Can you believe I was wondering (and googling) what the word for "irony" is in 3arabi, and this phrase actually came up as a post on some blog: 'what's the Arabic word for "irony"...?'
Unfortunately it was written by an American standup comedian who is also a writer and an army reservist. Do I want to continue? (Yep, it was anti-Arab and anti-Islamic, supposedly commenting on the controversy about those cartoons in the Danish newspaper).
Enough. I don't even want to begin to imagine the amount of racism and Islamaphobia in cyberspace...
Back to "irony".
Well, I do know the word
"mas'kharra"
which in my old green Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Arabic means "masquerade / object of ridicule, laughingstock / ridiculous, droll, ludicrous"
and there is "sukh'riya"
which is "scorn, derision, mockery, irony..."
all coming from the verb / root
"sakhira"
"to laugh, scoff, jeer, sneer, mock, ridicule, deride, make fun"
In the last couple of years my favourite irony has been experienced through the contemporary poetry of several local Iraqi poets. (go Auburn! go Parramatta!).
Often difficult to translate effectively into English, the whimsy within a few short paragraphs can mask a depth of nuances that I can only ever float on the edge of...
Showing posts with label contemporary arab cultures. Show all posts
Showing posts with label contemporary arab cultures. Show all posts
November 6, 2007
September 1, 2007
... on being and arab-centredness...
yahala yahala yahala…
it’s already 1 september 2007 … ouff!!
okay, so let’s talk about one of my current diversions:
how to develop arab-centred research methods?
on conceptual levels,
as well as in generating reflective questions and discussions with artists about their / our work...
while the 3arabi project specifically has a focus on contemporary arab australian cultures, this central question is simultaneously relevant on local and global levels, for grass roots cultural activism / production, as well as for theoretical work…
i’ll just throw out 3 references that have recently come my way, that may or may not be relevant to my own question:
WAHAD:
earlier this year f.f. and i were on the edges of this critical discussion (somewhere between sydney harbour and up the parramatta river) – he later gave me an article published from beirut at the beginning of this year:
‘The Academic ‘Patras’ of the Arab World: Creating a Climate of Academic Apartheid’
by Ramzi N. Nasser and Kamal Abouchedid, Notre Dame University, Lebanon
in PORTAL Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies Vol. 4, No. 1 January 2007
ISSN: 1449-2490
http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/ojs/index.php/portal
"This paper discusses factors that are contributing to the rise of what we refer to as an ethos of “academic apartheid” in Arab institutions of higher education. The paper examines the failure of these institutions to overcome their alienation from indigenous epistemology, to emancipate the education they provide from its colonial past, and to move towards the modern information age. The difficult position of Arab academics striving to rediscover, reintegrate and reorganize an epistemological framework to serve the indigenous world is also discussed. Current institutional approaches have deleterious effects on the performance of Arab academics, including arresting the process of transition to development. The paper concludes that Arab academics have a range of choices in determining how to establish a course of corrective action."
ITHNAYN:
in 2005, i’d heard that relatively unique postgraduate work in CCD (community cultural development) was being developed at the VCA (victorian college of the arts) to start in 2006 – so they are now in their second year. through ‘The Centre for Ideas’ you can do postgrad diplomas, masters and doctorates in CCD. [i’ll refrain from reflecting right now on my work experiences since 1980, where acronyms such as CCD did not even exist!?!]
anyway, universities being the corporate animals that they have become, it took me ages to get my hands on some tangible material from down in melbourne (thanks to w.m. and accomplice!). flicking through the 2006 ‘reader’ i came across a reference for this book:
Decolonizing Methodologies
Research and Indigenous Peoples
by Linda Tuhiwai Smith
Zed Books Ltd
1999
and as i am re-learning how to focus (let alone read) again, this is good for my slow-cook appetite. and as she is an Indigenous woman academic from Aotearoa, it’s almost like having someone in the neighbourhood...
THALATA
as i can be old-fashioned in my media-preferences, i was happy to also recently get my hands on a hardcopy of:
BIDOUN (ISSN 15514048)
Summer 2007
Arts and Culture from the Middle East
Issue 11
Published quarterly in New York
www.bidoun.com
"BIDOUN magazine was created as a platform for ideas and an open forum for exchange, dialogue and opinions about arts and culture from the Middle East. BIDOUN's primary goal is to bring together cultural expressions from a vast and nuanced region. BIDOUN also addresses some of the widespread misconceptions about the region and its Diaspora by inciting readers to take a fresh look at the Middle East and its peoples, too often presented as one-dimensional or stagnant."
"BIDOUN means 'without' in both Arabic and Farsi. In our contemporary context, it connotes the statelessness in which many of us find ourselves-sometimes voluntarily, sometimes not."
"BIDOUN is not limited by political boundaries drawn onto maps. Its very essence is the fluidity of geographies and a challenge to the myth of singular and absolute representation. Yet we are cautious with our role as culture broker. While we acknowledge the reductionist tendencies of orientalism, BIDOUN also resists obsessing over cultural difference."
"This is not about being authoritative. Rather, BIDOUN is an experiment: a collection of voices whose sum total aims to engage."
...i like this bit eh:
'While we acknowledge the reductionist tendencies of orientalism, BIDOUN also resists obsessing over cultural difference.'
.... so what do you reckon? ... yallah, it’fadal’ou!
it’s already 1 september 2007 … ouff!!
okay, so let’s talk about one of my current diversions:
how to develop arab-centred research methods?
on conceptual levels,
as well as in generating reflective questions and discussions with artists about their / our work...
while the 3arabi project specifically has a focus on contemporary arab australian cultures, this central question is simultaneously relevant on local and global levels, for grass roots cultural activism / production, as well as for theoretical work…
i’ll just throw out 3 references that have recently come my way, that may or may not be relevant to my own question:
WAHAD:
earlier this year f.f. and i were on the edges of this critical discussion (somewhere between sydney harbour and up the parramatta river) – he later gave me an article published from beirut at the beginning of this year:
‘The Academic ‘Patras’ of the Arab World: Creating a Climate of Academic Apartheid’
by Ramzi N. Nasser and Kamal Abouchedid, Notre Dame University, Lebanon
in PORTAL Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies Vol. 4, No. 1 January 2007
ISSN: 1449-2490
http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/ojs/index.php/portal
"This paper discusses factors that are contributing to the rise of what we refer to as an ethos of “academic apartheid” in Arab institutions of higher education. The paper examines the failure of these institutions to overcome their alienation from indigenous epistemology, to emancipate the education they provide from its colonial past, and to move towards the modern information age. The difficult position of Arab academics striving to rediscover, reintegrate and reorganize an epistemological framework to serve the indigenous world is also discussed. Current institutional approaches have deleterious effects on the performance of Arab academics, including arresting the process of transition to development. The paper concludes that Arab academics have a range of choices in determining how to establish a course of corrective action."
ITHNAYN:
in 2005, i’d heard that relatively unique postgraduate work in CCD (community cultural development) was being developed at the VCA (victorian college of the arts) to start in 2006 – so they are now in their second year. through ‘The Centre for Ideas’ you can do postgrad diplomas, masters and doctorates in CCD. [i’ll refrain from reflecting right now on my work experiences since 1980, where acronyms such as CCD did not even exist!?!]
anyway, universities being the corporate animals that they have become, it took me ages to get my hands on some tangible material from down in melbourne (thanks to w.m. and accomplice!). flicking through the 2006 ‘reader’ i came across a reference for this book:
Decolonizing Methodologies
Research and Indigenous Peoples
by Linda Tuhiwai Smith
Zed Books Ltd
1999
and as i am re-learning how to focus (let alone read) again, this is good for my slow-cook appetite. and as she is an Indigenous woman academic from Aotearoa, it’s almost like having someone in the neighbourhood...
THALATA
as i can be old-fashioned in my media-preferences, i was happy to also recently get my hands on a hardcopy of:
BIDOUN (ISSN 15514048)
Summer 2007
Arts and Culture from the Middle East
Issue 11
Published quarterly in New York
www.bidoun.com
"BIDOUN magazine was created as a platform for ideas and an open forum for exchange, dialogue and opinions about arts and culture from the Middle East. BIDOUN's primary goal is to bring together cultural expressions from a vast and nuanced region. BIDOUN also addresses some of the widespread misconceptions about the region and its Diaspora by inciting readers to take a fresh look at the Middle East and its peoples, too often presented as one-dimensional or stagnant."
"BIDOUN means 'without' in both Arabic and Farsi. In our contemporary context, it connotes the statelessness in which many of us find ourselves-sometimes voluntarily, sometimes not."
"BIDOUN is not limited by political boundaries drawn onto maps. Its very essence is the fluidity of geographies and a challenge to the myth of singular and absolute representation. Yet we are cautious with our role as culture broker. While we acknowledge the reductionist tendencies of orientalism, BIDOUN also resists obsessing over cultural difference."
"This is not about being authoritative. Rather, BIDOUN is an experiment: a collection of voices whose sum total aims to engage."
...i like this bit eh:
'While we acknowledge the reductionist tendencies of orientalism, BIDOUN also resists obsessing over cultural difference.'
.... so what do you reckon? ... yallah, it’fadal’ou!
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