Wen-Chin Ouyang | SOAS University of London (original) (raw)
Papers by Wen-Chin Ouyang
Open Book Publishers, May 1, 2020
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0).... more This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0). This license allows you to share, copy, distribute and transmit the work; to adapt the work and to make commercial use of the work providing attribution is made to the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Some of the material in this book has been reproduced according to the fair use principle which allows use of copyrighted material for scholarly purposes.
‘Black and White’ by Idriss el-Khoury
Packaged Lives: A Novella and Ten Short Stories by Haifa Zangana
The Arabian Nights: An Anthology
This unique anthology draws on the best of English translations, from the earliest to the most re... more This unique anthology draws on the best of English translations, from the earliest to the most recent. Pride of place goes to nineteenth-century Orientalists Richard Burton, Edward W. Lane and John Payne, who combined meticulous scholarship with imaginative enterprise and stylistic artistry, to create works which are classics in their own right. These in turn were translated into many languages, thus bringing The Arabian Nights to the centre of world literature.
‘Yamnah’ by ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Abnudi
Worlding of Realism : The Case of Naguib Mahfouz
About the publishing team
Open Book Publishers, 2020
Alessandra Tosi was the managing editor for this book. Adèle Kreager performed the copy-editing a... more Alessandra Tosi was the managing editor for this book. Adèle Kreager performed the copy-editing and proofreading. Anna Gatti designed the cover using InDesign. The cover was produced in InDesign using Fontin (titles) and Calibri (text body) fonts. Luca Baffa typeset the book in InDesign. The text font is Tex Gyre Pagella; the heading font is Californian FB. Luca created all of the editions — paperback, hardback, EPUB, MOBI, PDF, HTML, and XML — the conversion is performed with open source sof..
The age of Obama, 2013
writes editorials for the Guardian. Previously, he worked as a special adviser to the British gov... more writes editorials for the Guardian. Previously, he worked as a special adviser to the British government and an economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies where he specialised in poverty and welfare.
Why Learn a Language
Open Book Publishers, 2020
Recognition in the Arabic Tradition: Deliverance and Delusion
Middle Eastern Literatures, Jan 2, 2019
Introduction: Globalization of Magical Realism: New Politics of Aesthetics
Framing and Meaning
Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Jan 29, 2023
(forthcoming)
Voices from Kazakhstan
Middle Eastern Literatures, Sep 1, 2020
Nazarbayev University hosted the 5th International Symposium on Asian Languages and Literatures (... more Nazarbayev University hosted the 5th International Symposium on Asian Languages and Literatures (ADES) between 20 and 22 June in 2019 (ades@erciyes.edu.tr) co-sponsored by Erciyes University and Ahmet Yesevi University. Located in Nur-Sultan, the capital of the young Kazakhstan, which declared independence from USSR on 21 December 1991, Nazarbayev University aspires to be the center of research in Central Asia. “Intersection of Cultures,” the main theme of the symposium, acquires additional significance in the post-USSR reconstitution of Central Asia in general and the new Republic of Kazakhstan in particular. The Symposium brought together international researchers of the various regions of Asia, including East Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, South East Asia, West Asia and the Middle East, together for three days of keynotes, presentations and debates on language, literature and history. The new generation of Kazakh scholars had a strong presence and made significant contributions to the Symposium. Nation building is understandably high on their agenda. The addressed the questions of identity and the role of language and literature in fostering a sense of Kazakh belonging. Kazakh language was to be studied, standardized and elevated into a written, literary language. The distinctiveness of Kazakh literature was to be articulated, its root in oral and folklore traditions identified and its history delineated, for Kazakh literature had to be the heart and soul of the Kazakh nation. More importantly, it is to be taught in schools and universities so as to help shape the Kazakh subject. Five papers may be of interest to readers ofMiddle Eastern Literatures. Four of these are offered in synopses below. These showcase the role of literature in language study and education at large. The fifth, by Funda Guven and is published in its entirety, looks at the expressions of Transnational Turkic identity in Tatar fiction. Gultas Kurmanbay (Nazarbayev University) makes a case for the “The Importance of Teaching Chingiz Aitmatov’s Works as Part of the Literature Curriculum in Secondary Education.” One of the tasks of modern education presently, Kurmanbay argues, is to prepare students to think creatively and independently. Literature, which forms the inner world and valuable orientations of students, plays an important role in the education of the independent personality possessing esthetical taste. In this regard, the works of famous Kyrgyz writer Chingiz Aitmatov (1928–2008) are indispensable. In his works, Aitmatov makes extensive reflections on realities, lifestyles, religions, cultures and history not only of the Kyrgyz, but also many peoples of Central Asia. The topics in Aitmatov’s works include war, kindness and anger, people and society, nature and homeland, shame, truth, conscience and carelessness, eternity, and slavery. His storytelling is
Bloomsbury Academic eBooks, 2021
The history of English is a fascinating field of study in its own right, but it also provides a v... more The history of English is a fascinating field of study in its own right, but it also provides a valuable perspective for the contemporary study of the language […] This historical account promotes a sense of identity and continuity, and enables us to find coherence in many of the fluctuations and conflicts of present-day English language use. Above all, it satisfies the deep-rooted sense of curiosity we have about our linguistic heritage. People like to be aware of their linguistic roots.
John Benjamins Publishing Company eBooks, Mar 15, 2022
The routes of European realism into the Arabic cultural and literary expressions are many. They a... more The routes of European realism into the Arabic cultural and literary expressions are many. They also overlap in both the travel and arrival of this complex package of politics and aesthetics, simultaneously and randomly, through translation and adaptation, at Arabic print culture, cinema, storytelling and theatre, where it is subject to further conceptual blending of all kinds: global with local, visual with verbal, and creative with critical. Reception is the site on which Arabic realism finds articulation. Each articulation is, however, unique, responsive, as it were, to the worldview, priorities and techniques deployed. Tracing the movements and transformations of European realism through Naguib Mahfouz-centrifugally into his novel and film stories and centripetally into Egyptian cinema and criticism-it is possible to track the worlding of Realism in the globalization of Mahfouz. Read outside a linear progressive chronology that implies a cause-and-effect trajectory of worlding (that Egyptian development is directly influenced by European exports), and against a backdrop of visualization and embodiment in Egyptian and Mexcian cinemas, class-conscious discourses of Egyptian criticism, and political allegory of his later novels, Mahfouzian literary realism is theorized as reliant on the ability of the word to unleash the creative potential of the human imagination to relate writing to lived experiences.
The Duck that Broke the Mule's Back
Open Book Publishers, May 1, 2020
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0).... more This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0). This license allows you to share, copy, distribute and transmit the work; to adapt the work and to make commercial use of the work providing attribution is made to the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Some of the material in this book has been reproduced according to the fair use principle which allows use of copyrighted material for scholarly purposes.
‘Black and White’ by Idriss el-Khoury
Packaged Lives: A Novella and Ten Short Stories by Haifa Zangana
The Arabian Nights: An Anthology
This unique anthology draws on the best of English translations, from the earliest to the most re... more This unique anthology draws on the best of English translations, from the earliest to the most recent. Pride of place goes to nineteenth-century Orientalists Richard Burton, Edward W. Lane and John Payne, who combined meticulous scholarship with imaginative enterprise and stylistic artistry, to create works which are classics in their own right. These in turn were translated into many languages, thus bringing The Arabian Nights to the centre of world literature.
‘Yamnah’ by ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Abnudi
Worlding of Realism : The Case of Naguib Mahfouz
About the publishing team
Open Book Publishers, 2020
Alessandra Tosi was the managing editor for this book. Adèle Kreager performed the copy-editing a... more Alessandra Tosi was the managing editor for this book. Adèle Kreager performed the copy-editing and proofreading. Anna Gatti designed the cover using InDesign. The cover was produced in InDesign using Fontin (titles) and Calibri (text body) fonts. Luca Baffa typeset the book in InDesign. The text font is Tex Gyre Pagella; the heading font is Californian FB. Luca created all of the editions — paperback, hardback, EPUB, MOBI, PDF, HTML, and XML — the conversion is performed with open source sof..
The age of Obama, 2013
writes editorials for the Guardian. Previously, he worked as a special adviser to the British gov... more writes editorials for the Guardian. Previously, he worked as a special adviser to the British government and an economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies where he specialised in poverty and welfare.
Why Learn a Language
Open Book Publishers, 2020
Recognition in the Arabic Tradition: Deliverance and Delusion
Middle Eastern Literatures, Jan 2, 2019
Introduction: Globalization of Magical Realism: New Politics of Aesthetics
Framing and Meaning
Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Jan 29, 2023
(forthcoming)
Voices from Kazakhstan
Middle Eastern Literatures, Sep 1, 2020
Nazarbayev University hosted the 5th International Symposium on Asian Languages and Literatures (... more Nazarbayev University hosted the 5th International Symposium on Asian Languages and Literatures (ADES) between 20 and 22 June in 2019 (ades@erciyes.edu.tr) co-sponsored by Erciyes University and Ahmet Yesevi University. Located in Nur-Sultan, the capital of the young Kazakhstan, which declared independence from USSR on 21 December 1991, Nazarbayev University aspires to be the center of research in Central Asia. “Intersection of Cultures,” the main theme of the symposium, acquires additional significance in the post-USSR reconstitution of Central Asia in general and the new Republic of Kazakhstan in particular. The Symposium brought together international researchers of the various regions of Asia, including East Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, South East Asia, West Asia and the Middle East, together for three days of keynotes, presentations and debates on language, literature and history. The new generation of Kazakh scholars had a strong presence and made significant contributions to the Symposium. Nation building is understandably high on their agenda. The addressed the questions of identity and the role of language and literature in fostering a sense of Kazakh belonging. Kazakh language was to be studied, standardized and elevated into a written, literary language. The distinctiveness of Kazakh literature was to be articulated, its root in oral and folklore traditions identified and its history delineated, for Kazakh literature had to be the heart and soul of the Kazakh nation. More importantly, it is to be taught in schools and universities so as to help shape the Kazakh subject. Five papers may be of interest to readers ofMiddle Eastern Literatures. Four of these are offered in synopses below. These showcase the role of literature in language study and education at large. The fifth, by Funda Guven and is published in its entirety, looks at the expressions of Transnational Turkic identity in Tatar fiction. Gultas Kurmanbay (Nazarbayev University) makes a case for the “The Importance of Teaching Chingiz Aitmatov’s Works as Part of the Literature Curriculum in Secondary Education.” One of the tasks of modern education presently, Kurmanbay argues, is to prepare students to think creatively and independently. Literature, which forms the inner world and valuable orientations of students, plays an important role in the education of the independent personality possessing esthetical taste. In this regard, the works of famous Kyrgyz writer Chingiz Aitmatov (1928–2008) are indispensable. In his works, Aitmatov makes extensive reflections on realities, lifestyles, religions, cultures and history not only of the Kyrgyz, but also many peoples of Central Asia. The topics in Aitmatov’s works include war, kindness and anger, people and society, nature and homeland, shame, truth, conscience and carelessness, eternity, and slavery. His storytelling is
Bloomsbury Academic eBooks, 2021
The history of English is a fascinating field of study in its own right, but it also provides a v... more The history of English is a fascinating field of study in its own right, but it also provides a valuable perspective for the contemporary study of the language […] This historical account promotes a sense of identity and continuity, and enables us to find coherence in many of the fluctuations and conflicts of present-day English language use. Above all, it satisfies the deep-rooted sense of curiosity we have about our linguistic heritage. People like to be aware of their linguistic roots.
John Benjamins Publishing Company eBooks, Mar 15, 2022
The routes of European realism into the Arabic cultural and literary expressions are many. They a... more The routes of European realism into the Arabic cultural and literary expressions are many. They also overlap in both the travel and arrival of this complex package of politics and aesthetics, simultaneously and randomly, through translation and adaptation, at Arabic print culture, cinema, storytelling and theatre, where it is subject to further conceptual blending of all kinds: global with local, visual with verbal, and creative with critical. Reception is the site on which Arabic realism finds articulation. Each articulation is, however, unique, responsive, as it were, to the worldview, priorities and techniques deployed. Tracing the movements and transformations of European realism through Naguib Mahfouz-centrifugally into his novel and film stories and centripetally into Egyptian cinema and criticism-it is possible to track the worlding of Realism in the globalization of Mahfouz. Read outside a linear progressive chronology that implies a cause-and-effect trajectory of worlding (that Egyptian development is directly influenced by European exports), and against a backdrop of visualization and embodiment in Egyptian and Mexcian cinemas, class-conscious discourses of Egyptian criticism, and political allegory of his later novels, Mahfouzian literary realism is theorized as reliant on the ability of the word to unleash the creative potential of the human imagination to relate writing to lived experiences.
The Duck that Broke the Mule's Back
Neruda and Qabbānī do not have the same political agenda in their respective collections of love ... more Neruda and Qabbānī do not have the same political agenda in their respective collections of love poems. While the exiled Neruda nostalgically carves the geography of Chile onto the body of his beloved Matilda, Qabbānī revolutionises the Arabic language, not so much through bringing to the fore the repressed sexual underground, as Mahfouz does in Palace of Desire, but more by pushing to the limit the 'traditions' framing, assessing and making judgment on how, when, where and why the Arabic language may be used.
Place, Space, Text 2 refer only to the discourses on race embedded in the written texts, but also... more Place, Space, Text 2 refer only to the discourses on race embedded in the written texts, but also to new strategies of reading texts. These strategies ought to bring to the surface the hitherto unarticulated history of 'blacks' in America and especially the role they, directly or indirectly, played in shaping the American civilisation.
