Ali and Nino is a novel published in German in 1937 under the alias 'Kurban Said,' a love story between a Muslim man and a Christian woman set in Baku, Azerbaijan, during World War I and the country's brief independence. It was a major success, translated into several other languages, but was forgotten by the end of World War II. Recent research by the journalist Tom Reiss has revealed the identity of the author as Lev/Leo Nussimbaum (1905-1942), a Jewish man born in Baku who converted to Islam, worked as a journalist in Berlin, and died forgotten in exile. Reiss's discovery has spurred new interest in the novel, as has the fact that the book prefigures today's perceived conflicts between East and West or Islam and Christianity, but also suggests a more peaceful model of intercultural living in multiethnic Baku's melting pot of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. The present volume collects twelve new essays on different aspects of the text by scholars from a variety of disciplines and cultural backgrounds. It is intended to showcase the suitability of Ali and Nino for inclusion in a curriculum focused on German, world literature, or area studies, and to suggest a variety of approaches to the novel while also appealing to its fans. Contributors: Sara Abdoullah-Zadeh, Cori Crane, Chase Dimock, Christine Rapp Dombrowski, Elizabeth Weber Edwards, Anja Haensch, Kamaal Haque, Lisabeth Hock, Ruchama Johnston-Bloom, Carl Niekerk, Elke Pfitzinger, Soraya Saatchi, Daniel Schreiner, Azade Seyhan. Carl Niekerk is Professor of German with affiliate appointments in French, Comparative and World Literature, and Jewish Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Cori Crane is Assistant Professor in the Department of Germanic Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.
For a long time the identity of the author who used the pseudonym 'Kurban Said' to write Ali and Nino, published in Vienna in 1937, has been surrounded by controversy. Was it possible that the Austrian countess who signed the original publishing contract, Baroness Elfriede Ehrenfels, could have written a novel that displays such extraordinary insight into the atmosphere of pre-First World War Baku and intimate knowledge of Muslim culture? Recent research seems to prove, once and for all, that her friend Lev Nussimbaum, a Jew who had escaped Azerbaijan during the Russian Revolution and settled in Berlin, was the real 'Kurban Said'.
Born in Baku in 1905, Nussimbaum had a passion for the Orient, and in his youth, converted to Islam. A flamboyant in the literary world of 1920s Berlin, he fled from Nazi Germany to Austria. Having then gone on to Italy, he ended up under house arrest in Positano, where he died of a rare blood disease in 1942. The outbreak of the Second World War could easily have meant that Ali and Nino was never discovered by an English-speaking audience. In the 1950s, however, Jenia Graman, a German who had settled in England during the war, found a copy on a Berlin bookstall, translated it into English, and had it published for a second time. show more
Cori Crane
Series: Studies in German Literature Linguistics and Culture
Edition: NED - New edition
Published by: Boydell and Brewer, C. Hurst & Company
https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7722/j.ctt1pwt4zs
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Ali und Nino, first edition in the German language, published by E.P. Tal, Vienna, 1937
Kurban Said (Azerbaijani: Qurban Səid, Гурбан Сәид, [ɡurˈbɑn sæˈit]), is the pseudonym of the author of Ali and Nino, a novel originally published in 1937 in the German language by the Austrian publisher E.P. Tal. The novel has since been published in more than 30 languages.[1] The true identity of the author is in dispute.
Meaning of the pseudonym 'Kurban Said'[edit]In Azerbaijan, where the novel 'Ali and Nino' is set, 'Kurban' is pronounced 'Gurban.' The root of the word originates in the Semitic languages, and connotes 'sacrifice', a traditional religious concept common to Middle Eastern cultures. 'Said' means 'joyful' or 'fortunate.' (However, in Turkic languages, such as Azerbaijani, adjectives precede the nouns they modify, so the name would need to be reversed as 'Said Kurban' to accurately convey the meaning 'joyful sacrifice,' or 'fortunate sacrifice.'[2]) This idea is in contrast to the plot of the novel, which is anything but happy. An underlying melancholy pervades the novel from beginning to end.[3] Some people, including Orkhan Vazirov (1928–2010), the son of Yusif Vazir Chamanzaminli (possibly the author of Ali and Nino), are convinced that the original pseudonym is more likely to have been 'Kurban Seyid' or perhaps 'Seyid Kurban.' 'Seyid' refers to someone who is recognized as a descendent from the Prophet Mohammed, that is, a person of sacred lineage. Thus 'Seyid Kurban' would more accurately convey the meaning 'someone of sacred descent who has been sacrificed', which is exactly the theme of the novel Ali and Nino.[4] Ali Khan, the protagonist, sacrifices himself for the dream for himself and his country to be free. He dies while resisting the Bolshevik takeover of his country (1920). Note that in the Azerbaijani language, both 'Gurban' and 'Seyid' can be used as either first or last names. Chamanzaminli's links to the pseudonym 'Kurban Said'[edit]Yusif Vazir Chamanzaminli was a 'seyid' himself, allegedly having been descended from Mohammed on both sides of his family. As for the name 'Gurban,' Chamanzaminli had written a short story titled 'Gurban.'[5] In addition, he had referred to himself as gurban in correspondence with Azerbaijani Soviet authorities in 1925[6] when he was seeking permission to return home from Europe after having been on a diplomatic assignment abroad representing the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) government, which was in opposition to the Bolsheviks. Chamanzaminli realized that historic circumstances made him a likely victim of politics, as most ADR government officials had been killed when the Bolsheviks came to power. Chamanzaminli would have had to have left the manuscript of Ali and Nino in Europe at this time, 1925–1926, as it was critical of the Bolshevik regime. It would have been suicidal to return to Baku with the manuscript in hand, as the Bolsheviks had executed most of the government officials of the former regime and any opposition.[7] As it was, a decade later, the Azerbaijan Writers Union in 1937 were under orders from Stalin to purge anyone from their ranks who did not embrace the Soviet ideology. Yusif Vazir Chamanzaminli was accused of introducing 'counter-revolutionary' ideas through the anti-heroes of his novels, and soon afterwards, he was arrested and sentenced to the GULag, where he died in 1943. Chamanzaminli used the pseudonym 'Ali Khan Chamanzaminli' in some of his earliest works, published in 1911.[8] Ali Khan is also the name of the main character in the novel Ali and Nino. Lev Nussimbaum and the pseudonym 'Kurban Said'[edit]Lev Nussimbaum, who wrote in German under the pen name of Essad Bey,[9] is also linked to the pseudonym 'Kurban Said,' and by some observers to the novel Ali and Nino. When Lev Nussimbaum, still in his early 30s at the time, began confronting the possibility of his own death from Buerger's Disease,[10] he set out to write his own autobiography, titling it The Man who Knew Nothing about Love (Der Mann, der von der Liebe nichts verstand). He signed it 'Kurban Said.'[11] Although never published, Der Mann was advertised in 1937 as if it had been published and was available for purchase.[12] This was the same year in which Ali and Nino appeared.[13] Tom Reiss, author of The Orientalist, concludes that since 'The Man Who Knew Nothing about Love' was the work of Lev Nussimbaum, then he was also the author of Ali and Nino. However, even Reiss warns his readers that Nussimbaum's own statements about his own identity were the least credible. 'Years of collecting every shred of evidence I could of his existence revealed that … Lev's simplest statements about himself—name, race, nationality—are the ones that can least be trusted.'[14] It is possible that Nussimbaum was, in signing 'Der Mann' as Kurban Said, appropriating a nom de plume already in use. Close examination suggests that one should be cautious about equating Lev Nussimbaum with other works published by 'Kurban Said.' Research indicates that Essad Bey did have his fingers in the 'Ali and Nino' narrative, particularly in descriptive folkloric and legendary passages which often contained erroneous material[15] but that the original manuscript of 'Ali and Nino' did not originate with him but with the Azerbaijani writer Yusif Vazir Chamanzaminli (1887–1942).[16] At issue is whether Lev Nussimbaum was within his rights to use the pseudonym, and whether the name actually originated with him. Jan 26, 2018 - 5 leadership - odyssey. 26 September 2013) web cam leadership cod 3810 update and removal operating system. Free downloads perfection. Jan 3, 2018 - Baixar driver cam leadership 3810. Click here to get file. Books intel desktop board d101ggc all drivers free download definitiva. Baixar driver webcam leadership 3810. Baixar driver cam leadership 3810. Descri o do produto mini webcam leadership 3810. Webcam usb 2.0 leadership mini 5 mega preta 3810. Loading zoom. The problem with the 'Der Mann' narrative is that though it started out as a semi-autobiographical account, it quickly lapsed into a tale of vengeance within a fictional framework about a 'Dr. X.' Even Reiss admits that 'Der Mann' is a 'sprawling, improbable tale.'[17] This, in turn, casts doubt on Lev Nussimbaum's claims to the rightful use of the pseudonym 'Kurban Said.' The Next War [Caspar Weinberger, Peter Schweizer, Lady Margaret Thatcher] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. You can read The Next. Nov 11, 2013 - The next war. By Weinberger, Caspar W; Schweizer, Peter, 1964. Publication date 1998. Borrow this book to access EPUB and PDF files. Caspar weinberger investigation. The Next War (American Poets Continuum (Paperback)) [Caspar Weinberger, Peter Schweizer] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Mar 6, 2012 - The next war by Caspar W. Weinberger, 1996, Regnery Pub., Distributed to the trade by National Book Network edition, in English. Dr. Wilfried Fuhrmann in Germany has transcribed and published all six of the hand-written German 'Der Mann' Notebooks. He concludes that Notebooks 3 and 6 are the most damaging to Essad Bey's reputation. 'To varying degrees, they are a mixture of malice and slander, as well as pathological hubris and arrogance.'[18] For example, Essad Bey suggests that any woman who commits adultery should be tied up in a sack with a wild cat and thrown into the Bosphorus, or buried up to her head in the desert sands to be devoured at night by wild dogs. At the time, Nussimbaum was going through a scandalous divorce with his own wife Erika Loewendahl. However, the content and spirit of 'Ali and Nino' which was published at the same time as Der Mann was advertised as being published (1937) is entirely the opposite, and Ali Khan truly was in love with Nino and did everything within his capability to foster her development and well-being. In truth, the two narratives are so unlike each other that it is impossible to imagine them being written by the same person.[19] Essad Bey signed his Final Will as 'Essad Bey also known as Leo Nussimbaum and Lev Nussenbaum.' No mention whatsoever is made of 'Kurban Said.' Essad Bey signed this Will (July 27, 1941) about a year before he died (August 27, 1942) and four years after Ali and Nino (1937) had been published.[20] Vacca's claims to the pseudonym 'Kurban Said'[edit]Bello Vacca, an Italian born in Tripoli, who often went by the alias Ahmed Giamil Vacca-Mazzara also laid claim to the pseudonym Kurban Said. During the early 1970s, he appeared on the doorstep of Baron Omar Rolf Ehrenfels, husband of Elfriede Ehrenfels, who had registered 'Ali and Nino' with German authorities.[21] Vacca introduced himself: 'Kurban Said, C'est moi!' ('Kurban Said, It's me!'). The Ehrenfels were astonished.[22] Vacca also wrote British publisher Hutchinson in 1975 claiming that he, as Kurban Said, had collaborated on several books with Essad Bey and they had had plans to publish them together – 'Kurban Said' and 'Essad Bey'. Vacca named two titles: 'Jihad' (Sacred Way) and 'Kaloglan: From Samarkand to Tangiers.'[23] Vacca was a friend of Essad Bey as well as his drug dealer[24] and he was expelled from Egypt in 1938 on charges of drug dealing and arms smuggling.[25] Vacca also is the person who arranged and financed the Muslim-style gravestone capped with a stone-carved turban for Essad Bey,[26][27] who is buried in the sea coast town of Positano, Italy. In 1944 – two years after Essad Bey's death – it was Vacca who arranged for the translation of 'Ali and Nino' into Italian for the first time. However, although he had already identified the title as 'Ali and Nino' in the obituary tribute that he had written for Essad Bey in 1942;[28] in the 1944 edition of the novel, Vacca changed the title to 'Ali Khan' and identified the author as 'M. Essad Bey,' instead of 'Kurban Said.' After all, he himself claimed to be Kurban Said. Vacca introduced further changes in the Ali Khan novel, most prominently, the name of Ali's true love 'Nino Kipiani' and whose name had been part of the original title of the novel ('Ali and Nino') became 'Erica Kipiani', based upon the name of Lev Nussimbaum's estranged wife, Erika Loewendahl, who had left him in 1937 to marry Rene Fulop-Miller. Vacca tried to make the case that he himself was related to Essad Bey, four generations back – the implication being that Vacca himself was 'sole survivor' and, thus, in line to inherit Essad Bey's wealth. The motivation became evident in correspondence from Vacca to Omar Rolf Ehrenfels asking his advice in regard to approaching Hutchinson Publishers (London) who he said had not paid Essad Bey for the biography of Reza Shah. Vacca sought to claim the money and told Ehrenfels that he had his papers all in order as proof of the kinship relationship. Vacca's explanation of the meaning of name 'Kurban Said'[edit]Vacca claimed that the creation of the name 'Kurban Said' was totally accidental—the result of a misunderstanding—which later became a private joke between him and Essad Bey. According to Vacca, the incident took place in Turkey during the festival of kurban Bayrami, the religious Muslim Festival of Sacrifice (Eid), which is commemorated annually to acknowledge God's mercy in providing Abraham with a ram as a substitute sacrifice for his son Ismayil. Vacca described the scenario as follows: 1936. A lecture hall in the National Library of Istanbul (Old City). He and Essad Bey had set aside four days to work together on 'Ali and Nino.' Essad Bey was conversing with someone when Vacca arrived. Catz 5 toyz downloads. 'I addressed them both with the greeting, 'Kurban Said,' which Vacca explained, means 'Happy Kurban Holiday.' Vacca continued: It turned out that it was a foreigner—a tourist—who had been talking with Essad Bey. He misunderstood the custom and thought I was introducing myself as 'Kurban Said.' And so the foreigner had smiled and replied: 'Nice to meet you, Mr. Kurban Said.' 'Ever since then, Essad Bey jokingly called me 'Kurban Said,' and when he was looking for a pseudonym for the novel, he asked me if he could use it and I agreed.'[29] Objections[edit]Others, however, have objected to Vacca's claims. For example, Azerbaijan International shows that from a cultural point of view, Vacca's claims do not stand up to scrutiny. There is no greeting, 'Kuban Said' or 'Gurban Said,' in any of the countries which celebrate this holiday – not in Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran, or other Turkic-speaking or Islamic countries in Central Asia, or Arabic-speaking countries. And since this holiday Gurban Bayrami was and still is the biggest holiday in Turkey, all libraries would have been closed. Furthermore, other than Vacca's account, there is no proof that Essad Bey had even gone to Istanbul to work on the novel. Nor is there any other witness claiming that Vacca had been involved at all with editing 'Ali and Nino.'[30] References[edit]Notes
External links[edit]Kurban Said
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First published in Vienna in 1937, this classic story of romance and adventure has been compared to Dr. Zhivago and Romeo and Juliet. Its mysterious author was recently the subject of a feature article in the New Yorker, which has inspired a forthcoming biography. Out of print for nearly three decades until the hardcover re-release last year, Ali and Nino is Kurban Said's masterpiece. It is a captivating novel as evocative of the exotic desert landscape as it is of the passion between two people pulled apart by culture, religion, and war.
It is the eve of World War I in Baku, Azerbaijan, a city on the edge of the Caspian Sea, poised precariously between east and west. Ali Khan Shirvanshir, a Muslim schoolboy from a proud, aristocratic family, has fallen in love with the beautiful and enigmatic Nino Kipiani, a Christian girl with distinctly European sensibilities. To be together they must overcome blood feud and scandal, attempt a daring horseback rescue, and travel from the bustling street of oil-boom Baku, through starkly beautiful deserts and remote mountain villages, to the opulent palace of Ali's uncle in neighboring Persia. Ultimately the lovers are drawn back to Baku, but when war threatens their future, Ali is forced to choose between his loyalty to the beliefs of his Asian ancestors and his profound devotion to Nino. Combining the exotic fascination of a tale told by Scheherazade with the range and magnificence of an epic, Ali and Nino is a timeless classic of love in the face of war. SubjectsAli and Nino is the epic novel of enduring romance in a time of war. It has been hailed as one of the most romantic epic novels of all time.Ali and Nino, two lovers from vastly different backgrounds, grow up together in carefree innocence in Baku on the Caspian Sea. Here, where Eastern and Occidental collide, they are inevitably drawn into the events of the First World War and the Russian Revolution. Torn apart by the turmoil, Ali joins the defense of Azerbajan from the onslaught of the Red Army, and Nino flees to the safety of Paris with their child, not knowing whether they will ever see each other again. A sweeping tale, as romantic and gripping as Gone with the Wind or Dr. Zhivago, it portrays, against a gloriously exotic backdrop, the enduring love between childhood friends divided by their separate cultures. Publication DetailsFormat
Kurban Said (Author)Kurban Said is the pseudonym of the writer of Ali and Nino and The Girl From the Golden Horn and subject of the bestselling book The Orientalist by Tom Reiss. Comments are closed.
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