Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies Seminar Series: Nadia Butt In brief Speaker - Dr Nadia Butt (University of Giessen) Title - Islam on the Move: Transnational Connections in Arab and African Anglophone Literatures Venue - 50 George Square This seminar is held jointly with English Literature, and is a part of both the IMES Seminar Series and the English Literature Research Events series. Abstract by Nadia Butt This lecture seeks to examine Islam as a travelling concept in relation to transnational connections in Arab and African Anglophone Literatures. My contention is that since Islam is on the move, it comes in many forms in a considerable amount of the New Anglophone Literatures by migrant or diasporic writers, conditioned by culture and history as well as gender and nation. I argue that investigating these various representations of Islam refer to it as a notion in flux rather than a fixed entity. Primarily, the lecture sets out to demonstrate that it is a misconception to believe in a singular, authentic Islam, often associated with Wahhabism as practised in Saudi Arabia, in Afghanistan or Pakistan, when Islam is as diverse as Muslim communities and cultures around the globe. Indeed, investigating Islam on the move in relation to transnationalism sheds ample light on not only the connection between Islam and the West, but also on Islam and individual life, Islam and the diasporic condition and Islam and transcultural connections. Significantly, examining these diverse forms of Islam in literature presents not only ‘counter travelling and histories’, but also makes us think of literature as a repository of multiple encounters between Islam and the global world. About the speaker Nadia Butt is Senior Lecturer in English in the department of British and American Studies at the University of Giessen. Having gained her MPhil degree in English at the University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan, she completed her PhD at the University of Frankfurt and her post-doctoral degree at the University of Giessen in Germany. She is the author of Transcultural Memory and Globalised Modernity in Contemporary Indo-English Novels published in 2015. Her next book, Mapping Other Routes: The Travelling Imagination in Anglophone Literatures from the 18th Century to the Present, will be out in 2023. She has taught British and postcolonial literatures at the University of Frankfurt, the University of Muenster and the University of Milwaukee-Wisconsin. In 2019, she was awarded the Stolzenberg Prize by the University of Giessen for her outstanding achievements in teaching. Her main areas of research are transcultural theory, memory studies, world anglophone literatures and travel literatures. Her research has appeared in journals like Prose Studies, Journal of Aesthetics and Culture, Postcolonial Text and Postcolonial Interventions. 'Islam on the move', which is the topic of this lecture, is also the focus of her third book (forthcoming), and she is currently working on a collection of essays, Twenty-First Century Anglophone Novel, which will be out in March 2023. About the seminar series Each semester, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies (IMES) welcomes a fantastic range of guest speakers, PhD students and colleagues from across the University to present an evening seminar on their research. In the spring semester of the 2022 to 2023 academic year, the overall theme is 'Persian Narratives'. Topics include Persian, Iranian, and Arabic folklore, literature, poetry, traditions, and political structures. All seminars will be followed by a Q&A and wine reception. How to join Events are free and everyone is welcome. No booking is required for this seminar. Are you interested in studying with us? We are the only university in Scotland to offer courses in the Muslim world's three main languages, placing Arabic, Persian and Turkish in the context of history, literature, culture, religion and politics, past and present. Choose from a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, including PhD programmes. Find out more about Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at Edinburgh Apr 04 2023 16.00 - 18.00 Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies Seminar Series: Nadia Butt Join us in person for a seminar by Dr Nadia Butt (University of Giessen) on the diverse representations of Islam in Anglophone Arab and African literature. Project Room 1.06 50 George Square EH8 9LH Edinburgh Find the venue: 50 George Square
Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies Seminar Series: Nadia Butt In brief Speaker - Dr Nadia Butt (University of Giessen) Title - Islam on the Move: Transnational Connections in Arab and African Anglophone Literatures Venue - 50 George Square This seminar is held jointly with English Literature, and is a part of both the IMES Seminar Series and the English Literature Research Events series. Abstract by Nadia Butt This lecture seeks to examine Islam as a travelling concept in relation to transnational connections in Arab and African Anglophone Literatures. My contention is that since Islam is on the move, it comes in many forms in a considerable amount of the New Anglophone Literatures by migrant or diasporic writers, conditioned by culture and history as well as gender and nation. I argue that investigating these various representations of Islam refer to it as a notion in flux rather than a fixed entity. Primarily, the lecture sets out to demonstrate that it is a misconception to believe in a singular, authentic Islam, often associated with Wahhabism as practised in Saudi Arabia, in Afghanistan or Pakistan, when Islam is as diverse as Muslim communities and cultures around the globe. Indeed, investigating Islam on the move in relation to transnationalism sheds ample light on not only the connection between Islam and the West, but also on Islam and individual life, Islam and the diasporic condition and Islam and transcultural connections. Significantly, examining these diverse forms of Islam in literature presents not only ‘counter travelling and histories’, but also makes us think of literature as a repository of multiple encounters between Islam and the global world. About the speaker Nadia Butt is Senior Lecturer in English in the department of British and American Studies at the University of Giessen. Having gained her MPhil degree in English at the University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan, she completed her PhD at the University of Frankfurt and her post-doctoral degree at the University of Giessen in Germany. She is the author of Transcultural Memory and Globalised Modernity in Contemporary Indo-English Novels published in 2015. Her next book, Mapping Other Routes: The Travelling Imagination in Anglophone Literatures from the 18th Century to the Present, will be out in 2023. She has taught British and postcolonial literatures at the University of Frankfurt, the University of Muenster and the University of Milwaukee-Wisconsin. In 2019, she was awarded the Stolzenberg Prize by the University of Giessen for her outstanding achievements in teaching. Her main areas of research are transcultural theory, memory studies, world anglophone literatures and travel literatures. Her research has appeared in journals like Prose Studies, Journal of Aesthetics and Culture, Postcolonial Text and Postcolonial Interventions. 'Islam on the move', which is the topic of this lecture, is also the focus of her third book (forthcoming), and she is currently working on a collection of essays, Twenty-First Century Anglophone Novel, which will be out in March 2023. About the seminar series Each semester, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies (IMES) welcomes a fantastic range of guest speakers, PhD students and colleagues from across the University to present an evening seminar on their research. In the spring semester of the 2022 to 2023 academic year, the overall theme is 'Persian Narratives'. Topics include Persian, Iranian, and Arabic folklore, literature, poetry, traditions, and political structures. All seminars will be followed by a Q&A and wine reception. How to join Events are free and everyone is welcome. No booking is required for this seminar. Are you interested in studying with us? We are the only university in Scotland to offer courses in the Muslim world's three main languages, placing Arabic, Persian and Turkish in the context of history, literature, culture, religion and politics, past and present. Choose from a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, including PhD programmes. Find out more about Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at Edinburgh Apr 04 2023 16.00 - 18.00 Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies Seminar Series: Nadia Butt Join us in person for a seminar by Dr Nadia Butt (University of Giessen) on the diverse representations of Islam in Anglophone Arab and African literature. Project Room 1.06 50 George Square EH8 9LH Edinburgh Find the venue: 50 George Square
Apr 04 2023 16.00 - 18.00 Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies Seminar Series: Nadia Butt Join us in person for a seminar by Dr Nadia Butt (University of Giessen) on the diverse representations of Islam in Anglophone Arab and African literature.
