Orient-Institut Beirut

3b. Die bereits im letzten Jahr (Dezember 2007) in Beirut begonnene und im Oktober 08 in
Istanbul fortgesetzte Dichter-Begegnung reziproker Übersetzung und Nachdichtung gehört
auch in diese Forschungsperspektive.
3c. Für Februar 09 ist eine Veranstaltung in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Goethe-Institut zu
„Warum Dichtung übersetzen?“ geplant.
4. Für das assozierte Vorhaben „Akteure und ihre Lebenswelten: Die Transformation der
Stadt Tripoli (Libanon) während des „langen“ 19. Jahrhunderts“ wurde ein
Verlängerungsantrag eingereicht. S. Leder ist dabei Mitantragsteller.
5. Die Planung eines Projekts, das gemeinsam mit dem Orient-Institut Beirut / Istanbul und
dem İslam Araştırma Merkezi (Istanbul) geplant ist, stellt Ansätze zur politischen
Theoriebildung im Nahen Osten in den Mittelpunkt. Der Diskussionsstand wird
gegenwärtig noch in dem Vorschlag des Orient-Instituts zusammengefasst.
In Planung
The Orient-Institut Beirut and Istanbul want to propose cooperation with ISAM for research on historical
advice literature combining fiqh, secular wisdom traditions and approaches to political theory. The
cohabitation of religious and secular teachings and of local and universal concerns and perspectives seems
particularly appealing for a whole range of research interests. An exploration of this productive and wide
spread branch of Islamic thought promises a contribution to contemporary debates linking them to history.
The period which we suggest to focus on dates from the 14 th century onwards and includes Arabic, Ottoman
and Persian texts. Much of the material is little known, and some of it is completely unknown. This state of
affairs stands out in sharp contrast to the dynamic, variance and spread of such treatises. They often were
commissioned by political administration and in fact must be considered part of court culture, power
structures and political debates of their day. This literature is an important source of historical notions and
practices regarding good governance, justice and legitimacy. Last not least, the didactic propensity of this
literature relates it to elite education.
The Orient-Institut Beirut presently conducts advanced research related to that field and may provide a
detailed bibliographical survey. The Orient-Institut Istanbul is interested in contributing to this research. In
order to envisage a concerted activity on a larger scale, bringing this important branch of Islamic thought
somewhat more under focus and into light, we are looking for a partner, who could contribute to a series of
studies, meetings and text editions which we would carefully plan for and publish together.
(S. von Hees, S. Leder)
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