Albrecht Hofheinz | University of Oslo (original) (raw)

Papers by Albrecht Hofheinz

Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies, 2021

An array of Egyptian and Tunisian lifeworlds in 2016.

Syracuse University Press eBooks, Apr 22, 2022

Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Dec 31, 2021

Avatar document (needed as temporary DOI placeholder) This avatar will soon be replaced with the ... more Avatar document (needed as temporary DOI placeholder) This avatar will soon be replaced with the actual In 2016 entry. The latter is published already in the full text version of the entire In 2016 collection, containing all individual entries:

Sudanic Africa, May 7, 2018

The following dossier spécial is the outcome of a workshop, held in November 2017 at the Departme... more The following dossier spécial is the outcome of a workshop, held in November 2017 at the Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages (IKOS), University of Oslo, to discuss first drafts of entries on the "arrays" in Tunisian and Egyptian everyday life of 2016. The workshop formed part of a 3-year research project, funded by The Research Council of Norway (Norges forskningsråd, NFR) and IKOS, entitled In 2016-How it felt to live in the Arab World five years after the "Arab Spring". The project's main idea was to take an analytical "one-year snapshot" of life in two countries of the Arab world that had been of particular importance in the context of the socalled "Arab Spring"-Egypt and Tunisia-and to introduce into Middle East Studies an unconventional, innovative approach to how post-revolutionary everyday-worlds were experienced or 'felt': we use fiction (in the widest sense, including cartoons, graffiti, cinema, etc.) and social media 'buzz' published or prominent during 2016 to gain a more intimate understanding of the contemporary Arab world and the people living there. 1 The project's five main methodological features-the one-year snapshot, the focus on the experience of everyday-worlds, the use of data from several spheres of cultural production, the idea to "let the material speak for itself" by not imposing on it preconceived analytical categories, and the presentation of our findings in the form of alphabetically arranged entries, suggesting a non-linear reading guided by numerous cross-references the ensemble of which adds up to a kind of rhizome through which the user will, it is hoped, be able to find his/her own, individual access to these everyday-worlds-these features are inspired by Hans Ulrich GUMBRECHT's seminal "essay in historical simultaneity," the study In 1926: Living at the Edge of Time. 2 This book provided the model for what our project group was and still is eager to achieve: an approach that allows the reader/user to "jump right into" and move around in the everyday-worlds of the year in question, to pick up its peculiar Stimmung 3 without too much analytical intervention or interference from the part of those who collected the material. The latter idea seemed particularly important to the designers of the In 2016 project since our target year, unlike Gumbrecht's 1926, was, and still is, not separated from the present by several decades but belongs to a more or less contiguous present. This fact is also mirrored in the "dual identity" or double status of some among the contributors: as researchers on the contemporary Middle East they were/are, on the one hand, observers and analysts with a look "from above" at the everyday-worlds studied as "objects", while on the other hand, they were/are themselves living in these worlds, acting as "subjects", concerned with, involved in, and both formed by and forming these worlds.

Uluslararası ilişkiler dergisi, Dec 1, 2007

Bu makale Arap dünyasında internet kullanımını incelemektedir. İnternet kullanımının ne düzeyde o... more Bu makale Arap dünyasında internet kullanımını incelemektedir. İnternet kullanımının ne düzeyde olduğu, kimlerin hangi amaçlarla interneti kullandıkları ve internetin ne derece geleneksel toplum yapısının değişmesinde etkili olduğu makalenin temel odak noktalarıdır. Arap ülkelerinde internet özellikle gençler, üst orta ve üst sınıflar ile kadınlarca yoğun olarak kullanılmaktadır. Arama motorları, eposta, müzik ve program indirmenin yanı sıra tartışma forumları da Arap toplumlarında popülerdir. Bu forumlarda toplumların tabu konuları haline gelmiş politika, din ve kadın-erkek ilişkileri hakkında yoğun tartışmalar yapılmaktadır. Bu tartışmalar özellikle bireysel anlamda yeni anlayışların ortaya çıkmasını sağlarken bireye seçim hakkının ne kadar önemli olduğunu öne çıkarmaktadır. Tartışma forumları kadar popülerlik kazanmaya başlayan web günlükleri de bireylerin seçim haklarının farkına varmalarının ve kendi kişisel alanlarını oluşturmalarının en açık göstergesidir.

Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies, 2021

A cluster of arrays “provid[ing] principles of order within the unstructured simultaneity of ever... more A cluster of arrays “provid[ing] principles of order within the unstructured simultaneity of everyday-worlds”* in Egypt and Tunisia in 2016, forming part of the two countries’ “culture” during the In 2016 project’s target year. *H. U. Gumbrecht, In 1926: Living at the Edge of Time (1997), 443.

Der winter in Khartum ist, mit kältegraden zwischen 10-30°C, eine zeit reger geistiger aktivitäte... more Der winter in Khartum ist, mit kältegraden zwischen 10-30°C, eine zeit reger geistiger aktivitäten. So erlebte dieser Januar einen wahren konferenzboom: Man diskutierte über eine bessere nutzung der viehbestände, die errichtung einer datenbank zur erleichterung ökonomischer entscheidungen, bezifferte die für 1988 benötigte nahrungsmittelhilfe auf 218000 t, erörterte praktische schritte zur wiedereinführung der heiß umstrittenen Native Administration, machte sich gedanken über die rolle der nichtregierungsorganisationen vor dem hintergrund wachsender sensitivität des staates bezüglich seiner souveränitatsrechte. Die National Islamic Front, stärkste oppositionspartei, bekräftigte entschlossenheit und optimismus unter dem slogan "lā badīl li-sharʿ Allāh"; 1 die Golfstaaten wurden aufgefordert, wieder verstärkt im "brotkorb der arabischen welt" zu investieren; man sann nach wegen zur effektivierung des genossenschaftswesens und suchte nach einem ersatz für das für die staatsfinanzen katastrophale zakāt-gesetz von 1984, setzte sich mit den düsteren Prognosen über einen langfristigen fall des Nilwasserspiegels auseinander und mit den Problemen der arbeit in einer heissen umwelt. Unterdessen sammelte in al-Fāshir eine volkskonferenz gedanken, wie man dem verfall der öffentlichen sicherheit in Dārfōr begegnen könne, während im Süden die regierung die räumung von Kapoeta eingestehen musste, nachdem sie gerade fall und wiedereinnahme von Kurmuk und Qīsān so trefflich zur psychologischen aufrüstung benutzt hatte. Vor solch politisch, ökonomisch und militärisch bewegtem hintergrund feierte das Institute of African and Asian Studies (IAAS) bei der University of Khartoum (U of K) das 25jährige jubiläum der Sudan Research Unit, aus der 1972 das IAAS hervorgegangen war. Zusammen mit der Faculty of Arts, U of K, und der Sudan Studies Association, USA, wurde aus diesem anlass in der neuerbauten Sharjah Hall eine konferenz abgehalten, die stand und entwicklung der sudanbezogenen forschung dokumentieren und perspektiven für die zukunft aufzeigen sollte. Den intentionen der Veranstalter entsprechend sollten die eingebrachten beiträge einen deutlichen bezug zu den gegenwartsproblemen des landes haben. Nach einer ausführlichen übersicht über die Situation der sudanesischen Studien im ausland (7 referate) und im Süden (5) sowie der dokumentationsgrundlagen (4) folgten themenbezogene panels: Politics (8), National Integration (b), Socioeconomic Aspects of Development (4), Drought, Famine and Rehabilitation (3), Linguistics (3), Anthropological and Sociological Perspectives (3),

Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies, 2021

An array of Egyptian and Tunisian lifeworlds in 2016

This article presents voices from Egypt reflecting on the question of who has the right to have a... more This article presents voices from Egypt reflecting on the question of who has the right to have a voice in the country in the first half of 2016. In the spirit of the research project "In 2016," it aims to offer a snapshot of how it "felt to live" in Egypt in 2016 as a member of the young generation (al-shabāb) who actively use social media and who position themselves critically towards the state's official discourse. While the state propagated a strategy focusing on educating and guiding young people towards becoming productive members of a nation united under one leader, popular youth voices on the internet used music and satire to claim their right to resist a retrograde patrimonial system that threatens every opposing voice with extinction. On both sides, a strongly antagonistic 'you vs. us' rhetoric is evident.

Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies, 2021

An array of Egyptian and Tunisian lifeworlds in 2016.

Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies, 2022

Arrays, Codes, and Collapsed Codes of Egyptian and Tunisian lifeworlds five years after the so-ca... more Arrays, Codes, and Collapsed Codes of Egyptian and Tunisian lifeworlds five years after the so-called "Arab Spring". Results of a research project, carried out between 2015 and 2018 at the Dept. of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages (IKOS), University of Oslo, Norway, funded by the Research Council of Norway (RCN/NFR). NB: Preliminary pagination, subject to change due to scheduled additions. Introduction (A Hofheinz, S Guth) Arrays: Apartment Wanted (M Aardal) • ʿAshwāʾiyyāt (W Armbrust) • Baby Milk (A Hofheinz) • Celebrities (A Hofheinz) • Clash (E Chiti) • Commemoration / Memorial Days (M Yordanova) • Conversions (M Lindbekk) • Court Trials (M Lindbekk, T Pepe) • Crowdfunding (T Pepe) • Disappearances (S Guth) • Disasters (W Armbrust), Dollar Crisis (W Armbrust) • Dual Identities / Masking (S Guth) • Éveil d’une nation / Ṣaḥwat umma (M Oualdi) • Father Figures (M Yordanova; J Ben Yakoub) • Football (C Rommel, J Roellin) • Garbage (S Guth) • Gated Communities / Compo...

Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies, 2022

Overview over Arrays, Codes, and Collapsed Codes of Egyptian and Tunisian lifeworlds five years a... more Overview over Arrays, Codes, and Collapsed Codes of Egyptian and Tunisian lifeworlds five years after the so-called "Arab Spring". Results of a research project, carried out between 2015 and 2018 at the Dept. of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages (IKOS), University of Oslo, Norway, funded by the Research Council of Norway (RCN/NFR).

Arab Media and Political Renewal, 2007

http://users.ox.ac.uk/%7Emetheses/Wise.html). The popularity of Amr Khaled's site has also attrac... more http://users.ox.ac.uk/%7Emetheses/Wise.html). The popularity of Amr Khaled's site has also attracted people disseminating on the forums propaganda in favour of al-Qa'ida (cf. the tread 'Ba'd an 'arafta anna al-jihad haqq madha taf'al? … udkhul ya akhi li-ta'rif' started on 28 July 2004 by one 'Qassamiyya 'Iraqiyya', with detailed instructions on physical training, books to read, and a discussion of the conditions of jihad-a thread since removed from the archives); but these remain a clear minority.

Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies, 2021

An array of Egyptian and Tunisian lifeworlds in 2016.

Syracuse University Press eBooks, Apr 22, 2022

Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Dec 31, 2021

Sudanic Africa, May 7, 2018

Uluslararası ilişkiler dergisi, Dec 1, 2007

Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies, 2021

An array of Egyptian and Tunisian lifeworlds in 2016

Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies, 2021

An array of Egyptian and Tunisian lifeworlds in 2016.

Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies, 2022

Arab Media and Political Renewal, 2007

Annotated edition and translation of letters exchanged between Aḥmad b. Idrīs (1760-1837) and Muḥ... more Annotated edition and translation of letters exchanged between Aḥmad b. Idrīs (1760-1837) and Muḥammad Majdhūb (1796-1831). This is a slightly amended version of Ch. 3 of The Letters of Aḥmad Ibn Idrīs, ed. Einar Thomassen & Bernd Radtke, London: Hurst, 1993, pp. 119-143. Fonts and pagination are not identical to the printed version.

[Hausaurbeit, HS »Der Islam und das Minderheitenproblem« von Prof. Steppat u. Prof. Büttner, FU Berlin, WS 1983/84, 1984

1. Auf dem gebiet der heutigen DR Sudan finden sich schon seit ältesten zeiten in den geo-graphis... more 1. Auf dem gebiet der heutigen DR Sudan finden sich schon seit ältesten zeiten in den geo-graphisch und klimatisch begünstigten regionen entlang des Nil nördlich des 12. breiten-grades bevölkerungskonzentrationen, die verstärkt ausländischen einflüssen, besonders aus Ägypten, ausgesetzt waren und schon früh staatlichkeit erlebten.
2. Diese gegenden stellten einen besonderen anziehungspunkt für einwandernde arabische stämme dar, die sich mit der einheimischen bevölkerung vermischten und sie kulturell überlagertem – arabisierung und islamisierung gingen hier tiefer als in irgendeinem ande-ren teil des Sudan.
3. Wandernde arabische stämme, muslimische händler und sufische heilige sowie prestige und druck des in der region dominierenden staates führten zur ausbreitung des Islam, so-wie oft der arabischen sprache, nach westen und osten.
4. Seit dem 19. jahrhundert etablierte sich, unter wechselnd ausländischer und einheimischer führung, ein nach aussen wie nach innen um sich greifender, zentralistisch organisierter staat, der die stellung der zentralen gegenüber den peripheren regionen weiter stärkte und dabei zum erstenmal den Süden mit einbezog.
5. Dieser zentralistische staat förderte, teils in verfolgung bewusster politik, teils durch ein-fache diffusion und assimilation, die islamisierung und arabisierung des landes; nur im Sü-den stiess diese entwicklung schnell auf grenzen, bedingt durch die fehlende “vorgeschich-te” (punkte 1-3) sowie durch besonders negative erfahrungen mit dem zentrum.
6. Die britische herrschaft vertiefte den graben zwischen dem Süden und dem rest des landes durch die institutionalisierung der islamischen grenze, die zur herausbildung zweier ge-trennter identitäten führte.
7. Die konzentration wirtschaftlicher und edukativer entwicklung im nördlichen zentrum bestätigte dessen alte vorrangstellung; daher wurde der sich entwickelnde nationalistische gedanke völlig von den vorstellungen dieses zentrums dominiert.
8. Die resultierende identifikation von ‚sudanesisch‘ mit ‚arabisch-islamisch‘ erschwerte die integration des Südens in den unabhängigen staat ungemein; erst eine stärkere anerken-nung des afrikanischen elements bzw. ein pluralistischer ansatz brachte eine lösung nahe.
9. Ein abrücken von diesem ansatz heute wird als neuerlicher dominanzanspruch des Nor-dens verstanden und führt, im verein mit materiellen schwierigkeiten, zu einem erneuten aufleben des scheinbar beruhigten konfliktes.

ORIENT, 1988

Conference report on the First International Sudan Studies Conference (“Sudanese Studies, Past, P... more Conference report on the First International Sudan Studies Conference (“Sudanese Studies, Past, Present, and Future”, Khartoum, 5-9 Jan. 1988) and the workshop “The Contribution of the Zar Cult in African Traditional Medicine”, Khartoum, 11-13 Jan. 1988. This is the full manuscript of a report that was somewhat shortened before publication in ORIENT, 29 (1988), 3, pp. 344-349 (i.a. the report on the zār workshop was not published there, but in English in the SSSUK newsletter Sudan Studies, 5 (1988), p. 12-13.

Conference Papers, Second International Sudan Studies Conference, 1992

“They’ve killed the Qurʾān!” — this was, ex post, the overall assessment by the son and heir of a... more “They’ve killed the Qurʾān!” — this was, ex post, the overall assessment by the son and heir of a Sudanese religious notable, regarding a process of educational change initiated by the British in the 1920s with the introduction of ‘regulated’ khalwas (niẓāmiyya). This process profoundly affected the institutional basis for the spread of knowledge in the country; by the 1940s, Government schools had eclipsed the khalwas in the Northern Sudan. As the importance of these Qurʾānic schools declined, so did the status of those who operated them, the fakīs. The present paper outlines the reaction to this process by leading members of a “religious family” and their strategies to uphold and defend their identity in a modern world often perceived to be dominated by forces alien to their own society.
Their perception constructs a binary opposition between the present situation and a past one where the “Qurʾān was alive”, so to speak. “Objectively”, this picture is quite questionable. The Mahdiyya probably disrupted khalwa education more than the Condominium, and the Turkiyya had preceded the British in trying to influence religious education. But both of them had, to a large extent, worked through the fakīs. The British, on the other hand, succeeded in supplanting them by a new class of “secular” intellectuals, who became carriers of new, nationalist ideas. In order to survive, the rural élites had to adapt themselves to changing conditions. Reflecting and reinterpreting their tradition, they responded imaginatively to the challenges of the encroaching nation state.
To examine how tradition was “processed”, what meaning and purpose were assigned to it, and what role it came to play, I briefly present the cases of a few intellectuals from the Majdhūbī tradition of al-Dāmar:
• Majdhūb Jalāl al-Dīn (1887-1976), an early student, then teacher at the Gordon College, tried to revitalise religious education by establishing a religiously oriented secondary school. He also made an effort to publish the written tradition of Shaykh al-Majdhūb and establish an organised “Ṭarīqa Majdhūbiyya” inspired by the Egyptian model. An effort to organise oneself effectively within the new institutional setup.
• Muḥammad al-Mahdī al-Majdhūb (1919-82), a leading Sudanese poet, evokes a constant tension between a romanticised image of his childhood world and the exacting life in the new towns. An effort to come to grips emotionally with the challenge of modernity.
• Majdhūb al-Naqar (1933-1987), an ex-communist turned Ṣūfī. His reinterpretation of the history of al-Dāmar as a centre of “scientific Sufism” has started to become semi-official among the Majādhīb. An effort to legitimise oneself through one’s history as carries of “pure”, orthodox truth.
• Dr ʿUthmān ʿAbdallāh (b ca 1935), a successful medical doctor who was responsible for the revival of the Shaykh’s anniversary celebration (ḥawliyya) in its present form. An effort to resist the onslaught of fundamentalism by confidently stressing the mystical side of one’s tradition.
In responding to the challenge of a modern world, the rural élite has adopted various strategies. Refusal and retreat were quickly recognised to be a blind alley. Fighting what to them was a serious threat, they learned to use the enemy’s weapons. They absorbed and internalised many of his ways; they made the graduates of the new schools their spokesmen. They did not simply succumb. The process of change is going on.