Workshop: Arabic Magical Realisms – Foundations, Concepts and Manifestations
Organised by Beatrice Gründler, Sophie Schmid and Hanan Natour, project Magical Realisms and Speculative Literature, Research Area 3: "Future Perfect"
Programme
Thursday, 22 May 2025
13:45–14:00 | Welcoming Words: Beatrice Gründler (Freie Universität Berlin/EXC 2020)
Keynote Speech
Moderation & Response: Susanne Klengel (Freie Universität Berlin/EXC 2020)
14:00–15:15 | Kenneth Reeds (Salem State University, USA): Interwar, Intermedium, In-Translation, Transatlantic, International, and Postcolonial: How magical realism became, became subversive, popped and fizzled, and then went beyond
15:15–15:30 | Coffee Break
Panel I: Pre-Figurations of Magical Realisms Across the Global South
Moderation: Ruben Schenzle (Freie Universität Berlin)
15:30–16:15 | Hernán D. Caro (freelance author and editor, Berlin): The Reluctant Heirs of Latin American Magical Realism
16:15–17:00 | Asmaa Essakouti (University of Münster, Germany): Food for Thought? Hunger and Fantasy in Arabic Literature
17:00–17:15 | Coffee Break
17:15–18:00 | Enass Khansa (American University of Beirut, Lebanon): Postclassical Literary Experimentations: The Case of Fourteen Anonymous Stories of an Escorial Manuscript
Friday, 23 May 2025
Panel II: Manifestations of Magical Realisms in Arabic Literature in the 20th and 21st Centuries
Moderation: Alexander Hong (Freie Universität Berlin/EXC 2020)
10:00–10:45 | Charis Olszok (University of Cambridge, UK) (online): Haunting Energies and Unseen Ecologies (Sudan, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Syria)
10:45–11:30 | Sophie Schmid (Freie Universität Berlin): Excess, Illusions and The End of Time – Grotesque Magical Realisms in Fadhil Al-Azzawi’s The Last of the Angels (Iraq)
11:30–11:45 | Coffee Break
Moderation: Yvonne Albers (EXC 2020)
11:45–12:30 | Tarek El-Ariss (Dartmouth College, USA) (online): The Fantastic in Arab Diasporic Writing
12:30–13:15 | Xavier Luffin (Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium): Magical Realism and Violence in Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin's Works (Sudan)
13:15–14:30 | Lunch Break
Panel III: Between Foundations and Futures of Magical Realism in Contexts of Destruction, Displacement and Trauma
Moderation: Hanan Natour (EXC 2020)
14:30–15:15 | Eugene Arva (independent scholar, formerly University of Miami, USA): Magical Realism in the 21st Century: From Visual Art to Writing Style, Eckphrastic Medium, and A.I. Art Form
15:15–15:30 | Coffee Break
15:30–16:15 | Sumaya Haj (Birzeit University, Palestine) (online): Magical Realism in Mazen Maarouf's Jokes for the Gunmen: Transcendent Realms Beyond the Map (Palestine)
16:15–17:00 | Alexandra Shraytekh (Tufts University, USA) (online): The Empire Bites Back? Aḥmad Khālid Tawfīq's Clean Horror (Egypt)
17:00 | Closing Remarks: Beatrice Gründler (Freie Universität Berlin/EXC 2020)
Time & Location
May 22, 2025 - May 23, 2025
Freie Universität Berlin
EXC 2020 "Temporal Communities"
Room 00.05 & 00.07
Otto-von-Simson-Straße 15
14195 Berlin
Further Information
To take part in the workshop, please register with Alexander Hong, alexandeh98@zedat.fu-berlin.de. No prior knowledge is required. Online participation via Webex will be possible.