|
|
Lines of Development
Islamic Studies -- inclusive of such sub-disciplines as Arab, Iranian, or Turkish Studies -- were long viewed as a special case in so-called "Minor Faculties" at German universities. Following a venerable centuries-old tradition of unworldly scholarship, many representatives of this specialization, mainly focusing on historical aspects, were not competent to analyze current political and social developments in the Middle East and South-West Asia. That became apparent at the start of the Seventies when, for instance, Berlin's Free University established a contemporary research orientation with which traditional Islamic Studies at other German universities initially had few points of contact. In the German Democratic Republic there existed Marxist-oriented regional research (Asian and African Studies) which only hesitantly attempted to integrate the factor of 'Islam in the Development Process' into its world-view after the Iranian revolution of 1979.
The end of the classic East-West conflict and the rapid increase in ethnic conflicts in various parts of the world led during the Nineties to a new engagement with the multi-layered role of cultural and religious identity. The dramatic change in relations between the "West" and the Islamic world, the Rushdie affair, the Second Gulf War, and Islamist terrorism left their mark on research and teaching within Islamic Studies.
So today Islamic and Oriental Studies in Germany are confronted - despite all the differences in the faculties involved - by two big and closely-related challenges: firstly, ongoing changes in research approaches and methods, and, secondly, the issue of this scholarship's relevance and value within public discourse.
Even though historical and philological research still accounts for the major part of scholarly "production" relating to the Islamic cultural area, it has become clear in recent years that the real research emphases increasingly go beyond faculty delimitations.
Current analyses show that traditional forms of research into historical sources are now an exception rather than the rule at institutes, seminars, and professorships in Islamic and Oriental Studies in Germany. Instead many faculty members are increasingly devoting attention to themes which bring together religious, cultural, and social history. 24 universities in the Federal Republic offer courses in Islamic Studies and Oriental Languages, for the most part in combination with other cultural emphases or social studies. At present around 3,000 students are enrolled in such courses, either as a main specialization or a secondary subject. A total of 34 professorships, institutes, or seminars focus on the language, history, and culture of the Islamic world. The education offered at these faculties in most German universities is largely interdisciplinary and practice-oriented. Some professorships involve such regional emphases as the history and current state of Islam in Iran, Central Asia, Turkey, or Africa. The times when Islamic Studies were something "exotic" are over. In demand now are close links with both international developments in this subject and the requirements of the employment market.
The situation is not comparable in the social sciences because of structural differences between this specialization and linguistic and cultural studies. After the boom in research of contemporary relevance in the Seventies and Eighties, the existence of professorships in Middle Eastern politics and economics (for instance at Berlin's Free University and Erlangen University) and such research centres as Bochum's Institute of Development Research and Politics, Bielefeld (with an emphasis on the sociology of development), and Tübingen (Institute of Political Science) are not assured because of being linked with research interests rather than the university itself. The government-backed 1997 Study on the Situation of Islamic and Oriental Research in Germany, implemented on behalf of the Modernity and Islam Study Group at Berlin's Wissenschaftskolleg (College of Advanced Studies), indicated that considerable research potential exists at centres with regional specializations. This is not in competition with Islamic Studies and has to build on scholarly synergies, as the theme of 'Islamic Commerce' illustrates.
That recognition also applies to non-university research set-ups in the Federal Republic concerned with scholarly analysis, public relations, documentation, and political consultancies. Mention can be made here of the German Orient Institute in Hamburg, the Berlin-based Centre for the Modern Orient, and the German Oriental Society's Orient Institute in Beirut with a branch at Istanbul where research into source material for Islamic Studies and research into current developments in individual countries come together.
Up to now platforms for interdisciplinary co-operation and the furtherance of younger scholars have mainly been provided by such group-projects as the German Research Association's college for graduate research into the contemporary Orient (at the universities of Erlangen and Bamberg 1990-2000) and other multilateral ventures implemented with support from the Volkswagen Foundation and similar organizations. However such fixed-term projects cannot do justice to the research potential that exists both inside and outside universities. What is needed here is far-sighted institutional and co-operative assistance which also takes into account experience in other countries - such as the Netherlands which in 1996 established a successful inter-university research institute (Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World, Leiden).
The oldest specialist association for research into Islam is the Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft (DMG - German Oriental Society), founded in 1845. This upholds the German tradition of Oriental Studies, but is linked with a great range of research ventures by way of today's members.
The Deutsche Arbeitsgemeinschaft Vorderer Orient für gegenwartsbezogene Forschung und Dokumentation (DAVO - German Study Group for Research into and Documentation of the Contemporary Middle East) has made a name for itself since 1993 as a platform for co-operation between social scientists and cultural specialists, especially among the younger generation. The association's Newsletter (published twice a year) reflects increasing German involvement in international activities.
 Lines of Development
Content
Accompanying Conditions
Further Reading
|
 |
|
