Media Transitions in the Arab World: Actual and Historical Perspectives on Literature and Culture

In the last decades, the Arab world has witnessed the emergence and broad diffusion of ʻnewʼ media, most prominently the Internet. Apart from socio-political effects, the opportunities provided by these media have also fostered the emergence of new modes of cultural expression, literary styles and genres as well as new layers of readers and writers. ʻNewʼ media, however, is by no means a recent phenomenon.
This workshop aims at exploring the relation between media and cultural production in the Arab world from a historical perspective. The papers presented will investigate topics related to the transition from oral to script culture, the spread of print technologies after several centuries of a flourishing manuscript culture and the adoption of digital technologies in recent times. In addition, round table discussions will explore selected key questions across the centuries. By looking at how media have impacted Arabic culture, we aim to identify not only transitions and ruptures but also continuities and complementarity of newly emerged and already existing media.

The workshop flyer is now available here.

Venue
Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster
Room RS 2 (Hofgebäude)
Rosenstr. 9
48143 Münster

Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster
Institut für Arabistik und Islamwissenschaft
Schlaunstr. 2
48143 Münster
Tel: +49 (0)251 83-24571
Fax: +49 (0)251 83-29932
www.uni-muenster.de/ArabistikIslam