the self, constructing the other
Iranian author Amir Hassan Cheheltan (photo: Wolfgang Kumm/dpa)

Interview with Iranian author Amir Hassan Cheheltan

"Literature is based on politics and eroticism"

Amir Hassan Cheheltan has not published a novel in Iran in 15 years. The 62-year-old author does intend to refrain from writing either about politics or eroticism, as censorship in Iran prescribes. In Europe, meanwhile, his works are enjoying increasing popularity. Eight books by Cheheltan have already been published in German. Interview by Nasrin BassiriMore

Book review: Amir Hassan Cheheltanʹs "Der standhafte Papagei": History of a revolutionPortrait Amir Hassan Cheheltan: A love-hate relationship with TehranIran and its authors: The perils of writing
Excavation site in Mertola (photo: Marta Vidal)

Uncovering Portugalʹs Islamic roots

3

Where Christians pray facing Mecca

Archaeologists in Mertola have spent the last 40 years looking for traces of Portugalʹs Islamic past. What they found shows that Islam is not alien to Europe and has in fact deeply influenced Portuguese history and culture. By Marta VidalMore

La Mezquita in Cordoba: Is Cordoba denying its Islamic heritage?Spain and Ibn Arabi′s heritage: The great master of MurciaThe Maghrebʹs Moorish-Spanish legacy: Andalusia begins in northern Morocco
Arabic calligraphy decorates tiles in Granadaʹs mosque, Spain (photo: picture-alliance)

The demise of Modern Standard Arabic

Tongue-tied Arabs

It is one of the most important Semitic world languages. One of the six official languages of the UN. The language of Ibn Arabis – and of the Koran. And yet Modern Standard Arabic is not very popular with native speakers. Why? Mona Sarkis has some of the answersMore

Arabic in Latin script: Lost in ArabicThe Arabic language: A better understandingInterview with literary translator Hartmut Faehndrich: "What I don't see is an on-going interest in Arabic literature"
German-Iraqi author Abbas Khider (photo: Jens Schlueter/Getty Images)

Book review: Abbas Khiderʹs "Deutsch fuer alle"

Simply making German simpler

The German language should be simplified and made more accessible to all. Then integration would also work, says Abbas Khider. His proposals sound strange at first, but they are not. A book for grammar lovers. By Swantje SchutzMore

Interview with the Iraqi author Abbas Khider: "German is my new language"Qantara dossier: "German-Arab Literature Exchange"Arabic literature as a cultural asset: Uncharted waters
Moroccan writer Fatima al-Zahraaʹ Al-Riyadh (photo: Imane Bouziane)

Social media fosters creative writing in the Maghreb

Published by Facebook

Social media has democratised literary publishing, paving the way for young Moroccan writers to publish works which previously would not have enjoyed publication through traditional outlets. By Ismail AzzamMore

'The Olive Writers' creative writing programme for young MoroccansLiterary trends: Introducing Egypt's BookTubersHoda Marmar, administrator of Beirutʹs Bookoholics: Truly, madly, deeply into booksArab teens and Young Adult literature: The new wave
A blank volume (photo: Imago/Chromorange)

The language of migrants

Being a stranger in a second language

Kurdish writer and translator Nabaz Samad Ahmed reports on his ambivalence towards second languages as a result of his socialisation in IraqMore

Kurdish in exile: The right to a mother tongueOperation Anfal in Iraq: Victims without a lobbyWar crimes in Iraq: Shared agony of Kurds and Shias
Ayca Mirac performs at Jazz Schmiede in Dusseldorf, 14 March 2018 (source: Facebook; photo: Michael Weilandt)

Album review: Ayca Miracʹ "Lazjazz"

The magic of the Laz

Drawing on her Laz and Turkish heritage, the German-born singer Ayca Mirac has just released her first album – "Lazjazz" – a fascinating blend of ancient melodies, spellbinding dance rhythms and intimate jazz. Review by Stefan FranzenMore

Album review: Gaye Su Akyolʹs "Istikrarl Hayal Hakikattir": Singing the revolutionSyrian oud player Bahur Ghazi: Hoping for a phoenix Ravid Kahalani's Yemen blues: ''Your language is my language''
Moroccan classroom in Rabat (photo: Reuters/Y. Boudial)

Moroccan school curricula

French, Arabic, Moroccan, Amazigh?

The debate about the status of Arabic in Moroccan schools continues unabated. With many of the existing colloquial dialects jockeying for recognition, Morocco faces a tough task when it comes to offering effective, balanced linguistic education for all. By Ali AnouzlaMore

Morocco′s Amazigh: The long road to recognitionMorocco's social gulf: The many faces of povertyConstitutional reform in Morocco: I am the reform!
Three clay fragments bearing part of the Epic of Gilgamesh (photo: Osama Shukir Muhammed Armin; FRCP / CC-by-sa 4.0)

Treasures of the Ancient Middle East

Deciphering the first written language

Some time around 3200 BC, humans living in the ancient Middle East developed the first written language. George Smith presented fragments of the Flood narrative from the ancient Middle Eastern story of Gilgamesh at a conference in London in 1872 – and mankind’s first epic was rediscovered. By Melanie Christina MohrMore

Between Tigris and Euphrates: Mesopotamia: the cradle of civilisation Islamic archaeology: Samarra, centre of the worldIraq's National Museum re-opens: Only photos on view of the Nimrud treasures
Arab. Buchcover "Geschichten aus dem Sudan" von Lubna Isam

Lubna Isamʹs "Sudanese Tales”

Tradition in the present

The art of storytelling has a long tradition in the Arab world. Folk tales and historical events were passed down orally over many generations. Now the Sudanese author Lubna Isam has revived the tradition. Interview by Eslam AnwarMore

Al-Halqa in Marrakesh: Morocco's last storytellersTayeb Salih′s ″Season of Migration to the North″: A literary hall of mirrorsInterview with Claudia Ott: A new chapter in the history of Arab literature

Pages