KALiMaT. Keywords for the Study of the Arabic Literary and Manuscript Tradition

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Beatrice Gründler
• Subject Area: Islamic Studies, Arabian Studies, Semitic Studies
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 525417566

KALiMaT, Arabic for "words," is an acronym for "Key Words for the Study of the Arabic Literary and Manuscript Tradition" (Kalimāt miftāḥiyya li-dirāsat al-maḫṭūṭāt wa-n-nuṣūṣ al-adabiyya fī t-turāth al-ʿarabī) and the title of the first bilingual Arabic-English online living handbook, which will be published in open access. KALiMaT comprises short articles that dynamically define historical terms from the pre-modern and early modern literary tradition, i.e., prior to mass printing (before 1850), taking into account the polysemy of Arabic concepts. The terms belong to the field of literature as both an educational and material practice, such as concepts of storytelling and authorship, generic terms, virtues repeatedly depicted in anthological works, poetic standards, and rhetorical figures as well as terms from the field of textual materiality that describe activities such as copying and annotating. Each article addresses a lemma, providing analysis and contextualization that makes the historical term accessible. Thus, KALiMaT offers a new scholarly approach to pre-modern Arabic literature, which until now has mostly still been interpreted and historicized on the basis of author biographies and Western-influenced terminologies and periodization. By focusing on the analysis of concepts from the Arabic tradition and the critical examination of Western and modern literary categories, KALiMaT lays the foundation for a nuanced reconsideration of the meaning of literature in historical contexts. In so doing, and by creating a living handbook in which each article is published in both Arabic and English, this project contributes to recent efforts to decolonize knowledge. The bilingual publication is facilitated by the open source software Open Encyclopedia System (OES, provided by the Center for Digital Systems CeDiS at Freie Universität Berlin), which enables both the organization of editorial workflows as well as the optimal editing and incremental publication of short articles in different languages and writing systems. With the help of the OES, KALiMaT will provide a working tool for students and researchers worldwide, including researchers of other linguistic traditions. Besides, a community area connected to the living handbook allows researchers to present themselves and their work and additionally supports scholarly exchange. The entire platform is published in open access to ensure broad collaboration, visibility, and accessibility.

• DFG Programme: Science Communication, Research Data, eResearch (Scientific Library Services and Information Systems)
• Co-Investigator: Dr. Brigitte Grote