Here, Bullet

Here, Bullet

Author: Brian Turner

Publisher: Alice James Books

Published: 2014-09-01

Total Pages: 86

ISBN-13: 1938584147

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A first-person account of the Iraq War by a solider-poet, winner of the 2005 Beatrice Hawley Award. Adding his voice to the current debate about the US occupation of Iraq, in poems written in the tradition of such poets as Wilfred Owen, Yusef Komunyakaa (Dien Cai Dau), Bruce Weigl (Song of Napalm) and Alice James’ own Doug Anderson (The Moon Reflected Fire), Iraqi war veteran Brian Turner writes power-fully affecting poetry of witness, exceptional for its beauty, honesty, and skill. Based on Turner’s yearlong tour in Iraq as an infantry team leader, the poems offer gracefully rendered, unflinching description but, remarkably, leave the reader to draw conclusions or moral lessons. Here, Bullet is a must-read for anyone who cares about the war, regardless of political affiliation.


A Sense of Regard

A Sense of Regard

Author: Laura McCullough

Publisher: University of Georgia Press

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 318

ISBN-13: 0820347612

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How do poets engage issues of race? This timely collection of essays brings together the voices of living poets and scholars, including Garrett Hongo and Major Jackson, to discuss the constraints and possibilities of racial discourse in poetic language, offering new insights on this perennially vexed issue.


The Qur'an and Modern Arabic Literary Criticism

The Qur'an and Modern Arabic Literary Criticism

Author: Mohammad Salama

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2018-05-17

Total Pages: 179

ISBN-13: 147425327X

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In The Qur'an and Modern Arabic Literary Criticism, Mohammad Salama navigates the labyrinthine semantics that underlie this sacred text and inform contemporary scholarship. The book presents reflections on Quranic exegesis by explaining - and distinguishing between - interpretation and explication. While the book focuses on Quranic and literary scholarship in twentieth-century Egypt from Taha Husayn to Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, it also engages with an immense tradition of scholarship from the classical period to the present, including authors such as Abu 'Ubayda, Ibn 'Abbas, al-Razi, and al-Tabari. Salama argues that, over the centuries, the Arabic language experienced semantic and phonological shifts, creating a lacuna in understanding the Qur'an and bringing contemporary readers under the spell of hermeneutical and parochial interpretations. He demonstrates that while this lacuna explains much of the intellectual poverty of traditionalist approaches to Quranic exegesis, the work of the modern Egyptian school of academics marks a sharp departure from the programmed conservatism of Islamist and Salafi exegetics. Through analyses of the writings of these intellectuals, the author shows that a fresh look at the sources and a revolutionary attempt to approach the Qur'an could render tradition itself an impetus for an alternative aesthetics-contextual, open, and unfolding.


Arabiyyat al-Naas (Part One)

Arabiyyat al-Naas (Part One)

Author: Munther Younes

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-07-14

Total Pages: 408

ISBN-13: 1135010854

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‘Arabiyyat al-Naas (Part One) offers a groundbreaking introduction to Arabic as it is written and spoken by native speakers. It combines a progressive and rigorous grounding in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) – the form employed for reading, writing and formal speaking – with an innovative integration of the spoken Levantine variety used in everyday situations in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine. Introducing the two simultaneously ‘Arabiyyat al Naas (Part One) uses each in its proper context: Levantine for conversations and MSA for reading and writing activities. In this way, the course efficiently prepares students for the practical realities of learning and "living" Arabic today. Features include: 21 theme-based units covering all the core topics expected in a first-year Arabic course, such as countries, clothes, colors, family and professions a broad range of stimulating activities and exercises fostering active engagement with the course and the development of comprehension and communication skills comprehensively covers the 5 Cs: communication, culture, connections, comparisons and communities free downloadable resources filmed on location in Jordan, presenting over 40 videos and incorporating a wide variety of entertaining and realistic scenarios a free companion website (www.routledge.com/cw/younes) offering a wealth of additional instructor and student resources, including a teacher’s guide, an introduction to the letters and sounds of Arabic (with audiovisual aid and writing demonstrations), audio recordings of songs and listening passages, video clips, sample tests, an answer key and language games clear explanations of grammatical structures and concepts as they occur in the reading and listening materials to encourage progressive learning and active interaction with the text a user-friendly and vibrant full colour text design, richly illustrated throughout with over 200 illustrations and photographs songs with simple lyrics tied to the themes of the course to help advance vocabulary acquisition and understanding of basic grammatical structures. Written by a dynamic author team and tested over a number of years at Cornell University, ‘Arabiyyat al-Naas (Part One) will be an essential resource for students beginning to learn Arabic. While primarily designed for classroom use, the accessibility of the course and website also renders it highly suitable for independent study. The materials are designed to bring students from the novice low level to the intermediate low level on the ACTFL scale (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages), and from A1 to A2/B1 on the CEFR scale (Common European Framework Reference). This volume is the first in an exciting three-part series of Arabic textbooks which together provide a complete three-year undergraduate language program.


The Diffusion of “Small” Western Technologies in the Middle East

The Diffusion of “Small” Western Technologies in the Middle East

Author: Uri M. Kupferschmidt

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2023-10-04

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 3110777223

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In recent years we have become interested in the diffusion of “small” Western technologies in the countries of the Middle East during the 19th and 20th centuries, the era of Imperialism and first globalization. We postulated a contrast between “small” and “big” technologies. Under the latter category we may understand railway systems, electricity grids, telegraph networks, and steam navigation, imposed by foreign powers or installed by connected local entrepreneurs. But many “small” Western technologies, such as sewing machines, typewriters, pianos, eyeglasses, and similar consumer goods, which had been developed and manufactured in Europe and America, were wanted, and willingly acquired by the agency of individual users elsewhere. In a few cases, however, the inventions had to be adapted, or were overstepped, and even delayed. Some were adopted as social markers or status symbols only by elites who could afford them. Processes of adoption and diffusion therefore differed according to cultural settings, preferences, and needs. Social and cultural historians, and social scientists, not only of the Middle East, will find in this collection of essays a new approach to the impact of Western technological inventions on the Middle East.