Annals of Japan Association for Middle East Studies
Online ISSN : 2433-1872
Print ISSN : 0913-7858
Volume 11
Displaying 1-14 of 14 articles from this issue
  • HEE-SUN CHO
    Article type: Article
    1996 Volume 11 Pages 1-37
    Published: March 31, 1996
    Released on J-STAGE: March 30, 2018
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The most important issues of autobiography are the "reality and imagination", "memory and forgetting", and "frankness and concealment". If autobiography is considered as a kind of literature, we could say that it depends upon reality, memory and frankness, in contrast to other literary genres like the novel, the story and the play. In fact the autobiography does not depend totally on reality and frankness, and it is not possible to find out any literary work which depends solely upon imagination to the total exclusion of author's real life experience. Few scholars disagree with the proposition that there are no external differences between autobiography and other literary works. Only the author's will to write an autobiography distinguishes it. "Telling about his life" was familiar to ancient Arabs. Their subsequent familiarization with foreign works led them to imitation. At first, Arab philosophers began to imitate Greek philosophers, and then other Arab scholars, Sufis and politicians followed suit. But they did not write their autobiographies separately but always as appendixes to their work on various subjects such as science, history, philosophy and medicine. Therefore, in spite of their abundance and variety, these autobiographies can not be considered as independent literary work. The autobiography has started to reappear since the beginning of the Nahdah period in which Arab civilization has come into direct contact with the Western civilization. The autobiographies in this period reflect the conflict between the East amd West, describing the process of searching for an Arab identity. They tend to have little literary value, concerning themselves mostly with historical facts rather than personal ones. Like the older autobiographies, they were not written in independent form, either. The political, ecomomic, social, intellectual, and spiritual circumstances in the twentieth century have contributed to the crystallization of Arab identity in Modern Arabic literature with the appearance of an educated middle class. Their new circumstances induced Arab authors to write autobiographies in which they showed their desire for personal freedom, independence, and feelings of confusion and alienation. Autobiographies of this period have some common characteristics, while each work maintains its individuality. First of all, in order to show the development of their characters, many authors focus on their childhood, in describing poverty, hardship and isolation. Secondly they describe the influence of inheritance and environment in forming their characters. Thirdly, most autobiographers of this period have had a direct or indirect contact with the West. They tend to admire the political and social systems, freedom of thought and women's position in the West. Fourthly, they belong to the middle class with its traditional values. Because of their religious background, one can not find autobiographers who go deeply into sexual matters. Finally, their traditional upbringing and their admiration of the Western civilization and culture inevitably causes conflicts in their mind. In conclusion, the autobiography has been in existence since time immemorial as a form of human expression. No doubt it will be written continually in the future. Autobiography has been prominent in modern Arabic literature since the end of the eighteenth century when many Arab authors wrote theirs.
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  • Yuriko MATSUO
    Article type: Article
    1996 Volume 11 Pages 39-69
    Published: March 31, 1996
    Released on J-STAGE: March 30, 2018
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

    The Mulazemet System in the Ilmiye Organization in the Ottoman Empire (1520-1620): According to Candidate Registers (Rumeli Kazaskerligi Ruznamesi) In the reign of Sultan Suleyman The Magnificent (1520-1566), Ottoman ulema belonged to Ilmiye, a professional hierarchical organization comitted to judicature and education. Ilmiye consisted of muderris, kadi and mufti offices with their own career patterns and it worked as a bureaucracy. However, it has been difficult so far to know the process of appointment or recruitment to this hierarchy due to the scarcity of historical materials. In 1537, Suleyman ordered Ebussuud Efendi, who was in the office of Rumeli Kazaskeri, to register regularly distinguished students as candidates to Ilmiye officials. These candidates were called mulazim, and mulazemet, which meant the state of being candidates. This mulazemet system was significant in controling the quality and quantity of ulema by unifying the path to Ilmiye. The purpose of this paper is to examine this recruiting system mainly as reported in the unpublished ottoman documents, "Rumeli Kazaskerligi Ruznamesi" (No.1 H.951-959, No.7 H.1007-1016). These documents which contain 1392 registered mulazims will certainly help us understand the details required for the membership of Ilmiye. Through these registers together with other historical materials, this paper tries to reach a comprehensive idea not only outlining the mulazemet system, but also determining its function as a mechanism of promotion in Ilmiye. According to the contents of these registrations, there were five ways for medrese students to acquire mulazemet: (1) Examinations (especially those held among the students whose teachers had deceased) (2) Starting as clerks (fetva emini, tezkereci) under the offices of Seyhulislam and Kazasker for six months (3) Recommendations from high officials in Ilmiye. (4) By the mediation of princes, Vezirazams and other high officials in the central administration (5) Registered automatically when desired if they are sons of high officials or qualified as "beratla mu'id". One should realize that a student had to study and be involved in business practices under the supervision of high officials in order to be a mulazim. If he finished this apprenticeship, his supervisor would then recommend him to the Sultan as an Ilmiye official candidate. The emergence of the mulazemet system brought some changes to the lives of students and to Ilmiye from the latter half of the 16th. century to the early 17th. century. Students came to make connections actively with high officials rather than studying in medrese. As Seyhulislam, Kazasker and Vezirazam gained the privilege of appointment of official posts, including the authority of mulazim recommendations, students rushed at those officials for the purpose of getting a share of the distribution of Ilmiye offices. Some of them tried to forge relationships with many influential ulema and Vezirazams at the same time; others took advantage of these connections to obtain mulazemet without finishing the educational programs in medrese. Most students made use of this relationship (the intisab relationship) with high officials to get their own quick promotions after joining Ilmiye. In this way medrese lost the reason for existing as a high educational institution, and changed into merely a place of supporting students in order to establish contact with high officials. The relationship between a professor and a student changed its shape to one that stands between a superior and a subordinate in the professional hierarchy. Some incumbent officials used to sell their posts or accept bribes from students and lower officials. The order and morals inside Ilmiye were corrupted by degrees. On the other hand, some people attained mulazemet to make ill use of the rule of getting the status in return for business practices. Some of them worked

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  • Mieko Natsume-Ono
    Article type: Article
    1996 Volume 11 Pages 71-130
    Published: March 31, 1996
    Released on J-STAGE: March 30, 2018
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
  • Akiko MUKASA
    Article type: Article
    1996 Volume 11 Pages 131-159
    Published: March 31, 1996
    Released on J-STAGE: March 30, 2018
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

    This paper is a review of some analytical trends in anthropological studies conducted by Anglo-American anthropologists since the 1960s in two neighboring countries, Syria and Lebanon. (There are of course plenty of records and studies in Arabic, which I would like to introduce at another occasion.) It has been pointed out that until the 1960s the main themes of anthropological studies carried out in the Middle East were limited to the three theoretical concepts-'patrilineality,' 'segmentary lineage system,' and 'father's brother's daughter marriage.' The 1960s was a turning point when analytical focus shifted from 'groups' to 'individuals.' This shift in analytical focus can be perceived in the ethnographies and other theoretical studies in the Syrian and Lebanese contexts. Most of the works done in these two countries since the 1960s tend to concentrate on either one of two theoretical frameworks-'descent' and network. In the former, origin of the descent groups locally called asl came to be stressed as a cultural idiom. There are two types of studies in this analytical trend. One is concerning the process of individuals organizing their relatives into descent groups, using genealogy, as is seen in the cases of 'family associations.' The other examines the roles and connotations of asl for the members in a seemingly long established groups. The anthropologists included in this trend were more or less influenced by network studies, and many of them were investigating networks rather than corporate kin groups. The latter, network study, was introduced by those who conducted field research in cities and their suburbs. Informal and personal ties among 'non-groups' including families and relatives have been analyzed by anthropological terms such as 'alliances,' 'neighborhood,' 'patron-client relations,' and so on. I argue that these seemingly diverse types of informal networks can be understood in the context of wasta. Wasta is a folkterm which means 'mediation' or 'mediator,' and is used in various contexts. I introduce here three network studies claiming the social significance of wasta in Syrian and Lebanese societies. In cultural, social, and political contexts, wasta is crucial for people trying to fulfill their needs utilizing personal relations. People maintain various informal networks which provide them necessary wasta, and also wasta-seeking opens up new possibilities of personal relations. Informal networks are sources of wasta, and wasta is a source of relations forming networks. And furthermore it is argued that wasta is essential for diverse political interests of individuals who belong to different strata to meet under changing political situations in a stratified society. In writing this paper I am sharing interests with the recent discussions concerning relationships between anthropological theory and "places (= area, region and so on)" to be studied. 'Descent' as an idiom and the analysis of networks, discussed here, constitute the "zones of prestige" of anthropological studies conducted in Syria and Lebanon since the the 1960s, and these two approaches provide theoretical frameworks in which most of the works done in this region currently tend to concentrate. Transformation of paradigm in anthropological theory since the 1960s has influenced the viewpoints of anthropologists engaging in research in Syria and Lebanon. Every kind of text has its own politics and history of being created, and read, by individuals under particular circumstances. To mention such an aspect of anthropological studies does not necessarily deny their values. What seems important here, for anthropologists, is to be conscious of the historical sequence of interacting ethnographical texts and to be ready to introduce

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  • İlhan ŞAHİN
    Article type: Article
    1996 Volume 11 Pages 161-166
    Published: March 31, 1996
    Released on J-STAGE: March 30, 2018
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    Osmanli sehirlerinin XV. ve XVI. yuzyillardaki en onemli kaynagini tahrir defterleri teskil etmektedir. Bu defterlere dayanmak suretiyle bir sehrin sosyal, demografik, fiziki ve ekonomik durumunu detayli bir sekilde ortaya koymak mumkundur. Burada 1484 yilinda Osmanli idaresine giren Akkerman sehri incelenmistir. Ozellikle tahrir defterleri kullanilmak suretiyle, XVI. yuzyil boyunca Akkerman' in nufusu, sosyal yapisi, nufusun artmasi icin alinan tedbirler ve sehrin fiziki yapismi teskil eden mahalleler uzerinde durulmustur. Ayrica, sehrin ticari ve ekonomik fonksiyonu hakkmda da bilgi verilmistir.
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  • Yuu KURIBAYASHI
    Article type: Article
    1996 Volume 11 Pages 167-181
    Published: March 31, 1996
    Released on J-STAGE: March 30, 2018
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  • Satoshi TODA
    Article type: Article
    1996 Volume 11 Pages 183-208
    Published: March 31, 1996
    Released on J-STAGE: March 30, 2018
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The rise of the Christian monasticism has been one of the most discussed problems in the studies of the history of the Early Christianity, and especially its possible relation with the non-Christian religions was once a favorite theme of some scholars. The hypothesis of the Manichaean influence on the making of the Christian monasticism is a discussion of this type. In the present article, giving special attention to the hypothesis of L.Koenen, the author has examined the problem concerning the cases of Egypt and the Syrian Orient, and reached the following conclusions: ・since Manichaeism arrived at Egypt in the very time when the Christian monasticism was in the making in the Egyptian society, the Manichaean influence was temporally possible in Egypt. But the comparison of Manichaean elect's modes of life with those of Christian monks shows the difference between the two. For example, the sources suggest that Manichaean elects performed their activities in cities, whereas we learn even from an imperial edict that the desert was considered to be the proper place for Christion monks. Moreover, Manichaean elects were at the same time missionaries, whereas it is not known that Egyptian Christian monks performed the 'missionary' activities in the strict sense of the term. Thus it is impossible to say that the Christian monasticism in Egypt arose mainly from the Manichaean influence. ・As for the situation in the Syrian Orient, the following preliminary remarks can be made. First, although A.Voobus is right in considering that the peculiarities of the modes of life of Syrian Christian monks cannot be explained by the Christian origins alone, his hypothesis of the Manichaean transmission of the influence of the Indian asceticism to the Syrian Christian monasticism is not convincing. Thus the problem of the origins of the Syrian Christian monasticism still remains to be solved. Secondly, in the Syrian Christian church which was characterized by its strong asceticism and from which the monasticism there came into being, only the ascetics who abandoned marriage were allowed to be baptized, i.e. they were the core of the church. This means that the Syrian Christian asceticism has the same structure as Manichaeism, which has the elects as its core. Also, Syrian Christian ascetics as well as Manichaean elects led a vagrant life, teaching the catechumens and the hearers respectively, and also supported by them. Thus it can be said that Manichaeism has some relation with the Syrian Christian asceticism, if not to say the Manichaean influence on it.
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  • Byoung Joo Hah
    Article type: Article
    1996 Volume 11 Pages 239-249
    Published: March 31, 1996
    Released on J-STAGE: March 30, 2018
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  • Masaki KOBAYASHI
    Article type: Article
    1996 Volume 11 Pages 287-304
    Published: March 31, 1996
    Released on J-STAGE: March 30, 2018
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  • Satoko YOSHIE
    Article type: Article
    1996 Volume 11 Pages 305-318
    Published: March 31, 1996
    Released on J-STAGE: March 30, 2018
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  • Yosuke NAITO
    Article type: Article
    1996 Volume 11 Pages 319-340
    Published: March 31, 1996
    Released on J-STAGE: March 30, 2018
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    Mohammed Arkoun (1928〜), one of the most important Muslim neomodernists, criticizing the "fundamentalist" views of Islam, strives for the integration of Islam with modernity. He distinguishes fait coranique (Quranic fact) from fait islamique (Islamic fact). The former is an ideal expressed in the words of God, and the latter is the result of the human interpretative activities in the context of specific historical situations. He tries to show that contemporary Islam is the fusion of both. Accordingly he proposes the critique de la raison islamique (criticism of Islamic reason), and tries to place Islam in the contemporary historical perspective. Arkoun's attitude toward the Quran is a reconstruction of its values not from the objective outside, but from the subjective inside. His approach is arguably a reflection of a sense of being marginal. He was born a "Berber" in Algeria and now lives in France. Perhaps because Arabic and French, the languages he writes in are not his mother toungues, he has a more detached objectivity. Residing on the margins of the Islamic culutural sphere, he can have an outsider's view of Islamic society and its values. Precisely because of this, that society tends to find his thought difficult to accept. Arkoun's methodology is often regarded as "dangerous" in the Islamic world. His thought not only deserves close analysis on its own merit but also because by observing its reception in the Islamic world we may be able to gain insights into future directions of the intellectual debate on Islam.
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  • Makoto MIO
    Article type: Article
    1996 Volume 11 Pages 341-372
    Published: March 31, 1996
    Released on J-STAGE: March 30, 2018
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    Based on the questionnaires and participant observations conducted in March and July 1995, this paper tries to portray the consciouness and feelings of young Muslims in Lebanon which, one hopes, may in turn shed some light on Lebanese Muslim society. The contents of the questionnaires are as follows: 1) family composition 2) religious consciousness as a Muslim 3) dating between the opposite sexes 4) sexual consciouness 5) equality of the sexes in relation to the Qur'an The findings indicate that in Lebanon where Christian influence is stronger than in other neighbouring Arab countries for various reasons, there exists a conflict between Muslim identity and the Islamic social norm on one hand and prevailing society on the other. The paper proposes the hypothesis that in order to ameliorate this conflict, Muslims in Lebanon have developed an attitude of relative tolerance towards others. Needless to say, Lebanon is a multifaceted society with many religions, denominations and ethnicities in a complex topography, spiced with Phonecian merchant tradition which is conciliatory in nature. This tradition survived the rubble of the 1975-90 civil war. For all to coexist peacefully with each other, tolerance for different religious and ethnic backgrounds is particularly important. Today Muslims constitute a majority in Lebanon and thus have an important part to play.
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  • Kazuko SHIOJIRI
    Article type: Book Review
    1996 Volume 11 Pages 373-374
    Published: March 31, 1996
    Released on J-STAGE: March 30, 2018
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  • Misako IKEDA
    Article type: Article
    1996 Volume 11 Pages 375-386
    Published: March 31, 1996
    Released on J-STAGE: March 30, 2018
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