Be Like Adam's Son
Theorising, Writing and Practising Peace in the Arab Region
Edited by
Fernanda Fischione [+–]
Sapienza University of Rome
Fernanda Fischione is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral fellow (2021-2024) at Sapienza University of Rome – Université Internationale de Rabat, with the project Transnational Maghreb and the International Prize for Arabic Fiction: Pluralism, inclusiveness, and peaceful coexistence in the contemporary Maghrebi novel. She holds a PhD from Sapienza University of Rome. Her area of expertise is Modern and Contemporary Arabic Literature, with a special focus on space in literary criticism and narrative space in the oeuvre of Jordanian writer and critic Ġālib Halasā. Since 2015, she has carried out two side-projects: one about rap and protest music in the SWANA region in the aftermath of the 2011 uprisings, and one about nationalism and the novel in Jordan. She is an Arabic-into-Italian literary translator. Among her translations: Istiḫdām al-ḥayāh by Aḥmad Nāǧī and Ayman al-Zurqānī (Il Sirente, 2016), al-Ṭābūr by Basmah ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz (Nero, 2018), and al-Ġirbāl by Mīḫāʾīl Nuʿaymah (Istituto per l’Oriente “C. A.Nallino”, 2022). She is co-founder and editor of the magazine “Arabpop. Rivista di arti e letterature contemporanee”.
Arturo Monaco [+–]
Sapienza University of Rome
Arturo Monaco is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow (2022-2025) at Sapienza University of Rome – American University of Beirut, with the project Digital Mythology and Arabic Literature: A Digital Archive to Study the Dynamics of the Reception of Greek Myths in Modern Arabic Literature. He holds a PhD in Civilizations, Cultures and Societies of Asia and Africa, Sapienza University of Rome. His PhD dissertation resulted in the book Surrealismi arabi 1938-1970. Il Surrealismo e la letteratura araba in Egitto, Siria e Libano (Istituto per l’Oriente “C.A. Nallino”, Rome 2020), which explores the surrealist trend in modern Arabic literature, with a special focus on the surrealist production in Egypt, Syria and Lebanon between the 1930s and the 1960s. His research interests include modern Arabic poetry, Arab literary press, intercultural exchanges between Arabic and foreign literatures. In the latter field, he translated Sulaymān al-Bustānī’s Introduction to his own translation of Homer’s Iliad (Istituto per l’Oriente “C. A. Nallino”, 2022).
The twelve chapters collected in the volume criticise, analyse, and discuss the issue of peace in Arab literature, philosophical and theological thought, and both institutional and grassroots practices of intercultural and interreligious mediation. The volume consists of three parts. Part 1 is entitled Theorising Peace and Nonviolence and explores the contribution of prominent Islamic intellectuals to the interpretation of jihad and the elaboration of a Quranic theory of nonviolence. Part 2, From Literature of War to Literature of Reconciliation, deals with the Arab literary production, with a focus on Iraq and Morocco. The four chapters on Iraq consider the themes of pluralism and peaceful coexistence in light of the continued condition of war, highlighting the complexity of the Iraqi literary field between domestic and diasporic. The two chapters dealing with Morocco focus on the literature stemming from the reconciliation process that has taken place in the country since the beginning of the new Millennium, shedding light on how institutional processes of internal pacification have also affected its literary field. Part 3 considers the Practices of Mediation and includes four chapters dealing with conflict-avoidant strategies in Egyptian literature, interreligious and intercultural dialogue in premodern time, and mediation practices carried out by religious institutions and grassroots organizations in Palestine and Jordan.
Series: Religions and Peace Studies
Table of Contents
Prelims
Sapienza University of Rome
Honorary Professor of Modern and Contemporary Arabic Literature, Sapienza University of Rome.
Sapienza University of Rome
Fernanda Fischione is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral fellow (2021-2024) at Sapienza University of Rome – Université Internationale de Rabat, with the project Transnational Maghreb and the International Prize for Arabic Fiction: Pluralism, inclusiveness, and peaceful coexistence in the contemporary Maghrebi novel. She holds a PhD from Sapienza University of Rome. Her area of expertise is Modern and Contemporary Arabic Literature, with a special focus on space in literary criticism and narrative space in the oeuvre of Jordanian writer and critic Ġālib Halasā. Since 2015, she has carried out two side-projects: one about rap and protest music in the SWANA region in the aftermath of the 2011 uprisings, and one about nationalism and the novel in Jordan. She is an Arabic-into-Italian literary translator. Among her translations: Istiḫdām al-ḥayāh by Aḥmad Nāǧī and Ayman al-Zurqānī (Il Sirente, 2016), al-Ṭābūr by Basmah ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz (Nero, 2018), and al-Ġirbāl by Mīḫāʾīl Nuʿaymah (Istituto per l’Oriente “C. A.Nallino”, 2022). She is co-founder and editor of the magazine “Arabpop. Rivista di arti e letterature contemporanee”.
Sapienza University of Rome
Arturo Monaco is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow (2022-2025) at Sapienza University of Rome – American University of Beirut, with the project Digital Mythology and Arabic Literature: A Digital Archive to Study the Dynamics of the Reception of Greek Myths in Modern Arabic Literature. He holds a PhD in Civilizations, Cultures and Societies of Asia and Africa, Sapienza University of Rome. His PhD dissertation resulted in the book Surrealismi arabi 1938-1970. Il Surrealismo e la letteratura araba in Egitto, Siria e Libano (Istituto per l’Oriente “C.A. Nallino”, Rome 2020), which explores the surrealist trend in modern Arabic literature, with a special focus on the surrealist production in Egypt, Syria and Lebanon between the 1930s and the 1960s. His research interests include modern Arabic poetry, Arab literary press, intercultural exchanges between Arabic and foreign literatures. In the latter field, he translated Sulaymān al-Bustānī’s Introduction to his own translation of Homer’s Iliad (Istituto per l’Oriente “C. A. Nallino”, 2022).
Part 1. Theorising Peace and Nonviolence
Sapienza University of Rome
Paola Pizzi is Ph. D. (2022) at Sapienza University – EPHE. After graduating in Arabic Language and Literature at ‘Ca’ Foscari’ University in Venice and in Islamic Studies at PISAI (Rome), she was lecturer of Arabic language at ‘Unint’ University (Rome) and professional translator for international news agencies and publishers. In her doctoral research, she analyses the thought of the Syrian preacher and theologian Ǧawdat Saʿīd (1931-2022) through his works.
This chapter analyses three works representing different approaches to the doctrine of ǧihād adopted in the mid-1960s post-Nahḍah Arab generation. In particular, it highlights how different epistemological assumptions deeply influenced the Islamic doctrine of war and peace, while at the same time fostering the emergence of an endogenous theory of nonviolence.
Scuola Superiore Meridionale, Naples
Pietro Menghini is a PhD candidate at the Scuola Superiore Meridionale, Naples. His work focuses on the history of the Sadrist Trend during the 90s, and his research interests concentrate on Islamic political thought and the history of the Middle East. He previously graduated in Islamic and Arabic Studies from the University of Naples “L’Orientale” with a dissertation on the Nonviolent Syrian thinker Ǧawdat Saʿīd.
This chapter explores the nonviolent theories of the Syrian thinker Ǧawdat Saʿīd presented in his work, Kun ka-ibn Ādam (Be Like Adam’s Son). In this book, Saʿīd develops a historicist method of exegesis of the Quran to support his nonviolent interpretation of Islam. The chapter analyses how Saʿīd outlines his exegetical method and his conception of history.
Part 2. From Literature of War to Literature of Reconciliation
Tel Aviv University
Ronen Zeidel is an Iraq analyst in the Moshe Dayan center, Tel Aviv University. He published dozens of articles in leading academic journals in the West and also in Iraq. His book Pluralism in the Iraqi Novel after 2003 was published by Lexington Books in 2020.
This chapter analyses how writing about the Iran-Iraq war in Iraqi novels changed in three specific moments of Iraqi history: literature as a justification of war during the conflict (1980-1988); increasing attention for the rear of the war in the period 1988-2003; and a more expanded criticism of the Baʿth after 2003.
4. The Painful Path towards Civil Liberties and Social Justice Followed by the Iraqi Hayāt Šarārah [+–]
Università degli Studi “G. d’Annunzio” Chieti – Pescara
Elvira Diana is Associate Professor of Arabic Language and Literature at Università degli Studi “G. D’Annunzio” di Chieti-Pescara (Italy). Her line of research focuses on the Arabic literary production from the 19th century to present with particular attention paid to the modern Arabic literatures of dissidence, exile and prison. She has produced many scientific essays. She has been studying Libyan literature for years to which she has dedicated two monographs: L’immagine degli italiani nella letteratura libica dall’epoca coloniale alla caduta di Gheddafi (Istituto per l’Oriente C.A. Nallino, Roma 2011) and La letteratura della Libia. Dall’epoca coloniale ai nostri giorni (Carocci, Roma 2008).
This chapter aims to shed light on the private and professional path towards a peaceful society built upon civil liberties and social justice travelled by the Iraqi Ḥayāt Šarārah (1935-1997), academic, writer and translator persecuted in life and neglected for many years even after her death, due to a conspiratorial political censorship.
Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3 / Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale”
Antonio Pacifico is a PhD candidate at the Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3 / Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale”. His research project, conducted under the joint supervision of Prof. Elisabeth Vauthier and Prof. Monica Ruocco, focuses from a sociological perspective on the (re)writing of national history carried out by several Iraqi novelists, playwrights, and poets since the 1990s. His research interests include contemporary Iraqi literature, the relation between literary and historical narratives, and Arab cultural history.
Drawing on Bourdieu’s field theory, this chapter focuses on the trilogy written between 2008 and 2017 by the Iraqi writer ʿAbdullāh Ṣaḫī. It considers the trajectory and current position of this writer in the literary field and explores, from an ‘internal’ perspective, the representations of the Shia contained in his texts.
6. In Quest of the Virtuous City: Coexistence and In-/Hospitality in Ali Bader’s ʿĀzif al-ġuyūm [+–]
Aix-Marseille Universite – IREM AM
Annamaria Bianco holds a double PhD in modern and contemporary Arabic literature from the University of Aix-Marseille (IREMAM) and the University of Naples “L’Orientale” (DAAM). Her research focuses on the cultural productions of migrants, refugees and exiles as well as on the circulation of Arabic literature and publishing industry. She is an editor of the junior scholars journal Maydan – rivista sui mondi arabi, semitici e islamici and works as a translator for cinema, theater and the press.
This study analyses ʿAlī Bader’s novel ʿĀzif al-ġuyūm in the light of the current “Refugee Crisis” by situating it within the global debate on in-/hospitality. The story of the protagonist’s displacement in Belgium is a pretext to scrutinise the very idea of Europe, suggesting new possible scenarios of coexistence and solidarity in contemporary transnational societies through the fictional tools of humour and utopia.
Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta
Paola Viviani is Senior Lecturer at the Dipartimento di Scienze Politiche, Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta, Italy. Her research focuses on modern Arabic literature, especially the Nahḍah press and prose, and contemporary novel. She has translated from Arabic into Italian short-stories and novels from Morocco, Egypt, Yemen, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, UAE. She edited the Italian translation of Ṭāhā Ḥusayn’s Fi-l-ši‘r al-ǧāhilī as La poesia araba preislamica (2020).
This chapter investigates whether and to what extent a renewed approach to pacification within the Moroccan society can still be possible, in the light of the considerations and proposals present in the novel Banāt al-ṣubbār (Cactus Girls, 2018) by Karīmah Aḥdād.
Università degli Studi di Milano
Cristina Dozio is Assistant Professor of Arabic Language and Literature at Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy. Her research interests are modern and contemporary Arabic literature, satire, urban representation, and literary translation. Her book on literary humour in Egyptian fiction is Laugh like an Egyptian (De Gruyter Mouton 2021). She translates Arabic fiction into Italian.
This chapter examines Youssef Fadel’s trilogy about the recent history of Morocco to understand how the fictional representation of the violence/peace pairing intertwines with the ongoing reconciliation process in the country. Fadel’s novels shed light on contested memories, exposing several forms of violence across society and conceiving peace as something to be achieved through negotiations.
Part 3. Practices of Mediation
Università degli Studi di Messina
Daniela Potenza is a temporary researcher (RtdA) of Arabic Language and Literature at Università degli Studi di Messina (Italy), where she also teaches. She holds a PhD in Arabic Literature from INALCO (Paris) and UNIOR (Naples). Her book, The Kaleidoscope Effect: Rewriting in Alfred Farag’s Plays, has been published by IPOCAN (Rome, 2020). Her research focuses on Modern and Contemporary Egyptian literature, Arabic theatre, popular culture and intertextuality.
This chapter focuses on the aspects of mediation in the Sīrat al-Zīr Sālim. It analyses the remote causes of the war, the descriptions of happy life in peace and the several attempts to mediate, with the aim of highlighting how this epic legend fosters the value of peace, while maintaining that, in some circumstances, not to reconcile is the only solution for achieving peace.
University of Naples L’Orientale
Federico Stella graduated in history of philosophy at Sapienza University of Rome and obtained a Ph.D. in Oriental Studies at the same University. Currently, he is a Post-Doc researcher at the University of Naples L’Orientale within the ERC Synergy Grant The European Qu’ran. Islamic Scripture in European Culture and Religion 1150-1850. His main interests are Islamic philosophy and the history of Christian-Muslim relations.
This chapter carries out a historical-textual analysis of a passionate letter a Muslim slave in Malta sent to Baldassarre Loyola Mandes, a Moroccan ruler who converted to Christianity. It traces not only the traditional homo-erotic poetics of missed love and nostalgia for the beloved in the letter, but also Baldassarre’s translation strategies in his own translation of the same letter into Italian.
Catholic University of Milan
Paolo Maggiolini is a Research Fellow and Adjunct Professor at the Catholic University of Milan (Italy). He is co-editor with Kamran Matin (University of Sussex) for the Palgrave series “Minorities in West Asia and North Africa” (MiWANA). His research mainly focuses on religion and politics in Israel, Iraq, Jordan and Palestine. His publications include Minorities and State-Building in the Middle East: The Case of Jordan (with Idir Ouahes).
The chapter concentrates on the Catholic dimension in the processes of reconfiguration of the Israeli-Palestinian political and religious landscapes in the 1970s and the 1980s by reconsidering some statements and letters from the Peace and Justice Commission, complementing this analysis with a brief focus on the theological reflection of Michel Sabbah.
University of Macerata
Odetta Pizzingrilli obtained her PhD in “Politics: History, Science, Theory” at LUISS Guido Carli University (Rome) where she recently completed a Post-doctoral Fellowship in History of Islamic Countries. Her research focuses on nation/state building-process of the Arab states, national identity formation, minorities and minoritization processes. She teaches History of the Contemporary Middle East at the Humanities Department of the University of Macerata.
The chapter places the experience of the humanitarian project Rafedìn within the Jordanian (hi)story by presenting the different “Jordans” that succeeded one another over time, and by embodying a successful model of peaceful coexistence that has been able to carve its place within the multifaceted Jordanian society.
ISBN-13 (Hardback)
9781800503847
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ISBN-13 (Paperback)
9781800503854
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£24.95 / $32.00
ISBN (eBook)
9781800503861
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Institutional
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Publication
15/01/2024
Pages
220
Size
234 x 156mm
Readership
scholars
Illustration
1 figure
