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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 March 2016
To present “who is working where and on what within the German academic world” was the task set for this article. The attempt to fulfill this requirement requires a few preliminary and urgent remarks. To draw a complete picture of research on the Modern Arab World in the FRG within the scope of a rather short article is impossible for various reasons. The German Research Foundation has just initiated the same project—a publication of around two hundred pages is forthcoming in 1991. Unlike the United States, where the concept of area studies has led to the creation of “Middle East Centers” at various universities, the FRG has no such institutional framework, with the exception of two projects of this kind in Berlin and Erlangen (see below). Research on the Modern Arab World thus takes place in various departments of various universities. The concluding remark made by Eckarf Ehlers in his article on “German geography of the Middle East” still holds true: “Thus, one may say that almost all activities are based on personal and individual engagement.” Yet, it is not only the institutional factor but also, interwoven with it, traditional historical factors within the academic disciplines as well as the foreign policy of the FRG itself which contribute to making research on the Modern Middle East a rather young discipline in the FRG.
1 Gebhard, Marion, Forschung zum Modernen Vorderen Orient [probable title] (Ham burg, forthcoming).Google Scholar
2 See Tibi, Bassam, “Der amerikanische ‘area studies approach’ in den ‘international studies’ am Beispiel der ‘Middle Eastern Studies,’” Orient 24 (1983) 260–284.Google Scholar
3 Ehlers, Eckart, “German Geography in the Middle East,” MESA Bulletin 19 (1985) 190.Google Scholar
4 The author is conscious of the fact that she uses the terms “Modern Arab World,” “Modern Middle East,” “Modern Islamic World” without defining them. Yet, for the purpose of this paper this differentiation seems to be unimportant.
5 Büttner, Friedemann, Schemer, Thomas, and Weiher, Gerhard, “Die Entdeckung des Nahen Ostens durch die deutsche Politikwissenschaft,” in Dritte Welt-Forschung, ed. Nuscheler, Franz (Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen 1985) 417–435;Google Scholar Udo Steinbach, “Neuere Entwicklungen in der deutschen gegenwartsbezogenen Islam-Wissenschaft” in Rolf Italiaander, ed. Die Herausforderung des Islam (Gòttingen 1987) 260-273; and Eugen Wirth, “German Geographical Research in the Middle East and North Africa. A Report to the International Geographical Union,” in German Geographical Research Overseas, ed. Eugen Wirth (Institute for Scientific Cooperation, Tübingen 1988) 93-132. All translations in the text are by the author.
6 Johansen, Baber, “Islamic Studies in the FRG” in The Study of the Middle East, ed. Ismail, Tarek (Praeger, New York forthcoming)Google Scholar; Tibi, Bassam, “German Political Science and the Middle East,” ibid.Google Scholar; and Tibi, Bassam, “Internationale Konferenz ‘The State of the Art of Middle Eastern Studies. International Perspectives,’ 1.-3. August 1986 in Calgary, Alberta/Kanada,” Orient 27/3 (1986) 366–376.Google Scholar
7 This is the conclusion Büttner et al. arrive at in their fascinating analytical article, which would be well worth translating into English for a wider audience.
8 Büttner et al., p. 118.
9 Ibid., p. 419.
10 Büren, R., Gegenwartsbezogene Orieniwissenschaft in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Göttingen 1974) 32Google Scholar, translated from the quotation by Büttner et al., p. 422.
11 Ehlers, p. 190; cf. also Wirth.
12 Steinbach, p. 271.
13 Büttner et al., pp. 430, 431.
14 Ibid, p. 431; cf. also Tibi 1983.
15 See the brochure put out by Free University of Berlin, partly in English.
16 For further information, see “Erlanger Studienschwerpunkt Moderner Vorderer Orient,” Orient 28/3 (1987) 329-331.
17 Quoted from Wirth, see also his bibliography for already published works.
18 For more details see Wirth, p. 107ff.
19 For full information on current research projects, publications and activities see the “Tätigkeitsbericht 1989,” published in April 1990 by the institute.
20 The following information is based on information given by the respective scholars. Misunderstandings, however, are the responsibility of the author. An attempt has been made to present all fields evenly, but full information was not always made available. The information was collected before April 1990, with a few later supplements.
21 The author, not a geographer, relies on the information given to her about departments dealing with the Middle East by members of the Erlangen staff. For a bibliography, see Wirth, op. cit.; for further information, see also Ehlers, op. cit.
22 Ende, Werner, Udo Steinbach, ed., Der Islam in der Gegenwart (Verlag C. H. Beck, Munich 1989,Google Scholar second edition); Haarmann, Ulrich, ed., Geschichte der Arabischen Welt(Verlag C. H. Beck, Munich 1987)Google Scholar; Udo Steinbach, Rüdiger Robert, ed., Der Nahe und Mittlere Osten: Politik, Gesellschaft, Wirtschaft, Geachichte, Kultur (Leske und Budrich, Opladen 1988).
23 Schölch, Alexander, Palästina im Umbruch 1856-1882. Untersuchungen zur wirtschaftlichen und sozio-politischen Entwicklung (Franz Steiner Verlag, Wiesbaden 1986).Google Scholar
24 For a bibliography of contemporary German scholars on the Middle East till 1985, see Erika Bär, Bibliographie zur deutschsprachigen Islamwissenschaft und Semitistik vom Anfang des 19. Jahrhunderts bis heute, vol. 1 (Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, Wiesbaden 1985). Despite the title, the book also includes disciplines like political science.
25 For a bibliography of geographical works, see the comprehensive one given by Wirth, op. cit.
26 Schilcher, Linda Schatkowski, Scharf, Claus, ed., Der Nahe Osten in der Zwischenkriegszeit 1919-1939. Die Interdependenz von Politik, Wirtschaft und Ideologie (Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 1989).Google Scholar