Musing

New essay: “Ẓâ is for Ẓarf” on “The Arabic Alphabet” website (by Michael Beard)

“The Arabic Alphabet” website (by Michael Beard) – http://alifbatourguide.com/

Ẓâ – http://alifbatourguide.com/the-arabic-alphabet/zaa/

Ẓâ is for Ẓarf

You don’t need to know much about linguistics to hear the difference between a voiced and an unvoiced consonant. English G is the voiced form of our K. English B is the voiced form of P. English D is the voiced form of our T. Those are easy examples. It is possible for a language to make the distinctions very easy to see. When you study Turkish and learn that the consonants B, D, or J (spelled C), become, at the end of a word P, T or CH (spelled Ç), you hardly need to memorize it. It’s easy enough to hear voiced consonants turning into unvoiced ones. Kabâb becomes kebap; Ahmad becomes Ahmet; Persian loan word tâj becomes taç. You can predict the changes by ear without thinking much, without having to know the terms “voiced” and “unvoiced” at all.

As for the pronunciation of Arabic Ẓa, it is the voiced form of Ṣâd. That’s a harder one. Ṣpeakers of Arabic can get it immediately. For speakers of Persian, Turkish, and Urdu, etc. (as in English), Ẓa is (along with Ẓa, Dha and Ḍâd), just another way to say Ẓ.

As for transcription, I’m going for Ẓ. It’s not a completely logical choice, since it’s the same way we transcribed ض,but the stakes are low. (Maybe ض should have been Ḍ anyway.) 

continued at http://alifbatourguide.com/the-arabic-alphabet/zaa/

New Essay: “Ṭâ Is For Talisman” on The Arabic Alphabet website

New essay: “D͎âd is for Drubbing” on the Arabic alphabet website

New essay: “Sîn is for Zenith” on the Arabic alphabet website

Conference presentation about conducting research on the Arabian Peninsula

I am happy to announce that I will be presenting my paper “Conducting Research on the Arabian Peninsula: How To Create Effective Interactions” at the Middle East Studies Association Annual Conference which will take place November 11-15, 2024.

abstract

My talk outlines strategies for anthropologists and researchers to communicate effectively on the Arabian Peninsula, with a concentration on Southern Arabia. Using first-person ethnographic accounts, as well as scholarly texts from the fields of anthropology, history, literature, political science and travel writing, this presentation will give clear advice so non-locals can create successful interactions. As I have lived on the Arabian Peninsula for more than 20 years, this talk is a distillation of observations, academic research and a longstanding, deep involvement within local communities. My background experience includes teaching cultural studies classes at the graduate and undergraduate level, giving lectures about local cultures to visiting expats, doing orientation lectures for new faculty, publishing scholarly and non-fiction articles about cultural interactions and taking classes taught by locals.

https://mesana.org/annual-meeting/program

Conference presentation on fishing off the coast of Dhofar, Oman

I am happy to announce that I will be presenting “Windguru and Other Gurus: Fishing off the Coast of Dhofar, Oman” for the Navigating the Transcultural Indian Ocean: Texts and Practices in Contact Conference, sponsored by the Rutter Project, June 5, 2024.

Research on Fishing in Dhofar

Foodways: Researching Fishing Practices in Dhofar and Selected Bibliographies

– طرق الطعام : بحث في ممارسات الصيد في ظفار وببليوجرافيات مختارة – Foodways: Researching Fishing Practices in Dhofar (in Arabic) and Selected Bibliographies

Recent publications on important archeological sites in the Dhofar region, updated April 10, 2024

Aston, Warren. 2022. “Mysteries in Stone: The Enigmatic Minjui – Potential Traces of a Forgotten Dynasty in Dhofar.” Popular Archaeology. 1-17. https://popular-archaeology.com/article/mysteries-in-stone/

Degli Esposti, Michele. 2022. “Khor Kharfut (Dhofar). A Reassessment of the Archaeological Remains.” Archeologie tra Oriente e Occidente (CISA) 1: 15-34. http://www.serena.unina.it/index.php/cssaunior/article/view/9559

Ghidoni, Alessandro and Alexia Pavan. 2022. “Boats, Horses, and Moorings: Maritime Activities at al-Balīd in the Medieval Period.” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies Volume 51: 169-82. https://archaeopresspublishing.com/ojs/index.php/PSAS/article/view/599

Giunta, Roberta and Alexia Pavan. 2022. “First Archaeological Activities by the University of Naples L’Orientale in Dhofar, Sultanate of Oman.” Archeologie tra Oriente e Occidente 1: 1-10. https://doi.org/10.6093/archeologie/9712

Lischi, Silvia. 2023. “A First Definition of the Dhofar Coastal Culture Archaeological Exploration on the Inqitat Promontory in the Khor Rori Area (Dhofar, Sultanate of Oman).” Ancient Civilizations and Cultural Resources 1: 23-38. https://www.academia.edu/104462977/A_First_Definition_of_the_Dhofar_Coastal_Culture_Archaeological_Exploration_on_the_Inqitat_Promontory_in_the_Khor_Rori_Area_Dhofar_Sultanate_of_Oman

Pavan, Alexia. 2024. “After the Fall of the Caravan Kingdoms: Notes about the Occupation of Sumhuram and the Area of ​​Khor Rori (Oman) from the Fifth Century AD to the Islamic Period.” Études et Travaux 36: 111–31. https://doi.org/10.12775/EtudTrav.36.006

—. 2020. “The Port of Al Baleed (southern Oman), the Trade in Frankincense and its Coveted Treasures.” Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 29.1: 249-65.  https://doi.org/10.31338/uw.2083-537X.pam29.1.13.

Pavan, Alexia, Agnese Fusaro, Chiara Visconti, Alessandro Ghidoni, and Arturo Annucci. 2020. “New Researches at The Port of Al Balid and Its Castle (Husn): Interim Report (2016-2018).” The Journal of Oman Studies 21: 172-99.

Rose, Jeffrey. 2023. “Conclusion: Progress Report on the State of Palaeolithic Research in Arabia.” Paléorient: Revue pluridisciplinaire de préhistoire et de protohistoire de l’Asie du Sud-Ouest et de l’Asie centrale 49.1: 155-60.

Two poems for courage: “Against Hesitation” by Charles Rafferty and “Thalassa” by Louis MacNeice

“Against Hesitation,” by Charles Rafferty

If you stare at it long enough

the mountain becomes unclimbable.

Tally it up. How much time have you spent

waiting for the soup to cool?

Icicles hang from January gutters

only as long as they can. Fingers pause

above piano keys for the chord

that will not form. Slam them down

I say. Make music of what you can.

Some people stop at the wrong corner

and waste a dozen years hoping

for directions. I can’t be them.

Tell every girl I’ve ever known

I’m coming to break her door down,

that my teeth will clench

the simple flower I only knew

not to give … Ah, how long did I stand

beneath the eaves believing the storm

would stop? It never did.

And there is lightning in me still

“Thalassa,” Louis MacNeice

Run out the boat, my broken comrades;

Let the old seaweed crack, the surge

Burgeon oblivious of the last

Embarkation of feckless men,

Let every adverse force converge–

Here we must needs embark again.

Run up the sail, my heartsick comrades;

Let each horizon tilt and lurch–

You know the worst: your wills are fickle,

Your values blurred, your hearts impure

And your past life a ruined church–

But let your poison be your cure.

Put out to sea, ignoble comrades,

Whose record shall be noble yet;

Butting through scarps of moving marble

The narwhal dares us to be free;

By a high star our course is set,

Our end is Life. Put out to sea.

My Job

Reflections on Ethnographic Research in Dhofar Oman

A good poem for hard times – “Atlas” by U. A. Fanthorpe

Antigone and Ismene – Making Difficult Choices

Two poems about nature and rest: “The Peace of Wild Things” by Wendell Berry and “Sleeping in The Forest,” Mary Oliver

Two poems about nature and rest: “The Peace of Wild Things” by Wendell Berry and “Sleeping in The Forest,” Mary Oliver

“Sleeping in The Forest,” Mary Oliver

I thought the earth remembered me,

she took me back so tenderly,

arranging her dark skirts, her pockets

full of lichens and seeds.

I slept as never before, a stone on the river bed,

nothing between me and the white fire of the stars

but my thoughts, and they floated light as moths

among the branches of the perfect trees.

All night I heard the small kingdoms

breathing around me, the insects,

and the birds who do their work in the darkness.

All night I rose and fell, as if in water,

grappling with a luminous doom. By morning

I had vanished at least a dozen times

into something better.

“The Peace of Wild Things,” Wendell Berry

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free

Reflections/ Research on Teaching Cultural Studies and Literature

Selected Bibliography: Primary and Secondary Texts for Literature Teachers on the Arabian Peninsula

Suggestions for Literature Teachers in the Middle East

Two poems for spring: “Dear March – Come in” by Emily Dickinson and “March” by Goethe

“March,” Goethe

 

Look, it’s snowed for hours,

The time is not yet right,

For all the little flowers,

For all the little flowers,

To fill our hearts with light.

The sunlight is deceiving,

Mild but false it shone,

Even the swallow’s cheating,

Even the swallow’s cheating,

Why? He comes alone!

Alone, could I be happy

Even though spring is near?

But if you were with me,

But if you were with me,

Suddenly summer’s there.

“Dear March – Come in,” Emily Dickinson

Dear March – Come in –

How glad I am –

I hoped for you before –

Put down your Hat –

You must have walked –

How out of Breath you are –

Dear March, how are you, and the Rest –

Did you leave Nature well –

Oh March, Come right upstairs with me –

I have so much to tell –

I got your Letter, and the Birds –

The Maples never knew that you were coming –

I declare – how Red their Faces grew –

But March, forgive me –

And all those Hills you left for me to Hue –

There was no Purple suitable –

You took it all with you –

Who knocks? That April –

Lock the Door –

A good poem for hard times – “Atlas” by U. A. Fanthorpe

Foodways and Literature – Animal Poems

Foodways and Literature – Food Stories and Poems

Literature and Ethnography

A good poem for hard times – “Atlas” by U. A. Fanthorpe

“Atlas,” by U. A. Fanthorpe, from Safe as Houses

 

[Atlas is the Greek God who holds up the sky]

 

There is a kind of love called maintenance

Which stores the WD40 and knows when to use it;

 

Which checks the insurance, and doesn’t forget

The milkman; which remembers to plant bulbs;

 

Which answers letters; which knows the way

The money goes; which deals with dentists

 

And Road Fund Tax and meeting trains,

And postcards to the lonely; which upholds

 

The permanently rickety elaborate

Structures of living, which is Atlas.

 

And maintenance is the sensible side of love,

Which knows what time and weather are doing

To my brickwork; insulates my faulty wiring;

Laughs at my dry rotten jokes; remembers

My need for gloss and grouting; which keeps

My suspect edifice upright in air,

As Atlas did the sky.

 

“The Function of Poetry” by Billy Collins

Reflections/ Research on Teaching Cultural Studies and Literature

Teaching Literature and Staying au courant – The Man from Nowhere and the Ancient Greeks

Using Cultural Understandings to Improve Teaching, part 1

 

U.A. Fanthorpe

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/ua-fanthorpe

U A Fanthorpe

Antigone and Ismene – Making Difficult Choices

This is a wonderful article:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/01/15/hong-kong-security-law-chow-hang-tung-jailed/

I have taught Antigone many times. The first was almost by chance. I needed a Greek play and didn’t want to do Oedipus, so I picked up Antigone and was amazed by how powerful the play was. I had forgotten its strength and, importantly for a literature professor, how it balances out everyone’s POV. There is something to be said about each person’s argument. Teaching it was a joy. All the students had an opinion about what should happen and were happy to engage with the characters and plot. I ended up writing some essays and doing some presentations about using Greek plays on the Arabian Peninsula but what was most interesting about Antigone was that students did not judge Ismene harshly.

Gan’s article sets up a dichotomy with Antigone as the brave/ correct one and Ismene as the sister who must be forgiven. My students did not not make that division – each sister was doing what she felt was right. Most agreed that Antigone was correct to bury her brother against the laws of the state, but that did not necessarily mean that Ismene was behaving badly. I found that quality of acceptance very heartening.

Articles:

“Using Cultural Understandings to Improve Teaching in Oman,” in Unpackaging Theory and Practice in Educational Sciences. Abdülkadir Kabadayı, ed. Lyon: Livre de Lyon. 2023: 129-141.  https://www.livredelyon.com/educational-sciences/unpackaging-theory-practice-in-educational-sciences_595.

“Teaching Paired Middle Eastern and Western Literary Texts,” in Advancing English Language Education. Wafa Zoghbor and Thomaï Alexiou, eds. Dubai: Zayed University Press, 2020: 221-223.

“Teaching Literature on the Arabian Peninsula,” Anthropology News website, October 7 2019. http://www.anthropology-news.org/index.php/2019/10/07/teaching-literature-on-the-arabian-peninsula/

“Writing Prompts to Facilitate Creativity and Interesting Texts,” Proceedings of the 15th Oman International ELT Conferences. Muscat: Sultan Qaboos University Press, 2016: 46-52.

“Selecting the Right Literary Texts for Middle Eastern Students: Challenges and Reactions,” in Focusing on EFL Reading: Theory and Practice. Rahma Al-Mahrooqi, ed. Muscat: Sultan Qaboos University Press, 2014: 165-188.

“Who Are You Calling ‘Coddled’?: ‘Cloistered Virtue’ and Choosing Literary Texts in a Middle Eastern University,” Pedagogy 13.3, 2013: 415-427.

“Do You know a Creon?: Making Literature Relevant in an Omani University,” in Literature Teaching in EFL/ESL: New Perspectives. Rahma Al-Mahrooqi, ed. Muscat: Sultan Qaboos University Press, 2012: 302-314.

Selected Fiction (Novels and Short Stories) – Arabian Peninsula

A history-focused Whatsapp group I belong to recently had a discussion which elicited numerous suggestions about fictional works set on the Arabian Peninsula. I am including the works mentioned below along with some texts I have taught in my literature classes and/ or used for my research.

Anthologies

Akers, Deborah and Abubaker Bagader, eds. and trans. 2008. Oranges in the Sun: Short Stories from the Arabian Gulf. London: Lynne Rienner.

Jayyusi, Salma Khadra, ed. 1988. The Literature of Modern Arabia: An Anthology. London: Kegan Paul International.

Michalak-Pikulska, Barbara. 2016. Modern Literature of the Gulf. Bern: Peter Lang GmbH.

Pedagogy

Heble, Ayesha. 2007. “Teaching Literature On-line to Arab students: Using Technology to Overcome Cultural Restrictions.” Arts and Humanities in Higher Education 6.2: 219-226.

Michalak-Pikulska, Barbara. 2006. “The Mosaic of Quotations and the Labyrinth of Interpretations: The Problems of Intertextuality in the Modern Literature of the Gulf.” Intertextuality in Modern Arabic Literature since 1967. 187-200.

Ramsey, Gail. 2006. “The Past in the Present: Aspects of Intertextuality in Modern Literature in the Gulf.” Intertextuality in Modern Arabic Literature since 1967. 161-86.

—. 2004. “Confining the Guest Labourers to the Realm of the Subaltern in Modern Literature from the Gulf. Orientalia Succana, 53: 133-42.

Webb, Allen. 2012. Teaching the Literature of Today’s Middle East. London: Routledg

Short stories/ novels

‘Abd al-Majd / Abde Meguid, Ibrahim. The Other Place.

Algosaibi, Ghazi. An Apartment Called Freedom.

Alshammari, Shahd. Notes on the Flesh.

Wilson, G. Willow. 2012. Alif the Unseen. New York, Grove Press.

Oman

Al-Farsi, Abdulaziz. 2013. Earth Weeps, Saturn Laughs: A Modern Omani Novel. Trans. Nancy Roberts. Cairo: American University of Cairo Press.

Al-Harthi, Jokha. Celestial Bodies

Hamed, Huda. I Saw Her in my Dreams.

Michalak-Pikulska, Barbara. 2002. Modern Poetry and Prose of Oman. Krakow: The Enigma Press.

UAE

Al‑Murr, M. 1998. “The Wink of the Mona Lisa” and Other Stories from the Gulf. J. Briggs, trans. Dubai: United Arab Emirates: Motivate Publishing.

—. 2008. Dubai Tales. P. Clark and J. Briggs, trans. Dubai: Motivate Publishing.

Al-Suwaidi, Thani. The Diesel.

Johnson-Davies, Denys, ed. 2009. In a Fertile Desert: Modern Writing from the United Arab Emirates. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press.

Krishnadas. 2007. Dubai Puzha.

Michalak-Pikulska, Barbara. 2012. Modern Literature of the United Arab Emirates. Krakow: Jagiellonian University Press.

Unnikrishnan, Deepak. Temporary People.

Kuwait

Abulhawa, Susan. 2020. Against the Loveless World.

Al-Nakib, Mai. 2022. An Unlasting Home.

Alsanousi, Saud. The Bamboo Stalk.

Saudi

Aima, Rahel. Moon Rose – short story https://www.eflux.com/architecture/cascades/400332/moon-rose/

Al-Khamis, Omaima Abdullah. Al-Bahriyat.

al-Sanea, Rajaa. Girls of Riyadh.

Alireza, Marianne. 2002. At the Drop of a Veil.

Alwan, Mohammed. 1988. “Love and Rain” in The Literature of Modern Arabia: An Anthology. Ed. Salma Khadra Jayyusi. London: Kegan Paul International. 302-306.

Benyamin. Goat Days.

Ferraris, Zoe. Finding Noof. 2008. New York: Little Brown, 2012. (also Kingdom of Strangers and City of Veils)

Munif, Abdul Rahman. Cities of Salt.

Yemen

‘Abd al-Wali, Mohammad. They Die Strangers.

Ba-Amer, Salih. 1988. “Dancing by the Light of the Moon,” in The Literature of Modern Arabia: An Anthology. S. K. Jayyusi, ed. London: Kegan Paul International. 318-22.

Bajaber, Khadija Abdalla. 2021. House of Rust.

Dammaj, Zayd Mutee’. The Hostage.

Hunter, Barry Stewart Hunter. 2017. Aden.

Fairy/ Folk Tales

Al Taie, Hatim and Joan Pickersgill. 2008. Omani Folk Tales. Muscat, Oman: Al Roya Press and Publishing House.

Al Thahab, Khadija bint Alawi. 2012. Stories of My Grandmother. [Dhofari] Trans. W. Scott Chahanovich. Washington, D.C:  Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center.

ElMahi, Ali Tigani and Ahmed Mohamed al Khatheri. 2015. “A Folk Story from Dhofar: A Pathway to Indigenous Knowledge.” Journal of Arts and Social Sciences 6.2: 5-12. DOI:10.24200/jass.vol6iss2

Hamad, Abdulsalam. Omani Folk Tales. 2006. Seeb: Al-Dhamri Bookshop.

Johnstone, T.M. 1974. “Folklore and Folk Literature in Oman and Socotra.” Arabian Studies 1: 7-24.

Johnstone, T.M. 1978. “A St. George of Dhofar.” Arabian Studies 4: 59-65.

Johnstone, T. M. 1983.“Folk-Tales and Folk-lore of Dhofar.” Journal of Oman Studies 6.1: 123-127.

Mershen, Birgit. 2004. “Ibn Muqaarab and Naynuh: A Folk-tale from Tiwi.” Journal of Oman Studies 13: 91-97.

Paine, Patty, Jesse Ulmer and Michael Hersrud, eds. 2013. The Donkey Lady and Other Tales from the Arabian Gulf.  Highclere, Berkshire: Berkshire Academic Press.

Todino-Gonguet, Grace. 2008. Halimah and the Snake, and other Omani Folk Tales. London: Stacey International.

Also of interest

The Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation [https://www.banipaltrust.org.uk/prize/ ]

Banipal Magazine [ https://www.banipal.co.uk/ ] which has special issues on specific countries, for example: Yemen [ https://www.banipal.co.uk/back_issues/73/issue-36/ ]

Literature and Ethnography

Teaching Literature and Staying au courant – The Man from Nowhere and the Ancient Greeks

Reflections/ Research on Teaching Cultural Studies and Literature

Foodways and Literature – Food Stories and Poems

Foodways and Literature – Animal Poems