alexandermkey

[alexandermkey]

An Awkward False Neutrality

Oped at Inside Higher Ed with my colleague Abiya Ahmed:

"Abiya Ahmed and Alexander Key argue that false binaries and assumptions contribute to distortions of campus discourse on Palestine.

“This conversation is off the record—no notes or identification, please,” our colleague asked. Not a typical refrain for a working lunch, but this is what we heard time and time again in our capacity as co-chairs of Stanford University’s Muslim, Arab and Palestinian Communities Committee...>"

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Interview in Arabic with my colleague Shamsuddin Hassan Shigri on his Unity of Humanity podcast about religion, 'ilm al-kalam, and the problems with my book's title...

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Discussion of irony, adab, and these two poems by Abu Tammam and al-Buhturi with my colleague István T Kristó-Nagy at the University of Exeter. Preceded by autobiographical remarks in accordance with the tradition of the Monday Majlis.

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Interview in October 2022 with my colleague Yousuf Kerai at Habib University on the nature of the liberal arts and undergraduate education; 

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Logic into Poetics: Ibn Sina and 'Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani as contemporaries

Lecture in English at the University of Chile’s Colloquium on Arabic Poetics in October 2022. 

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Recording of my paper “Amal Dunqul’s Aqwāl Jadīda ʿan Ḥarb al-Basūs” at the seminar https://www.usna.edu/Harb-al-Basus-Seminar/.

My paper starts at the hour mark (and here is the link to Amal Dunqul’s Complete Works: https://bit.ly/3L27ReA)

Session 2 :  https://youtu.be/JBkiv2rxMP8 Session 3:   https://youtu.be/l26XCoBS_ZU

Abstract:

Amal Dunqul’s Aqwāl jadīda ʿan Ḥarb al-Basūs is one of those poems that has stayed on the lips of Arabic speakers and political actors in Egypt, Palestine, and beyond since it was composed in the 1970s. It has also recently been the subject of important scholarship by Noha Radwan, who tracks the poet's engagement with history and politics. This paper will complement that analysis by providing a close reading of the poem: how does Dunqul control rhyme, rhythm, the page, narrative, plot, and syntax to create affect? What is the affect achieved - pathos, mobilization, or something else? How do the formal choices interact with the content?

 عن "أقوال جديدة عن حرب البسوس" لأمل دنقل أقوال جديدة عن حرب البسوس لأمل دنقل هي واحدة من تلك القصائد التي بقيت على شفاه الناطقين باللغة العربية والفاعلين السياسيين في مصر وفلسطين وخارجها منذ تأليفها في السبعينيات. كما كان مؤخ ًرا موضو ًعا مهًما للباحثة نهى رضوان ، التي تتابع تفاعل الشاعر مع التاريخ والسياسة. ستكمل هذه الورقة هذا التحليل من خلال توفير قراءة دقيقة للقصيدة: كيف يتحكم دنقل في القافية والإيقاع والصفحة والسرد والقصة والنحو لخلق التأثير؟ ما هو التأثير الذي تحقق - ؟الشفقة أم التعبئة أم شيء آخر؟ كيف تتفاعل الخيارات الشكلية مع المحتو

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Short "Scholar Spotlight” Interview

With Farah al-Sharif at the Abbasi Program for Islamic Studies:

Each month, we will be spotlighting an Abbasi Program affiliate on campus. This month, our spotlight shines on Professor Alexander Key, Associate Professor of Arabic and Comparative Literature.

Thanks for taking the time for this interview, Professor Key. Tell us about your current research/what excites you in Islamic Studies right now...

https://islamicstudies.stanford.edu/news/scholar-spotlight-professor-alexander-key

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Interview with AJ Naddaf for “Untranslatable”

Alexander Key: On Domesticating Al-Jurjani 110%

https://arablit.org/2021/11/08/alexander-key-on-domesticating-al-jurjani-110/

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Interview with Zachary Davis about translating al-Jurjani

Great poetry or beautiful prose is usually capable of challenging and delighting readers far more than dry, bland language. But why is that? Dalā’il al-Iʿjaz, or Indications of Inimitability, is a hugely influential Arabic text about exactly what it is that makes beautiful language beautiful. Its author, Abd al-Qāhir al-Jurjānī, used a theoretical, almost scientific method to demystify poetry and its lasting effects. Professor Alexander Key discusses why he’s working on the first English translation of this text and the huge impact that Jurjānī’s work has had on Arabic literary criticism...

https://www.writlarge.fm/episodes/indications-of-inimitability

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Webinar with Mehmet Bulgen on ‘Ilm al-Kalam and philosophy of language

Watch on YouTube...

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Interview with Mourid Barghouti in Arabic

Zawaya hosted Mourid Barghouti and asked Ahmad Diab and me to interview him about poetry, criticism, and more. It was great fun...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VbWb6ZugiI

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Discussant in “Adab” Literary Salon with Huda Fakhreddine

Brief comments from me about the formalist nature of Classical Arabic literary criticism and its potential for our contemporary critical discourse at 39:00...

https://youtu.be/KrilKMzMnb8?t=2344 

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Encomium for Umar al-Sanawi’s new edition of al-Raghib’s Afanin al-Balagha

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CBC Radio show on satire

I appear at 20:30, talking to Peter Brown about satire in Arabic:

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/a-modest-proposal-about-satire-1.4718112

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Lecture at Zaytuna College on “Language Between God and the Poets” (Nov 17)

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One-hour radio interview about “Language Between God and the Poets.”

On KZSU 90.1FM’s literary talk show, Entitled Opinions, with Robert Harrison talking about my forthcoming book with UC Press: Language Between God and the Poets: maʿnā in the eleventh century.

Listen to the whole show here.

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باحث في جامعة ستانفورد يبحث في هوس العرب باللغات

توصل أليساندر كي Alexander Key البروفيسور في الأدب المقارن في جامعة ستانفورد أثناء دراسته للاستعارات اللفظية في الأدب العربي في القرون الوسطى إلى أن العالم العربي يت��وق على الغرب عندما يتعلق الأمر بفهم كيفية عمل اللغات.

بقلم: بيليانا كاسابوفا

ترجمة: آلاء حيمور

للعالم العربي تاريخ طويل مع الانشغال بتقنيات اللغة، فمنذ ما يزيد عن الألف عام كان الباحثون فيما يعرف اليوم بإيران يقرؤون ويفكرون ويصنفون المؤلفات عن كيفية عمل الاستعارات اللفظية.

https://goo.gl/Y0Z14K