The Arabist 44 has become online

From the table of contents:

Georges Bohas (Lyon): Masquer la métrique sous une apparente prose : émergence d’un genre littéraire

László Csicsmann & Erzsébet N. Rózsa (Budapest): An Ancient Regional Security Complex on the Rise: The Nile Water Controversy from the Perspective of Egypt

Antonella Ghersetti (Venice): Arabic Short Narratives and Narratio Brevis: Some Remarks

Tamás Iványi (Budapest): Ibn Rušd al-Ǧadd (1058–1126): Fatwās about Marriage and Married Life

Adam Mestyan (Durham, NC): Land Privatization in Islamic Law? The Case of Irṣād in Egypt, 1850–1950

Péter T. Nagy (Qatar): The Elephants’ Minaret in Budapest Zoo: Reorienting a Century-old Debate

István Ormos (Budapest): Ḥadd: a Technical Term in Arabic Works on Geography

Anne Regourd (Paris): Deux almanachs conservés à Harar (Éthiopie): Circulation et usages des savoirs et des textes

Zsolt Rostoványi (Budapest): Sharia in Great Britain

Sabine Schmidtke (Princeton, N.J.): Rudolf Strothmann’s Trip to the Middle East (1929/30): Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, Anatolia, the Levant, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Eritrea, and Yemen

Avihai Shivtiel (Cambridge/Leeds): Taha Hussein’s Humour

Máté Szalai (Budapest): The Role of Smallness and Responsibility in the Strategic Narratives of British Elites Regarding the Withdrawal from the Gulf Region (1968-1971)

Kees Versteegh (Nijmegen): Why ‘Emphatics’?

Dora Zsom (Budapest): Magical Leftovers from a Demolished House of the Theban Necropolis.

The Arabist 43 has become online

German Orientalism in Times of Turmoil: The Kahle-Strothmann Correspondence (1933 through 1938, 1945 through 1950)

BY SABINE SCHMIDTKE (Institute for Advanced Studies, Princeton)

This study offers an annotated edition of the correspondence between Paul Ernst Kahle (1875–1964) and Rudolf Strothmann (1877–1960), two of the leading representatives of Oriental studies in Germany during the first half of the twentieth century. Kahle’s and Strothmann’s early epistolary exchange (1933–1938) falls into the period of Nazi rule in Germany, shedding some light on the ways in which each of them negotiated the political intricacies, temptations and dangers of the period. The situation completely changed for the two scholars during the second period of their correspondence, 1945 through 1950. Although Kahle thrived in his scholarly work during his time in England where he emigrated in 1938, he had lost his position of power within German academia. His letters show that he did not realize that his voice was no longer wanted or needed and that he was out of touch with the reality of post-war Germany. Strothmann in turn had gone through difficult years. Moreover, in 1946 and 1947 he fell seriously ill and was repeatedly hospitalized for several months, in addition to other common hardships during the immediate post-war period. Strothmann’s letters illustrate those dire circumstances while at the same time reflecting his determination to pursue his scholarship at all costs, and with success.

Festschrift to honour Professor István Ormos on his 70th birthday

Volume 41 of The Arabist appeared on the 15th of June to honour Professor István Ormos, former head of the Department of Arabic Studies at Eötvös Loránd University, on his 70th birthday.

In addition to 15 studies, the volume, edited by K. Dévényi and P. T. Nagy, contains an academic profile of Professor Ormos together with a list of his publications to date.