Visions and Representations of Homeland in Modern Arabic Literature (30 June – 1 July 2011)

Homeland and Nation have been a central theme in modern Arabic poetry. Especially poets inspired and shaped the idea of an Arab nation, serving as a “think tank” for nationalism in its various forms. While many poets and novelists were among the most ardent advocates of nationalism, others were more critical towards the nation-state.
The international symposium aims to investigate the diverse and changing visions, concepts and representations of homeland and nation in modern Arabic literature. With its focus on processes of symbolic nation-building as well as on the changing cultural concepts of homeland, nation and nationalism in various Arab countries, the international symposium will contribute not only to a deeper understanding of literary figurations of the homeland and its impact on cultural mentalities and politics, but also to a fuller appreciation of the rich repertoire of innovative and critical ideas towards nation and homeland evident in this particular literature.
On the first evening of the workshop the new documentary film “Waiting for Abu Zaid” (Mohammad Ali Atassi) will be shown and on the second evening, the novelist Alawiyya Sobh (Lebanon) and the Iraqi writer and poet Abbas Khider (Berlin) will give a reading and discuss their ideas about homeland and nation today.
The workshop is organized by Prof. Dr. Sebastian Günther (Professor for Arabic and Islamic studies, University of Göttingen), Dr. Stephan Milich (Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies, University of Göttingen) in cooperation with Dr. Anja Johannsen (Director of the Literarisches Zentrum, Göttingen) and the Lichtenberg-College (University of Göttingen).