Selected Issues In The Modern Intercultural Contacts Between Arabic And Hebrew Cultures

In Selected Issues in the Modern Intercultural Contacts between Arabic and Hebrew Cultures, Mahmoud Kayyal examines the modern intercultural contacts between Arabic and Hebrew cultures, especially translation activity between the two languages, Hebrew linguistic interference in the Palestinian literature, and Hebrew writings of Palestinian authors.

In his book Selected Issues in the Modern Intercultural Contacts between Arabic and Hebrew Cultures , Mahmoud Kayyal examines the modern intercultural contacts between Arabic and Hebrew cultures from postcolonial perspectives. An aggressive relationship exists between the two cultures that stems from the combination of Hebrew culture's representation of neo-colonial Western culture and the majority-minority relations between Jews and Arabs within Israel. By focusing on specific issues in these intercultural contacts, especially translation activity between the two languages, Hebrew linguistic interference in the Palestinian literature, and Hebrew writings of Palestinian authors, Kayyal reveals the ongoing struggle between the Zionist orientation and the subversive forces that attempt to undermine the Zionist narrative, and to preserve the Palestinian narrative.

The study of Arabic literature is blossoming. This book provides a comprehensive theoretical framework to help research this highly prolific and diverse production of contemporary literary texts. Based on the achievements of historical poetics, in particular those of Russian formalism and its theoretical legacy, this framework offers flexible, transparent, and unbiased tools to understand the relevant contexts within the literary system. The aim is to enhance our understanding of Arabic literature, throw light on areas of literary production that traditionally have been neglected, and stimulate others to take up the fascinating challenge of mapping out and exploring them.

This interdisciplinary volume looks at one of the central cultural practices within the Jewish experience: translation. With contributions from literary and cultural scholars, historians, and scholars of religion, the book considers different aspects of Jewish translation, starting from the early translations of the Torah, to the modern Jewish experience of migration, state-building and life in the Diaspora. The volume addresses the question of how Jews have used translation to pursue different cultural and political agendas, such as Jewish nationalism, the development of Yiddish as a literary language, and the collection of Holocaust testimonies. It also addresses how non-Jews have translated elements of the Judaic tradition to create an image of the Other. Covering a wide span of contexts, including religion, literature, photography, music and folk practices, and featuring an interview section with authors and translators, the volume will be of interest not only to scholars of Jewish studies, translation and cultural studies, but also a wider interested audience.

Can translations fuel intractable conflicts or contribute to calming them? To what extent do translators belonging to conflicting cultures find themselves committed to their ethnic identity and its narratives? How do translators on the seam line between the two cultures behave? Does colonial supremacy encourage translators to strengthen cultural and linguistic hegemony or rather undermine it? Mahmoud Kayyal tries to answer these questions and others in this book by examining mutual translations in the shadow of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the hegemony relations between Israel and the Palestinians.

The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies reflects the current state of scholarship in the field as analyzed by an international team of experts in the different and varied areas represented within contemporary Jewish Studies. Unlike recent attempts to encapsulate the current state of Jewish Studies, the Oxford Handbook is more than a mere compendium of agreed facts; rather, it is an exhaustive survey of current interests and directions in the field.

This book deals with Islamic studies and with the question how the scholarly study of religion can contribute to the study of Islam. The author advocates studying Islamic phenomena as signs and symbols interpreted and applied in diverse ways in existing traditions. He stresses the role of Muslims as actors in the ongoing debate about the articulation of Islamic ways of life and construction of Islam as a religion. A careful study of this debate should steer clear of political, religious, and ideological interests. Research in this area by Muslims and non-Muslim scholars alike should address the question of what Muslims have made of their Islam in specific circumstances. Current political contexts have created an unhealthy climate for pursuing an “open” approach to Islam based on reading, observing, listening and reflecting. Yet, precisely nowadays we need to look anew at ways of Muslim thinking and acting that refer to Islam and to avoid certain schemes of interpreting Muslim realities that are no longer adequate for present-day Muslim life situations. Muslim recourses to Islam can be studied as human constructions of value and meaning, and relations between Muslims and others can be seen in terms of human interaction, without blame always falling on Islam as such.