Who “wrote” Aladdin? The Forgotten Syrian Storyteller
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Posts by tag
Cosmopolitanism
14 posts
‘Where There is No Architect’: Histories from the Native Town of Bombay
Bombay’s history is woven around tales of cosmopolitanism. But while the grandiose architecture of the colonial city gets all the attention, the vernacular architecture built by the cosmopolitanism from below in the so-called “Native Town” nearby is too often overlooked.
The Bard of the Caucasus: Armenian, Azeri, and Georgian Legacies of Sayat Nova
If Sayat Nova wrote hundreds of songs in Armenian, Azerbaijani, and Georgian, then why are the cross-cultural celebrations of Sayat Nova so few and far between? Gaps in the historical record and contemporary political environment make a pancultural perspective of the legendary bard of the Caucasus more difficult.
Exhausted Geographies: Mapping the Dream of Pakistan in the Streets of Karachi
Ajam co-editor-in-chief Alex Shams interviews Shahana Rajani and Zahra Malkani about their new edited volume “Exhausted Geographies,” which explores representations of the urban space of Karachi, Pakistan through mapping.
What Do We Mean When We Say “Hepimiz”? Exploring Chants of Solidarity in Turkish Protest Movements
In the wake of the Ankara bombings, we investigate language of solidarity and liberty during protest movements.
Parsi Mumbai: The Legacy of Zoroastrianism in India’s Urban Fabric
Despite the Zoroastrian community’s waning numbers, the urban fabric of Mumbai’s older neighborhoods remain dominated by symbols and reminders of the Parsi and Irani communities’ success in the Subcontinent.
Abadan: Oil City Dreams and the Nostalgia for Past Futures in Iran
The southwestern city of Abadan has an almost mythical status in Iranian historical consciousness, as the town’s past as a cosmopolitan oil city remains a focus of national nostalgia. This piece is the first part in a series exploring how Abadan is imagined in Iran today.
Palestinian Shared Worlds of Meaning, between George and Reuben
Just south of Jaffa is the shrine of Nabi Reuben, once the site of a boisterous Palestinian religious festival that combined the Christian and Muslim, the spiritual and the profane. Today, the shrine sits amid the sand dunes, a reminder of a pre-Zionist cosmopolitanism forcibly uprooted from the land.