A r t i c l e s

PIRICKÝ, Gabriel: Transnationalism, Diaspora and Islam among the Turks, p. 3

BEŠKA, Emanuel: Responses of Prominent Arabs towards Zionist Aspirations and Colonization Prior to 1908, p. 22

HORÁKOVÁ, Hana: Past and Present: Sub-Saharan Africa in European Perception, p. 45

MOUMOUNI, Seyni: Scribes et Manuscrits a Tombouctou: la Chaine du Manuscrit, p. 55

GÁLIK, Marián: The Bible in the Literature of the Chinese Mainland in the Twentieth Century, p. 68

DROZDÍKOVÁ, Jarmila: History of the Future, p. 81

WONG, Yoon Wah (Wang Run-hua): “Fin de Sciècle” in Rural China: a Study of Shen Congwen´s Decadent Story “The Inn”, p. 102

B o o k R e v i e w s

SORBY, Karol R.: Moderná spisovná arabcina. Diel I. (Modern Written Arabic. Part I). By Ladislav Drozdík, p. 114

SORBY, Karol R.: Moderná spisovná arabcina. Diel II.(Modern Written Arabic. Part II). By Ladislav Drozdík, p. 116

SORBY, Karol R.: Moderná spisovná arabcina. Diel I. (Modernes Schriftarabisch. Teil I.). Von Jaroslav Oliverius, p. 118

SORBY, Karol R.: Moderná spisovná arabcina. Diel II. (Modernes Schriftarabisch. Teil II.). Von Jaroslav Oliverius, p. 119

SORBY, Karol R.: Suez 1956. Súmrak tradicného kolonializmu na Blízkom východe. (Suez 1956. The Twilight of Traditional Colonialism in the Middle East). By Eduard Gombár, p. 120

SORBY, Karol R.: Arabský východ (1945 – 1958). By Eduard Gombár, p. 122

ABSTRACTS

TRANSNATIONALISM, DIASPORA AND ISLAM AMONG THE TURKS

Gabriel PIRICKÝ
Institute of Oriental Studies, Slovak Academy of Sciences
Klemensova 19, 813 64 Bratislava, Slovakia
e-mail: kaorpiri@savba.sk

This paper investigates transnationalism among the Turks as a multifaceted phenomenon that has been engendered by the interconectivity in the modern world, mass education and the victorious rise of telecommunication technologies, cyberspace medias as well as global transportation systems. With loosening of boundaries between countries from Germany and the United States as far as Central Asia, the Turks have entered into numerous transnational networks as important actors. My focus here is on the transnational religious identity of Islam among the Turks, mainly in Germany and Central Asia, that manifests itself through both non-governmental movements and networks (apolitical as well as political, both accommodationist and extremist), and state-based organizations. The identity that arises out of such a process can be influenced by ethnolinguistic transnationalism, nationalistic transnationalism or political aspirations, too.

Key words: transnationalism, Islam, Turkey, diaspora, migration, glocalization, Germany

RESPONSES OF PROMINENT ARABS TOWARDS ZIONIST ASPIRATIONS AND COLONIZATION PRIOR TO 1908

Emanuel BEŠKA
Department of Classical and Semitic Studies,
The Faculty of Arts, Comenius University,
Gondova 2, 813 64 Bratislava, Slovakia
e-mail: emanuelbeska@gmail.com

Modern Jewish immigration and colonization of Palestine started in the eighth decade of the 19th century. Though it took some time until the Arabs started to formulate their opposition towards these activities. At the turn of the century, with the formulation of the Zionist political programme, some Arabs started to voice their opposition in various forms. They were increasingly well informed about Zionist goals and aware of the implications of their policies. However several structural barriers prevented anti-Zionism from becoming a broader movement.

Key words: anti-Zionism, colonization, land purchases, Jewish immigration, Arab reactions

PAST AND PRESENT: SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA IN EUROPEAN PERCEPTION

Hana HORÁKOVÁ
Faculty of Informatics and Management, Department of Applied Linguistics, University of Hradec Králové, Námestie Svobody 331, Hradec Králové,
Czech Republic
e-mail: hana.horakova.2@uhk.cz

The aim of this article is to look at the complexity of the condition of past and present sub-Saharan Africa, as it is seen from the perspective of Europeans. By pointing to the contemporary, historical, social, anthropological and political studies on Africa, there is an attempt to overcome two widespread clichés on Africa that are being perpetuated, particularly by the media, opinion makers and to a certain extent through the public education system. The crucial question raised here is whether an ordinary inhabitant of the Western World can understand today´s sub-Saharan Africa that is characterized by ongoing poverty, pandemic diseases, armed conflicts, political mismanagement, but also by Africa´s current endeavour to resolve all these predicaments by adopting a vision of a rebirth of Africa: the African Renaissance.

Key words: sub-Saharan Africa, Western World, ‘traditional’ Africa, African crisis, tribe

SCRIBES ET MANUSCRITS A TOMBOUCTOU: LA CHAINE DU MANUSCRIT

Seyni MOUMOUNI
Université Abdou Moumouni de Niamey, Institut des Recherches en Sciences Humaines, Département des manuscrits arabes et ajamis
Rue de l’Institut BP.318, Niamey, Niger
e-mail: Seynim@aol.com

This article describes Timbuktu manuscript condition. Timbuktu, Mali, is the legendary city founded as a commercial centre in West Africa nine hundred years ago. Dating from the 16th to the 18th centuries, the ancient manuscripts presented in this article cover every aspect of human endeavour and are indicative of the high level of civilization attained by West Africans during the Middle Ages and the precolonial period. The manuscripts are written in various styles of the Arabic script. These styles were developed in Timbuktu and the surrounding regions of Mali and West Africa. The chain of the manuscript redraws the creation process of the manuscripts in the respect of the materials which make it up. The article suggests that the rehabilitation of the workshops of scribes for the conservation and the restoration of the manuscripts.

Key words: Timbuktu manuscripts, workshops of copyists, recipients, conservation, libraries

THE BIBLE IN THE LITERATURE OF THE CHINESE MAINLAND IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

Marián GÁLIK
Institute of Oriental and African Studies, Slovak Academy of Sciences,
Klemensova 19, 813 64 Bratislava, Slovakia
e-mail: galikm@inmail.sk

Verbum autem Domini manet in aeternum (I. Pet.1.25)

The aim of this essay is the attempt to analyse shortly the most important aspects concerning the impact of the Bible on modern Chinese literature in the twentieth century pointing to its creative writers, critics and literary historians from Lu Xun to Haizi.

Key words: Sino-Hebrew interliterary process, Bible, modern and contemporary Chinese literature

HISTORY OF THE FUTURE

Jarmila DROZDÍKOVÁ
Záhrebská 6, 811 05 Bratislava, Slovakia
e-mail: jarka.dr@gmail.com

The intent of this article is to show how the creation of the state of Israel and the defeat of the Arab forces in 1967 have contributed to the promotion of certain eschatological expectations among Christian fundamentalists in America and how these expectations are reflected in their pro-Israeli activities. At the same time we want to point to the way in which the same events have affected the concepts of apocalyptic scenarios in contemporary Islam.

Key words: Israel, Jerusalem, the Temple Mount, scriptures, prophecy, apocalyptic, scenarios, millennialism, the Messiah, dispensationalism, evangelicalism, Christian fundamentalism, Christian Zionism, second coming of Christ, Six-Day War, Armageddon, ICEJ, holocaust, the Last-Day

“FIN DE SIÈCLE” IN RURAL CHINA: A STUDY OF SHEN CONGWEN’S DECADENT STORY “THE INN”

WONG Yoon Wah (WANG Runhua)
Department of Chinese, Yuan Zhe University,
Taipei, Taiwan
e-mail: wyw@saturn.yzu.edu.tw

The aim of this essay is to analyse some most important features in the short story “The Inn” by the well-known modern Chinese writer Shen Congwen and its place in the fin de siècle literary stream after the May Fourth Movement of the 1920s.

Key words: fin de siècle, decadence, Chinese literature (1920s), Shen Congwen