Arabic Dialogues: Lives of 19th-Century Arabic Teachers and Interpreters
Date and time: Wednesday, October 14, 2020, 5 to 6:30 pm British Summer Time (UTC+1)
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Rachel Mairs explores phrasebooks as a source for life-writing, taking as case studies several native Arabic speakers.
Rachel Mairs is a professor in the Department of Classics at the University of Reading. She is interested in the interaction between Greeks and “non-Greeks” in the Hellenistic world, with a particular emphasis on Egypt and on Central Asia. She also works on ancient multilingualism, especially Greek-Egyptian. The modern Middle East interests her as much as the ancient Middle East. A chance find on eBay led her to publish the private papers of a nineteenth-century Palestinian tourist guide (The Dragoman Solomon Negima and his Clients, 2016). With a colleague, Maya Muratov at Adelphi University in the United States, she published a book on the interpreters and guides used by early British and American travelers in the Middle East (Archaeologists, Tourists, Interpreters, 2015). She has a new project on Europeans studying Arabic in the 19th century.
The video talk will be available to watch on the OCLW Podcast Channel from 5 pm on the advertised date. There is no need to register if you would simply like to watch the talk, however
**It will only be available online for 24 hours**
If you would like to take part in the Zoom Q&A with the speaker you need to register in advance and we will send you an invitation by email.