Hats and Hijabs in Algeria and Turkey: Episode 341

This episode explores debates about aesthetics, headwear, and dress in interwar Algeria and Turkey. Why did hats and hijabs generate so much debate among Algerian thinkers, both men and women? How did expectations about what men would wear on their heads carry different political connotations than similar debates about women’s head coverings? This episode takes up the role of dress and comportment in shaping Algerian conversations about colonialism, feminism, and Islamic reform, as well as the importance of a “Turkish model” in interwar Algerian debates.

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Podcast originally published on Ottoman History Podcast

Teaching with Arabic Literature in Translation: Once and Future Moroccos

ArabLit’s ongoing series on Teaching with Arabic Literature in Translation continues with a conversation between ArabLit’s editor and Prof. Alexander Elinson, Associate Professor of Arabic at Hunter College. Elinson is translator of Youssef Fadel’s A Beautiful White Cat Walks with Me, and has also translated Moroccan authors Allal Bourqia and Yassin Adnan, and numerous zajal poets. Elinson talked about how he might structure a course on teaching Moroccan literature. The conversation began in person and continued over email.

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Article originally published on Arabic Literature