Crossing Boundaries

A new issue of the MIT Electronic Journal of Middle East Studies.

MIT-EJMES

Table of Content

ARTICLES

THE AGENCY OF ART AND THE STUDY OF ARAB MODERNITY
Kirstin Scheid ................................................................................................................................ 6

“CULTURE KNOWLEDGE” AND THE VIOLENCE OF IMPERIALISM: REVISITING THE ARAB MIND
Frances S. Hasso............................................................................................................................. 24

SPECIAL FOCUS

WRITING: - A “TOOL FOR CHANGE”
‘ABD AL-RAHMAN MUNIF REMEMBERED

GUEST EDITOR
Sonja Mejcher-Atassi

INTRODUCTION

Sonja Mejcher-Atassi ................................................................................................................. 43

NARRATIVE, HISTORY & POLITICS

ARD AL-SAWAD: A NOVEL FORMULATION OF PEOPLE’S HISTORY OF IRAQ
Ferial J. Ghazoul……………………………………………………………..48

UPON LEAVING THE BRIDGE & ENDINGS: A REDEMPTIVE JOURNEY
Maher Jarrar…………………………………………………………………..59

WRITING THE NOVEL ANEW: EAST OF THE MEDITERRANEAN AND NOW AND HERE OR EAST OF THE MEDITERRANEAN ONCE AGAIN
(Arabic and English Translation)
Elias Khoury…………………………………………………………………70

DE-CONSTRUCTION: TWO EDGES OF A MAGIAN LOVE-STORY
Nisrine Jaafar…………………………………………………...…………….77

HISTOIRE ET FICTION DANS MUDUN AL-MILH (LES CITES DE SEL)
(French and English abstract)
Eric Gautier……………………………………………………..…………...87

MUNIF ON ART

MUNIF’S INTEREST IN MODERN ART: FRIENDSHIP, SYMBOLIC EXCHANGE AND THE ART OF THE BOOK
Sonja Mejcher-Atassi…………………………………………………………99

IN HIS OWN WORDS

THE MONUMENT OF FREEDOM (Arabic and English translation)
‘Abd al-Rahman Munif………………………………………………………117

MUNIF: A BIO-HISTORY

AN ARABIAN MASTER
Sabry Hafez…………………………………………………………………156

MUNIF: POETICS OF A LIFE



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH……………………………………………….177
MUNIF’S WORKS: A CHRONOLOGY………………………………..... 178
CORRESPONDENCE………………………………………..…………...180

Jabra Ibrahim Jabra to Munif…. 181
Marwan to Munif……………... 184
Munif to Marwan…………… . 186



BOOK REVIEWS

Maher Jarar (ed.)
Abdel Rahman Munif wal Iraq: Sira wa Thikrayat
Reviewed by Abdel Razzaq Takriti……………………………………………..........188



Gabriel Piterberg
An Ottoman Tragedy; History and Historiography at Play
Reviewed by Jens Hanssen……………………………………………………...........190

Robert Dankoff
An Ottoman Mentality: The World of Evliya Çelebi

Suraiya Faroqhi and Halil Inalcik, eds.,
The Ottoman Empire and its Heritage Series, Vol 31
Reviewed by Charles Wilkins………………………………………………........195

Jane Hathaway
A Tale of Two Factions: Myth, Memory, and Identity in Ottoman Egypt and Yemen
Reviewed by Alan Mikhail…………………………………………………….............200

Fariba Zarinebaf, John Bennet, and Jack L. Davis (eds.)
A Historical and Economic Geography of Ottoman Greece: The Southwestern Morea in the 18th Century
Reviewed by Linda Darling………………………………………………...........206

Heath W. Lowry
The Nature of the Early Ottoman State
Reviewed by H. Erdem Çıpa………………………………………………........208

Anton Minkov
Conversion to Islam in the Balkans: Kisve Bahası Petitions and Ottoman Social Life, 1670-1730
Reviewed by Nikolay Antov………………………........……………………….211