Find a scholarly paper on a Middle East topic that you find effectively written for its intended readers. Post it as a comment to this post, at the latest by Thursday 19.10.2023 6 PM.
OpenEdition schlägt Ihnen vor, diesen Beitrag wie folgt zu zitieren:
Victoria Mummelthei (17. Oktober 2023). writing seminar, task for session #2: analyzing effective writing. Keine Disziplin – No Discipline. Abgerufen am 9. März 2026 von https://doi.org/10.58079/13jnn


Derin Terzioğlu, “How to Conceptualize Ottoman Sunnitization: A Historiographical Discussion,” Turcica 44 (2012-3), 301-338.
I have selected to peruse the article titled “How to Conceptualize Ottoman Sunnitization: A Historiographical Discussion” by Derin Terzioğlu, which was featured in Turcica Volume 44 (2012-3). The reason for my choice lies in its scholarly significance, as it offers a comprehensive historiographical analysis regarding the manner in which the process of Sunnitization in the Ottoman Empire should be conceptualized and understood. This subject matter intrigues me due to its potential to elucidate the intricate historical and academic dialogues pertaining to the transformation of religious practices and identities within the Ottoman realm. By delving into the conceptual frameworks employed by historians in their examination of the Ottoman Sunnitization process, I anticipate gaining valuable insights into the broader historical and cultural dynamics of the region.
https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781400839919/html#contents
Mahmood, Saba
Politics of Piety, 2019, p.153-188, Princeton: Princeton University Press
Chapter 5: Agency, Gender, and Embodiment
Coming from an anthropological perspective Saba Mahmoud is looking at the feminist religious Mosque movement in Egypt to point out the importance of agency in feminist discourses and states how this notion doesn’t seem to fit in liberal secular views. It dismantles the “western” binary concept of power and submission and therefore sheds light on the ethical piety movement as viable activism.
TERMAN, ROCHELLE. “Trans[Ition] in Iran.” World Policy Journal, vol. 31, no. 1, 2014, pp. 28–38.
The main idea discussed in this article is transsexuality in contemporary Iran. Rochelle Terman brings a much debated topic to a wide readership, providing very specific facts about the issue in order to attract the public’s attention. It discusses how society views this, how it is seen through the eyes of Iranian jurisprudence and what kind of treatment they provide. Thus, the fundamental issue is the difference they make between homosexuality and transsexuality. Unlike homosexuality, transsexuality is considered a licit health problem and is being dealt with by the government, whereas homosexuality is punishable by death. There are of course cases where people who are attracted to others of the same sex opt for sex reassignment, as it is the only option that gives them hope for life. Therefore, this situation puts these people in a dilemma where they only contemplate one of the two paths. This leads to cases of trauma and gender dysphoria, as many do it for the sake of acceptance of their sexual status, and the cure is certainly not hormone treatment.
On the other hand, I am fascinated by this historical transition of roles and its possible impact on the treatment of this issue. The way in which Iran, as it somehow takes as a model of an independent and modern state that Europe which was entering a time of dictatorial regimes and war. And likewise at the beginning of the twentieth century, it is Iran which starts again with a dictatorial regency and Europe which stabilises and liberates itself after the problems that have occurred.
Basically, what it makes clear is that despite thinking that a society enjoys certain rights, the harsh reality is that it does not. It is the same mistakes that were eradicated in the past that are now being committed again and are contributing to this regression.
TERMAN, ROCHELLE. “Trans[Ition] in Iran.” World Policy Journal, vol. 31, no. 1, 2014, pp. 28–38.
The main idea discussed in this article is transsexuality in contemporary Iran. Rochelle Terman brings a much debated topic to a wide readership, providing very specific facts about the issue in order to attract the public’s attention. It discusses how society views this, how it is seen through the eyes of Iranian jurisprudence and what kind of treatment they provide. Thus, the fundamental issue is the difference they make between homosexuality and transsexuality. Unlike homosexuality, transsexuality is considered a licit health problem and is being dealt with by the government, whereas homosexuality is punishable by death. There are of course cases where people who are attracted to others of the same sex opt for sex reassignment, as it is the only option that gives them hope for life. Therefore, this situation puts these people in a dilemma where they only contemplate one of the two paths. This leads to cases of trauma and gender dysphoria, as many do it for the sake of acceptance of their sexual status, and the cure is certainly not hormone treatment.
On the other hand, I am fascinated by this historical transition of roles and its possible impact on the treatment of this issue. The way in which Iran, as it somehow takes as a model of an independent and modern state that Europe which was entering a time of dictatorial regimes and war. And likewise at the beginning of the twentieth century, it is Iran which starts again with a dictatorial regency and Europe which stabilises and liberates itself after the problems that have occurred.
Basically, what it makes clear is that despite thinking that a society enjoys certain rights, the harsh reality is that it does not. It is the same mistakes that were eradicated in the past that are now being committed again and are contributing to this regression.
Peirce, Leslie. “Fatma`s Story: The Dilemma of a Pregnant Peasant Girl. “ In Morality Tales: Law and Gender in the Ottoman Court of Aintab by Leslie Peirce, 351-375. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2003.
This piece is an outstanding instrument to see legal culture, construction of genders by law and relations between socioeconomic circumstances and making justice in the sixteen century Ottoman empire through the story of very ordinary girl named Fatma from Aintab.
Article
English:
-https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/unlearning-our-settler-colonial-tongues/
Arabic:
-https://www.palestine-studies.org/ar/node/1652673
When first discussion of the task arrised, I found a memory of a text I encountered during my bachelor unfold itself once more. Having little to no idea what “scholar” means and trying but failing to understand it, I am going off the possibility of a yes.
On first encounter with this text I recall the comfort I found in Ariella Aïsha Azoulays words, and the familiarity of the images she painted words onto. The happening prefaced with the almost gruesome title ‘Unlearning Our Settler Colonial Tongues’ and subconscious, colonial twists and turns they show our organ of communication to have taken. Mostly unwillingly, unknowingly, unthoughtfully.
In refusing to align with the decision of identification with the jewish grouping projected onto her, Azoulay writes that she now sees in her answer ” an understanding that this entreat to “choose” was premisd on imperialism’s incitement of children to turn their back on their ancestors and make “better choices” or to encourage them to endorse their ancestors’ “choices” and justify them regardless of the harm they perpetrate”. A truly manipulative and chilling happenstance of colonialism, that of the silent and encouraged indoctirnation of children.
I love reading of her reckoning with identities which attempt to, and unfortunately successfully sometimes, seperate the life of the child immigrant from that of the parents, in this case naming Azoulay ‘Israeli’ and ‘Mizrachit’ in lew of her Algerian paternal origins, and the Ladino, Palestinian ones of her mother. She denotes the erasure of her mothers origins and its replacement with Israeli, and of the fathers Algerian roots ‘actually’ being French. Like calling Oran a city in France.
I find in this article traces of my family life, of the overtaken lagnuages of my country and the hushing of movements to return to root. Of the pride I hear haughtily spoken in the speech and movement of ‘European’ Moroccans.
Azoulay speaks of unlearning a hollow mother tongue and in her anscestral languages taking back her existance as a Palestinian Jew, as an Algerian Jew, and as Aïsha, the name of her Algerian grandmother that her father had concealed from her family.
Beautiful and bloodied is walking the path of home, a path I find trialed and explored in this article, one as example of the possibilities of home-coming.
English:
https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/unlearning-our-settler-colonial-tongues/
Arabic:
https://www.palestine-studies.org/ar/node/1652673
When first discussion of the task arrised, I found a memory of a text I encountered during my bachelor unfold itself once more. Having little to no idea what “scholar” means and trying but failing to understand it, I am going off the possibility of a yes.
On first encounter with this text I recall the comfort I found in Ariella Aïsha Azoulays words, and the familiarity of the images she painted words onto. The happening prefaced with the almost gruesome title ‘Unlearning Our Settler Colonial Tongues’ and subconscious, colonial twists and turns they show our organ of communication to have taken. Mostly unwillingly, unknowingly, unthoughtfully.
In refusing to align with the decision of identification with the jewish grouping projected onto her, Azoulay writes that she now sees in her answer ” an understanding that this entreat to “choose” was premisd on imperialism’s incitement of children to turn their back on their ancestors and make “better choices” or to encourage them to endorse their ancestors’ “choices” and justify them regardless of the harm they perpetrate”. A truly manipulative and chilling happenstance of colonialism, that of the silent and encouraged indoctirnation of children.
I love reading of her reckoning with identities which attempt to, and unfortunately successfully sometimes, seperate the life of the child immigrant from that of the parents, in this case naming Azoulay ‘Israeli’ and ‘Mizrachit’ in lew of her Algerian paternal origins, and the Ladino, Palestinian ones of her mother. She denotes the erasure of her mothers origins and its replacement with Israeli, and of the fathers Algerian roots ‘actually’ being French. Like calling Oran a city in France.
I find in this article traces of my family life, of the overtaken lagnuages of my country and the hushing of movements to return to root. Of the pride I hear haughtily spoken in the speech and movement of ‘European’ Moroccans.
Azoulay speaks of unlearning a hollow mother tongue and in her anscestral languages taking back her existance as a Palestinian Jew, as an Algerian Jew, and as Aïsha, the name of her Algerian grandmother that her father had concealed from her family.
Beautiful and bloodied is walking the path of home, a path I find trialed and explored in this article, one as example of the possibilities of home-coming.
Thanks for sharing this Blü. It struck a chord in me and brought to the surface many familiar themes – immigration/displacement, multiple/conflicting identities, imposed cultures and languages. It felt like the article is itself an act of defiance and closure after so much (emotional as well as physical) colonialization and violence.
Maybe the idea of “unlearning our tongues” also applies, in a different sense, to the process of finding our voices as writers (= as individuals) – in the sense that we might have to unlearn certain internalized rules/judgements/expectations in order to give meaning to our writing.
In this article, historical institutionalism is presented as a valuable theoretical and methodological approach to understanding how critical historical events, junctures, and responses have influenced and consolidated national understandings and conceptualizations of the MEPP. The passage highlights the importance of understanding the role of the Soviet Union, the European Union, and the United States in shaping their perspectives on the MEPP.
https://journal.culanth.org/index.php/ca/article/view/3860/431
I chose Zengin’s article as an example because I find it interesting that state politics over the body continues even after the one’s death ( this is relatively more prevalent in the Middle East).
Necropolitics has always been interesting to me because I grew up in Turkey, a country where death can be very political. Zengin, show insights about Sibel’s death who was a trans woman living in Turkey. Since in Turkey, after death, the body is handed over to people related by blood and most trans people are rejected by their assigned families, trans deaths raise a big unknown: burial procedure. At the same time, because state policy defines family only by blood ties, trans people’s bodies are often buried in orphan cemetries. In addition, the approach of imams and Islamic institutions brings gender into question since the after death rituals in islam mainly divided according to one’s gender.
Although there is a misconception about death states for the end of life, it is actually an important indicator of how death and dead bodies can also produce politics. This article is also benefial to emphasize how Turkish state’s Islamic structure and the concept of family are interwined. On the other hand, it also shows that queers in Turkey carry a political baggage even after their death.
Thank you Gülru for sharing this article and the door to necropolitics you have opened in me.
Had replied to the comment on the other task, so am trying to give space to similar feelings but am unable to recall my exact wording- that notes for the differences if that comment if found by anyone 🙂
It is interesting to read of a realm of politics that has of yet been foreign to me. Though the thought of death and its possibilities take often form in my daily life, the technicalitites of death I seldom indulge. The rituals of death in western worlds, and their attempts of immortalizing the formaladyhde filled body brings me flashes of horror underlied with the stench of denial. In reading your comment and this article I hear echoes of burials I have witnessed in Islamic contexts muffled. The forgottenness of what the article coins as the ‘transgressive death’ is chilling though the term is one I find beauty in. A transgressive death brings images of a body transforming, of a body more and in such transgressing our rituals of the dead and in so being more; creating a muchness of death, giving it form and life. Both of which seem amiss in the sterile goodbyes.
In the dehumanization of the body deemed other, a forlorn saddness in the erasure of the trans body, and its life that lives outside the imposed societal norms, like those of the orphans which mesh into these in the cemeteries. A cemetery filled with otherness and erasure of individual life, I wonder of its scenery.
Brambilla, Chiara (2014). Shifting Italy/Libya Borderscapes at the Interface of EU/Africa
Borderland: A “Genealogical” Outlook from the Colonial Era to Post-Colonial Scenarios. ACME:
An International E-Journal for Critical Geographies, 13 (2), pp. 220-245.
In this paper, Brambilla introduces the term “borderscapes” to allow for a more de-territorialized understanding of the EU/Africa borders. It is argued that the externalization of European outer borders creates epistemological borderlands, rather than mere national, physical borders in the traditional sense. Brambilla argues that borders are dispersed entities and can consist of multiple regimes. For example, the European external borders are often remote from the EU’s territory and are not necessarily recognizable as such. For the case study of the Libyan/Italian border(lands), Brambilla investigates three different “borderscapes”. The “scapes” function as a tool to structure the analysis of the variations of the border through space and time and locate the EU external border within Libya; in oases, refugee camps, and businesses.
I think the paper is nicely structured as the author first introduces some basic concepts from border studies and locates their approach within the field. It is easy to follow Brambilla’s conceptualization of “borderscapes” as each section of the paper focuses on one of the “scapes”. After reading the paper, I had a good overview of how the externalization of EU borders functions and how they are dispersed to unexpected locations in the case of Libya/Italy.
Bilal, M., & de la Bretèque, E. A. (2013). The oror and the lorî: Armenian and Kurdish lullabies in present-day Istanbul. In Remembering the Past in Iranian Societies (125-139). Harrassowitz Verlag.
Reading up on this topic, I found this article that really reasonated with me. It is presented in two parts, as the authors did not wrote it together, but rather ensembled both their writings.
In the first part, Melissa Bilal writes about Armenian Lullabies and in the second one Estelle de la Bretèque explains further the connection between the experience and memory of displacement by Kurdish women and lulling/lullabies.
I know emotional opinions are not welcomed as a young scholar, but this article felt very unique, and, if I may say it, beautiful.
It explores how women, by singing lullabies to their children, find their place to express their feelings and sorrows, while, consequently, becoming the producers of new levels of memory (137) and history.
Thanks Inês for sharing this – it reminded me how important it is to focus on topics that inspire us emotionally (and not just intellectually, though I guess the two are always connected). Having a meaningful/inspiring topic like this makes it easier to write something creative and meaningful:) It often seems to me that academic writing tends to focus on theorizing and intellectualizing rather than authentic human experience…
The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order
Book by Samuel P. Huntington
Huntington’s article “Clash of Civilizations” suggests that post-Cold War conflicts will primarily stem from cultural differences rather than ideological or economic interests. Huntington’s concept of civilization is based on the idea that it is more meaningful to group countries based on their culture and civilization rather than their political or economic systems or level of economic development. He argues that civilizations are differentiated by history, language, culture, tradition, and religion, and that people from different cultures have different views. However, Huntington fails to recognize that the fates of people from different cultures may carry parallelism, as seen in comparative politics and anthropology. He also mentions that the world is becoming a smaller place, with increasing interactions between people from different civilizations intensifying civilization consciousness and awareness of differences and commonalities. This has led to people becoming more like world citizens, allowing them to see the “other” more easily and become more aware of the differences between different settings. His division of the world into 9 civilizations is problematic as it may lead to mistaken analysis and overlooking real causes of events. Huntington uses a strong orientalist approach to create a monster, claiming the West is always under threats from Islam.
Francis Robinson, “Ottomans-Safavids-Mughals: Shared Knowledge and Connective Systems,” Journal of Islamic Studies 8:2 (1997): 151-184
https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/26198086.pdf?refreqid=fastly-default%3A7a5171477cd0e552c4e294d61e0537ab&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&origin=&initiator=search-results&acceptTC=1
This article examines the exchange of knowledge between the Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal empires which produced an “international community of scholars” via shared madrasa curricula, the travels of scholars and teachers, and a shared tradition of mystical knowledge (Sufism), as well as how changing political contexts affected what type of knowledge was transmitted.
I liked the way the author balances specific/factual information with a broader historical interpretation, held together by a narrative style that is accessible and engaging. He does this (among other ways) by using biographical sketches to show how the work of individual scholars contributed to the creation of this international community and how they shaped the development of education in each of these empires. For example, he describes how the 16th-century Safavid scholar Fazl Allah Shirazi stimulated a focus on rational subjects in the Mughal empire. He also notes how these exchanges continued even after the fall of the empires themselves, into the 19th and 20th centuries, thereby linking an apparently remote history to the present.
Francis Robinson, “Ottomans-Safavids-Mughals: Shared Knowledge and Connective Systems,” Journal of Islamic Studies 8:2 (1997): 151-184
https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/26198086.pdf?refreqid=fastly-default%3A7a5171477cd0e552c4e294d61e0537ab&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&origin=&initiator=search-results&acceptTC=1
This article examines the exchange of knowledge between the Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal empires which produced an “international community of scholars” via shared madrasa curricula, the travels of scholars and teachers, and a shared tradition of mystical knowledge (Sufism), as well as how changing political contexts affected what type of knowledge was transmitted.
I liked the way the author balances specific/factual information with a broader historical interpretation, held together by a narrative style that is accessible and engaging. He does this (among other ways) by using biographical sketches to show how the work of individual scholars contributed to the creation of this “international community” and how they shaped the development of education in each of these empires. For example, he describes how the 16th-century Safavid scholar Fazl Allah Shirazi stimulated a focus on rational subjects in the Mughal empire. He also notes how these exchanges continued even after the fall of the empires themselves, into the 19th and 20th centuries, thereby linking an apparently remote history to the present.
Presents a great introduction to history of sexuality works in the Middle East. It examines studies on sexuality, homosexuality and gender in the field.
Peirce, Leslie. “Writing Histories of Sexuality in the Middle East.” The American Historical Review 114, no. 5 (2009): 1325–39. https://doi.org/10.1086/ahr.114.5.1325.
Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi, “Was ist Aufklarung? The Iranian Revolution as a Moment of Enlightenment” in Foucault in Iran: Islamic Revolution and the Enlightenment (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2016), pp. 159-186.
Ghamari-Tabrizi’s text which is written about Michel Foucault’s “What is Enlightenment?”, despite not talking about the Iranian Revolution directly but focusing on the philosophical interpretation of the revolution, is highly thought-provoking in several senses. It provokes you to think of enlightened subjects beyond the Westerns and understand the Enlightenment not as an epoch but as a critical attitude in the present. Drawing from the Kantian modern self ideas Foucault argues that as Ghamari-Tabrizi discusses, during the revolution the non western subject, despite stemming from spirituality or various ideologies, as a revolutionaries who have the audacity to speak truth and denies the obey to what is traditionally upon them, they dream about something transformative about their present self, situation and politics. Moreover, Foucault’s genealogical approach led him to argue that “Islam was neither a burden of the past nor a blueprint for the future” but “the Shi‘i Islam was the context for a creative reinvention of the self, without reference to an a priori, transcendental subject.” From my point of view, seeing the modern self in the very act of becoming the revolutionary in the particular present can allow us the more accurate reading of today, thus past and the future inter-relationally both as academics and as modern subjects who have a responsibility to everyday politics.
Dolbee, S., &; Gratien, C. (2021). 2 Adana Kebabs and Antep Pistachios: Place, Displacement, and Cuisine of the Turkish South. In Making Levantine Cuisine. University of Texas Press. https://doi.org/10.7560/324578-005
I think this is an interesting read for anyone who is interested in Food Studies. It explores the post-Ottoman era cultural narratives in Turkey that aimed to separate itself from any non-Turkish reminiscence. It draws a parallel between these efforts and the re-branding of Adana kebab and Antep pistachio as Turkish national products.
It first traces the history of what is in modern day known as Adana Kebab and Antep Pistachio, very important commodities of Turkish national cuisine, and analyzes the history of how they become a national commodity with active efforts from both Turkish officials and prominent figures. In the process of nationalization of these 2 food commodities, it had been aimed to erase the cultural background and a shared history of these foods that links them to Syrian, Armenian and even Kurdish people, a link that has its origins in the Ottoman era.
And then it situates this history within the context of xenophobic discourse in Turkey against Syrian refugees. The nationalist anxieties around the 2 food commodities to rebrand them as Turkish national products, to erase their connections to Arabic speaking communities are reflections of the Turkish nation state project that intends to erase the Ottoman legacy of multi-ethnicity.
Nergis Canefe & Tanıl Bora (2003) The Intellectual Roots of Anti-European Sentiments in Turkish Politics: The Case of Radical Turkish Nationalism, Turkish Studies, 4:1, 127-148, DOI: 10.1080/714005725 https://doi.org/10.1080/714005725
I would assume that the main question one would ask in reading such a paper would be, ‘How has Turkish nationalism come this far?’ This paper does an incredible job in answering just that, for the reader who probably has been affected by it. It sets the stage by introducing the topic of Turkish nationalism and continues to trace its evolution over time by illustrating its interactions with different ideologies. The essay effectively highlights the key points, such as the impact of globalization, the Kurdish issue, economic factors and right-wing radicalism, making it easier to grasp the main ideas behind important political events and their significance in the context of Turkish nationalism. The seamless transitions from discussing the historical context of Turkish nationalism to its contemporary manifestations, along with the clear timeline of events and influences provided, demonstrate the effectiveness of this essay for its intended readers.
Kaplan, Dana, and Rachel Werczberger. “Jewish New Age and the Middle Class: Jewish Identity Politics in Israel under Neoliberalism.” Sociology 51, no. 3 (2017): 575–91. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26940369.
This article explores how religiosity shapes class relations in Israel and vice versa, particularly for middle-class secular Israelis who engage with “New Age Judaism,” for some as a means of enforcing hierarchy over Orthodox Ashkenazi and Mizrachi Israelis now that religious observance has garnered political power and cultural capital.
Haskell, Thomas L. “Objectivity Is Not Neutrality: Rhetoric vs. Practice in Peter Novick’s That Noble Dream.” History and Theory 29, no. 2 (1990): 129–57. https://doi.org/10.2307/2505222.
As the title of the article suggests, Thomas Haskell is responding to a Peter Novick’s book that deals with the question of objectivity and professionalization of History in American universities. You don’t need to have read the book to appreciate this article though. It is written in such a clear manner without heavily relying on academic jargon that, in fact, it can be read by non-scholars and still grasp what Haskell means by objectivity.
I like his use of the first-person pronoun throughout the article in particular. He doesn’t shy away from explicitly stating his view which in turn is in tune with what he means by objectivity. That doesn’t mean that he’s just rambling in the paper about his personal views. To the contrary, he refers to other scholars and schools of thought and gives them their due respect and attention while being critical and assertive.
I find this such a well-written scholarly paper on one of the most important concepts in academia (and outside of it) that I highly recommend it as essential reading in the beginning of any research project.
https://www.academia.edu/43569838/Honour_based_violence_in_Kurdish_communities
‘Honour’-based violence in Kurdish communities:
This paper is summarzing the book Honour Based Violence by the same authors, namely Aisha K. Gill, Nazand Begikhani, Gill Hague.
I value this paper as it both critically analyze the hegemeonic Western scholars and societies view and policy making efforts on the topic of violence against women, which is especially based on honour and influenced by patriarchal motives and structural gendered violence, it also comes up with more critical examples of policy changes that would prevent or emphasize VAW / HBV without further leading to discrimination of groups with ethnic and religious identitites that does not “fit into” the Western expectations. I also appreciate the methodology of in depth interviews with snowball sampling. While the authors also criticize the snowball sampling method, i agree with them in a way that the vast range of people chosen for the study have different positions and background which is an effectful attempt on reducing the possibility of reaching to a “likeminded audience”. Moreover, an important part of the paper is given to explain the ethical measurements taken during the writing of the paper, which I also value a lot in writing. In addition, the paper is easy to read and is very explanatory which makes it more accessible for also nonacademic readers. therefore making the paper more politically impactful for me.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/resrep25023.pdf?refreqid=fastly-default%3Aba18d609549ec8320849b763abdee60c&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&origin=&initiator=&acceptTC=1
After reading three papers from different eras, both from 20th and 21st centuries, whether from an independent author or a group, an academic paper titled “DECIPHERING CHINA IN THE MIDDLE EAST” written by Erzsébet N. Rózsa in 2020 stood out the most for various reasons. This academic piece of work stood out for me for its coherent and concise style. Firstly, It felt almost impossible to shorten any sentence without cutting on the vital information. Sentences are well structured, complement each other and keep the immersive nature. The titles of each sub-paragraph are very objective and create subconscious trust in every following paragraph, as they deliver on the “promised”. The paper doesn’t just deliver the most up-to-date information and solutions to the problems but rather put everything in a context so that a person who perhaps isn’t knowledgeable on the topic would put the presented information in a wider context.
Secondly, I’ve come to realize that in the modern world, where digital media and many attention-grabbing methods have been actively implemented in everyday life, grabbing one’s attention and retaining a reader has become increasingly more and more difficult. The author tries to engage the reader by using a colored, visual cover at the very beginning of the paper in combination with Introduction and Summary being next to each other. Both sections are easily distinguishable by a selected background color. Furthermore the writer uses bigger font for certain key sentences and laying them in-between two columns of texts, underlining main points of a given part of the paper. Nowadays visual eye-catching aesthetics, are equally as important as the content of the paper to ensure engagement with the reader. In this case, multiple colored graphs and maps are used which really allow the reader to visualize the read content and connect with it, which encourages the reader to follow the paper till the end.
To conclude, these were the primary ways how the author deciphered Chinese strategies in the Middle East in regards to ongoing “BRI” project.
Rózsa, Erzsébet N. DECIPHERING CHINA IN THE MIDDLE EAST. European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS), 2020. pp 1-8. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep25023
*correct way of sourcing an academic paper*
Kentel, K. Mehmet. “Caricaturizing “Cosmopolitan” Pera: Play, Critique, and Absence in Yusuf Franko’s Caricatures, 1884-1896.” Journal of the Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association, Indiana University Press, Volume 5, Number 1, Spring 2018. pp. 7-32. https://doi.org/10.2979/jottturstuass.5.1.03
I was intrigued by this article’s phenomenal reflection on the district of Istanbul, Pera, by staying true to its cosmopolitan structure and ever-increasing intellectual productivity in the late 19th century. With the example of Yusuf Franko Kusa, whose caricatures not only portrayed the entrance of Western games, dances, and clothing into Ottoman daily life but also kept the local cultural motifs visible, Kentel allowed the reader to see the environment from a different point of view. Here is an excerpt from the article to give a clear picture: “It is also noteworthy that a landscape painting hanging on the wall, admired by an Ottoman gentleman and another lady in a green low-cut dress, is next to Arabic calligraphy—a visual juxtaposition that serves as an illustration, or rather a caricature, of Pera’s cosmopolitanism.”(Kentel,20)
Jabr, Suad. “”Not the Paradise We Imagined”: The Discursive Politics of the “True Self” in Queer Middle Eastern Refugee Migrations.” Mashriq & Mahjar: Journal of Middle East and North African Migration Studies 8, no. 2 (2021): 93-105. muse.jhu.edu/article/835514.
My research interest lies in the intersection of queer, Middle Eastern, and Mediterranean. Although this article does not mention critical Mediterranean Studies, I am very interested in discussing the “true self” concerning queer identities and how the Middle East is categorized as a non-queer territory in the Western public eye. I am impressed with this article’s fluent structure and language because it first defines a problem in the field clearly and then discusses it with different examples from refugee experiences and representations in media.
Cagirkan, B. (2017). Being immigrant and the understanding of sense of belonging and ethnic identity: the example of Ahiska Turks. Sosyoloji Konferansları – Istanbul Journal of Sociological Studies, 56, 1-19. https://doi. org/10.18368/iusoskon.328513
I found this scholarly paper relatable to its readers in the ME context. In this paper there are discussions of elements of immigration which are rather ‘abstract’, for example; identity, belonging and the notion of being an ‘immigrant’. The paper is constructed based on the interviews from the target group, which makes it easier for the reader to understand the narrative, the experiences around the immigration processes of Ahıska Turks, and the context these events took place. Therefore, I believe this paper shows the reader the complexity of these notions in an easy-to-read manner.
Secunda, Shai. “In Iran: Reading the Talmud in Its Iranian Context.” The Iranian Talmud: Reading the Bavli in Its Sasanian Context, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014, pp. 110–43. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt4cggw3.9.
While this article is a chapter from a book that presents the research findings of comparative analysis between Babylonian Talmud and Iranian textual tradition, the text could be read as a stand-alone paper.
That chapter allows its readers to differentiate how anarchism and propaganda of the deed has been useful to legitimize crimes against individuals and minorities in Ottoman times.
Yılmaz, Ìlkay. “7 Conspiracy, International Police Cooperation and the Fight against Anarchism in the Late Ottoman Empire, 1878–1908”. Age of Rogues: Rebels, Revolutionaries and Racketeers at the Frontiers of Empires, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2021, pp. 208-234. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781474462648-011
Craig Brittain, C. (2005). The “Secular” as a Tragic Category: On Talal Asad, Religion and Representation. Method & Theory in the Study of Religion, 17(2), 149-165. https://doi.org/10.1163/1570068054305592
I discovered this paper when writing an essay about secularism and the debates surrounding its definition. It is both an analysis and critique piece on arguably the most popular work on the nature of secularism by Talal Asad. I think it provides the reader with essential background information about the topic as well as criticism of it.
Makdisi, Ussama. “Ottoman Orientalism.” The American historical review 107, no. 3 (2002): 768–796. https://doi.org/10.1086/532495
This paper is quite influential for better understanding the Ottoman position regarding the parts of the ME they controlled.
Ahmed, E Khalid. “Introducing Hegemonic-Mediation.” Peace Review. Palo, Alto, Calif)., 32(1) 2020. https://doi.org/10.1080/10402659.2020.1823562
This piece is such a fantastic introduction in understanding the Eurocentric epistemologies and ontologies that continue to uphold the cycle of failed mediation and colonial dominance in the SWANA regions. It deconstructs the roles of superpowers mediative intentions and geopolitical intrests that ultimatley propogate seccessionist wars and determine post-mediative realities in the region; Khalid coins this as hegemonic mediation.