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Promoted Content
January 1997PKK
Die Diktatur des Abdullah Öcalan
by Cürükkaya, Selim / Vorwort von Wallraff, Günter; Übersetzt von Landau, Gerd
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Promoted Content
October 2014Farewell, Aleppo
by Claudette E. Sutton
The Jews of Aleppo, Syria, had been part of the city's fabric for more than two thousand years, in good times and bad, through conquerors and kings. But in the middle years of the twentieth century, all that changed. To Selim Sutton, a merchant with centuries of roots in the Syrian soil, the dangers of rising anti-Semitism made clear that his family must find a new home. With several young children and no prospect of securing visas to the United States, he devised a savvy plan for getting his family out: "exporting" his sons.In December 1940, he told the two oldest, Mea¯r and Saleh, that arrangements had been made for their transit to Shanghai, where they would work in an uncle's export business. China, he hoped, would provide a short-term safe harbor and a steppingstone to America.But the world intervened for the young men, now renamed Mike and Sal by their Uncle Joe. Sal became ill with tuberculosis soon after arriving and was sent back to Aleppo alone. And the war that soon would engulf every inhabited land loomed closer each day. Joe, Syrian-born but a naturalized American citizen, barely escaped on the last ship to sail for the U.S. before Pearl Harbor was bombed and the Japanese seized Shanghai.Mike was alone, a teen-ager in an occupied city, across the world from his family, with only his mettle to rely on as he strived to survive personally and economically in the face of increasing deprivation. Farewell, Aleppo is the story–told by Mike's daughter–of the journey that would ultimately take him from the insular Jewish community of Aleppo to the solitary task of building a new life in America.It is both her father's tale that journalist Claudette Sutton describes and also the harrowing experiences of the family members he left behind in Syria, forced to smuggle themselves out of the country after it closed its borders to Jewish emigration. The picture Sutton paints is both a poignant narrative of individual lives and the broader canvas of a people's survival over millennia, in their native land and far away, through the strength of their faith and their communities. Multiple threads come richly together as she observes their world from inside and outside the fold, shares an important and nearly forgotten epoch of Jewish history, and explores universal questions of identity, family, and culture.
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FictionSeptember 2021Die Musik auf den Dächern (The Music On The Roofs)
Erzählungen
by Selim Özdogan
Tender and melancholic, sometimes cool, sometimes fierce: Selim Özdogan strikes the tone of our times. All of a sudden, Latifa smells of freshly roasted coffee beans and just can’t get it off her skin. A young Indian philologist cracks the IT-code to the digital legacy of a famous and much celebrated author while being observed by a rabbit inside the author’s son’s head. Aliens plant sunflowers into rubber boots which are arranged to look like a swastika. The Rat-Catcher of Hamelin finally gets to tell the tale from his point of view. Hillalum meets the God-machine. Şeyda is diagnosed with migration background but turns out to handle her diagnosis in a completely different way than expected. Virtuously juggling with various narrative roles, Selim Özdogan displays his large scope of style. His often melancholic view finds beauty in everyday details. He skilfully goes against the odds and agains the expected. His small allusions to mafia movies, pop music and beat-literature make his prose the most pleasurable read.
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Murder Jealousy
by Melih Esen Cengiz
It is the year 2008. The queen of the empire where the sun never sets visits Turkey. The Istanbul Police Department is on full alert. Amongst all the commotion, a scent from centuries ago spreads from Fatih through the streets of ancient Istanbul, drowning in ordinary everyday life; a sharp scent of the rot of victims who, perhaps, never saw the faces of their murderers. The hubristic and proud shadows of empresses, sultans and queens surround the city…Now the nightmares shatter the captain of the Homicide Division Selim’s peace. The unfortunate souls of the victims, whose killers he tries to find, harass him day and night. Will history open its doors to the passionate policeman of Pierre Loti Hill and unearth the perpetrators, or leave him to the tormenting prayers of the victims’ wretched souls?The story of heaven and hell, fantasies and truth!Set in the Ottoman Empire during the reign of Abdülaziz, 1950s Istanbul, and recent times, Murder Jealousy is a crime fiction by Melih Esen Cengiz with a surprising ending to astonish readers…
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Women's FictionOctober 2017Das Flüstern des Bosporus
by Tatin Giannaro
Six young women and men from five different countries meet in Istanbul. At the touching point of Europe with Asia an adventure in the spirit of the “Abduction from the Seraglio” brings them into unexpected danger. Two women. Four men. A wedding in Istanbul. A modern, inverse “Abduction from the Seraglio”. A life-or-death adventure at the Bosporus. Sandy and Connie from Europe meet in the Hagia Sofia four friends: Pedro, Jean-Paul, and the cousins Osman and Selim who are in Istanbul for their cousin’s wedding. In the city between Orient and Occident, Germany, France, Spain, the UK and Turkey meet. Suddenly, Sandy’s and Connie’s relaxed holiday trip to the Bosporus with unexpected love options develops into a Turkish adventure between East and West. Why "The Whisper of the Bosporus" is important: Clashes between Europe and Asia and between old tradition and modern life have effects on social and private life, today more than ever. For everybody interested in the encounters of different cultures.
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Fiction: special featuresToad Sails to India!
by Vithal Rajan
A Sequel to The Wind in the Willows, set in the present, and a work of subaltern literature treating the great populist themes of the Raj period from the point of view of the other
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Trusted Partner
FictionADNA
by SAMIRA KENTRIĆ
The graphic novel Adna by Samira Kentrić was recently published by Mladinska knjiga. Adna’s story is universal and timeless – each one of us must overcome our own obstacles along the path to adulthood and find the strength and courage for change and a search for the meaning of existence. All that differs are the circumstances. The idea for the book Adna came from the illustrated booklet Letter to Adna (Beletrina, 2016), in which a farewell letter and the circumstances in which it is written end Adna’s never very carefree childhood. The story, told by artist Samira Kentrić primarily through pictures, is continued and built on in this work through the adult Adna, who wants the girl to be given a chance and herself describes her attitude towards the circumstances and the people who surrounded her in the past, and still do. Adna, a girl in her early twenties, comes face to face with the memory of her refugee past. She wonders about the meaning of existence after the deaths of loved ones, but is unable to share her traumatic experience with anyone. Although she is quite fortunate that her guardian provides her with a materially and intellectually dignified life and she is seemingly well integrated into the society in which she finds herself, she remains alone. She has no problems making contacts, she does well in new circumstances, but she carefully hides who she really is from the outside world. She has control over her appearance and over her sexuality, but deep inside her there remains a locked-up pain, right up until the day her world unexpectedly starts to spin differently and forces her into opening up and stepping forward. The graphic novel Adna was created over the years from 2016 to 2020. During this period the author made over 130 illustrations. The pictures were the first to be created, and arranged into a story during the process of creation. Samira Kentrić’s powerful images are searingly direct, relevant, and uncompromising, remaining with us long after we put the book down. The countless references to current events and political realities as well as social and art history lend themselves to different and repeated readings. The author expresses her strong social conscience and engagement through these images, and at the very end, knits them together with an exceptional text that reveals the background to the images and tells the intimate story of a girl who, after a traumatic experience and a long period of numbness, lives a full life and finds meaning in it. Adna’s story is universal and timeless – each one of us must overcome our own obstacles along the path to adulthood and find the strength and courage for change and a search for the meaning of existence. All that differs are the circumstances.
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May 2018SELF-ish: A Transgender Awakening
by Chloe Schwenke
SELF-ISH IS A NARRATIVE DRAWN FROM AN INTERNATIONAL LIFE, beginning with some early glimpses out at the world by a girl in a boy’s body. Chloe was raised as Stephen in a Marine Corps family and was sent off at age 14 to “man up” at a military academy. Later—and still embodied as a man—she ventured abroad to work in some of the roughest regions of Africa, the Gaza Strip, Turkey, and many other locales. Her far-flung global journey was matched in intensity by an inner identity and spiritual struggle and the associated ravages of depression, before she came to the revelation of being a transgender woman. At a time when many Americans are just waking up to the reality of the transgender phenomenon, this portrayal of Chloe’s life, her challenging gender transition, and her many accomplishments and adventures along the way (including being among the first three transgender political appointees in U.S. history, under President Obama), creates a poignant story of authenticity, self-discovery, and the meaning of gender set against a fascinating international backdrop.
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October 2019History of Science among the Ottoman Turks
by Abdülhak Adnan Adıvar (Prof.), Abdel Razek Barakat (Prof.)
The history of science represents an important aspect of the history of nations, and reveals to the learner the truth about science and its secrets. Therefore, it is considered an important topic in modern writings, as its study is a study of the development of civilization and the civilization production of nations through which bridges are established between the past and present to recognize the human development process and build the present and future of nations. Here we are dealing with a great book and a long journey through "History of Science among the Ottoman Turks" by Abdülhak Adnan Adıvar, a Turkish physician, politician and thinker. Besides medicine, he studied philosophy, literature and history. At first he authored this book in French, then he wrote it in Turkish in a revised and updated version. It was translated from Turkish by the professor of Turkish language and literature Prof. Adbel Razek Barakat, the former dean of the Faculty of Arts in Ain Shams University. The translation came out in a clear flowery language expressing the great effort exerted in writing such unique historiography. The book handles the Turkish history of science during the Ottoman period between the fourteenth and nineteenth centuries. It specifically focuses on empirical sciences and discusses the Turkish status of science, its development and the different contributions of scientists. It sometimes tackles the reciprocal relation between authority and knowledge in close or infrequent intervals. It is not confined to the study of scientific movement only within the Ottoman state. However, the author is trying to make comparisons between the scientific life in Turkey under the Ottoman state on the one hand and the scientific life in the west on the other hand. One should possess such a worthy book because its author mastered a number of languages that enabled him to peruse different references in his time. Thus, he was able to document the status of science during this important historical period. In fact, it is a bibliography that includes treasures of publications and prominent authors of Ottoman natural and empirical sciences. It is actually a tour among libraries of both ancient and modern worlds. One feels like wandering between the greatest literature written by the scholars of the country and what was dispersed by the hands of ancient time; between what was entirely left and what was preserved out of the dispersed part. Thus, one can make out the history of the renaissance of empirical science and other sciences in the Ottoman countries. The journey extends over eight chapters through which we tried to rename it so as to facilitate the matter for researchers and present this valuable book in the best possible way. The First Chapter: The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries In the first chapter, the reign of Murad I, it is revealed that the sun of empirical sciences shone in the sky of Iznik school which was built by Orkhan Bek in 1330, 1332 AD. The ray shed on the courtyard of this great school started the first steps towards the transformation from depending on the study of traditional sciences into exploring the sciences of nature. Thus, the fourteenth century was the era of the first school and the first book for the children of Ottoman in this respect. There appeared the book entitled Mufradat Ibn Al-Bitar, which was translated by an anonymous person. It is believed to be the only book authored concerning intellectual sciences at that time. The author goes on mentioning the names of the important figures of that time. Prominent among them was Qadhi Zadah, whom Zaki Bek considered the first astronomer and mathematician in the Ottoman State. Thus, it was the age of the first ones and individuals; it was a step towards the sunshine of empirical science in the middle of the Ottoman sky. The Second Chapter: Sultan Muhammad the Conqueror (Mehmed II) and Science: The sunshine of sciences continues in the second chapter, the age of the conqueror by whom God opened what was locked tight in his time. It showed its beauty as a result of his interest in science and scientists. The humming of scholars was heard on the lands of the children of Ottoman. Wrapped in shyness, the sunshine appeared in the hall of the Conqueror's palace. He loved metaphysics, languages and religions. It shone on his seat to shed light over his courtyard which was the assembly room of scientists of his time and the center of many accurate debates on the field of religions and others. Translation flourished at his time and many schools and libraries were built. Certainly, the greatest ones were the Conqueror's school and library, which were the link between the old and the new; between authenticity and modernity. They were two of the greatest edifices of traditional science and the empirical one alike. The Third Chapter: The End of the Fifteenth Century and the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century The sunshine went on slowly in the sky of empirical science in the country of Ottoman's children in the third chapter, the reign of Bayezid II. Attention was paid to empirical sciences after Fatih although it was less than the attention paid to them in Europe. There appeared timidly the interest in writing books. There was an increase in building hospitals. Under the sun of these sciences in that century, there shone Bairam Jelbi, the most important astronomer and mathematician at that time and the grandson of Qadhi Zadah and so did Muzafar El-Din Al-Shirazi. The Fourth Chapter: The Sixteenth Century and Maritime Geography The sun steps steadily in the forenoon of the sixteenth century in the fourth chapter, the reign of Al-Qanooni. It sheds light over the surface of the world. The country expands and more attention is paid to maritime geography, which is a useful instrument for the army to achieve more power and triumph. However, no attention is really paid to pure empirical science according to the state's orientation at that time. Poets were warmly welcomed in the courtyard of Al-Qanooni's palace. Thus, verses of poets went side by side with the interest in maritime geography. Like a maritime and geographical minaret, the marine scientist Piri Reis shone. He drew the most important world map then, and authored a book entitled Bahriya (Book of Navigation). Within the procession of the sea fleet, we find the geographer and sailor Sidi Ali Bin Hussein, the author of The Mirror of Kingdoms with its legends and nice jokes about his voyages. He also wrote The Ocean, which is considered his most important book. From the sea, the Ottomans looked at the sky with a gentle touch of the rise of empirical science and the exuberances of news coming about it from Europe. In a request submitted to Murad III, a historian called Sa'ad El-Din Efendi suggested the construction of an Ottoman observatory, which was built and demolished at the same time pursuant to a fatwa of Sheikh El-Islam Ahmad Al-Din Efendi" The sky became cloudy and its bodies and planets disappeared for a while. At that time, translation of major encyclopedias from Arabic and Persian flourished. Physicians started being tested in order to get permission to practice their job. Three of the great scholars of that time were executed in painful and tragic incidents. The Fifth Chapter: the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries and Katib Gelbi The sun of sciences went on at the forenoon of the eighteenth century in the fifth chapter, the reign of Muhammad IV. It almost faded. That century witnessed a time of general recession that made renaissance advocates cry and complain bitterly. The scientific movement then depended on copying, quotation and translation. However, there was still a glimpse of hope and a glint of life when a great polymath scientist appeared. That was Hajji khalifa, who was known as Katib Gelbi, the author of encyclopedias and compilations. He authored a book entitled Revealing Doubts. He says, "it is a brief useful history of science and philosophy in Arabic". He is considered the first Turkish man that authored a brief book on the history of science. The Sixth Chapter: The Eighteenth Century and the Printing Press In the sixth chapter of the book, the reign of Sultan Ahmad III and Grand Vizier Ibrahim Basha, the sun of knowledge returned to rise in the middle of Ottoman sky of sciences. It enlightened the way for the Ottoman printing press. Thanks to Asad Bin Ali "Ibrahim Mutafarika" and his dissertation "The Means of the Printing Press", Grand vizier Ibrahim Basha strongly advocated the establishment of the printing press. Sheikh Ul-Islam issued a fatwa that permitted only the printing of intellectual and empirical sciences, yet he banned the printing of revelation sciences. The Grand vizier did not enforce that fatwa to a great extent. He showed great consideration for scientific life and its men. So, compilation and translation flourished. Ottomans continued paying attention to geography. However, medicine remained traditional as it was although some like Omar Shifa'ey achieved renown as a physician and an author. The Seventh Chapter: Medicine and Mathematics at the End of the Eighteenth Century The sunlight of knowledge becomes greater and brighter in the seventh chapter at the end of the eighteenth century. Science spread widely in the state of Ottoman's children and the activity of scientific renaissance flourished due to the footsteps of horses' hooves, the sound of gunpowder and the sailing of ships. During the reign of Mustafa III, mathematics developed and achieved tremendous progress. The school of maritime engineering was established to develop the army and the military institution. The Eighth Chapter: The Movement of Revival in the Nineteenth Century The western influence on scientific life became manifest. Selim III brought teachers from the west and paid great attention to scientific life. So, he established the Royal school of engineering where empirical and intellectual sciences and languages were taught. The second printing press was established at that time and the light of science shone on the land of Ottoman's children. Finally, the book presents the Ottoman Turkish history of science in a historical descriptive method. Firstly, it was presented to the western community. However, we believe that the book was in dire need of a time plan and a historical method which were more accurate. The book was included in the category of sciences' history, not the bibliography. It represented a very rich material in that category. However, it influenced the accuracy of the historical narrative method since it depended on mentioning compilations without really considering the circumstances of the development of sciences and knowledge. As a whole, it is a worthy book and a great effort was exerted in compiling it. The critical perspective of the compilations mentioned within the book represented a great advantage on various levels. Prominent among them was the benefit of historians. Through his comments, the translator presented a complete idea about most of the book’s contents. They are the comments of someone mostly involved in the Turkish inheritance and literature.
