Final Report Summary - ISLHORNAFR (Islam in the Horn of Africa: A Comparative Literary Approach)
The project aimed at being a pioneering and in depth research on the Islamic culture of the peoples of the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, Somaliland) as reflected in and circulated by the written heritage preserved in manuscripts and books. For a long time this has been a field neglected by scholars of both Islamic and African studies. The region seemed to be atypical for either field, as it has been primarily identified with the Christian culture of Ethiopia, the Horn’s largest country. The researchers of project have shown that the Muslims of the Horn of Africa have produced a rich and distinct literary tradition, whose first surely dated testimonies go back to at least to the beginning of the 17th century. Previously unknown collections of manuscripts and books have been discovered, local public, private and semi-private libraries have been located and analyzed. Manuscripts and books have been digitized and made available to study and research. The researchers of the project analyzed the texts collecting data on their genres, contents, titles, authors, places of creation, number of witnesses, distribution of witnesses, and linguistic and graphic peculiarities. Thanks to this painstaking analysis, around 4500 previously unmentioned texts in Arabic and in local languages (written in Arabic script) have been discovered; 50 previously unknown authors have been identified, while on other authors previously only vaguely known fresh details have been brought into light. More than 3500 names of different personages connected to the production and circulation of manuscripts and books in the region (authors, owners, scribes, donors, sellers etc.) have been identified. The knowledge of the manuscript production, the circulation of texts and the geography and prosopography of the Islamic communities of the Horn has been thus enormously enhanced. Moreover, the project has for the first time ever collected information on the ways Islamic texts were perused and circulated among the faithful through the agency of the local Muslim intellectual elite. Also all the marginal glosses, additional texts, and annotations scattered in the manuscripts were considered, described and duly analysed. All data collected during the project have been inserted in a database, which is currently available on line under http://islhornafr.tors.sc.ku.dk/(opens in new window).
The research activities of the project were disseminated in more than 15 different public events organized by the team. Moreover, members of the staff of the project were invited to present their work in more than 25 international conferences in Europe, USA and Africa. More than 40 papers, articles, and other written contributions were produced and circulated by the team throughout the duration of the project. In particular 9 research articles, 5 published conference papers, 21 sections of books and series and 5 edited monographs and university publications have been published and disseminated during the project.
Content wise, texts on mysticism, devotional poetry, Arabic grammar and Islamic law and theology have been discovered. Many manuscripts, particularly those kept in rural areas in poor storage conditions, were badly disrupted and fragmented, and they would have been probably lost, if the researchers had not intervened. Therefore, the project managed also to raise the awareness of the local communities towards the preservation of the written cultural heritage, as a necessary part of a wider process of social and economic empowerment of especially the younger generations.
The research activities of the project were disseminated in more than 15 different public events organized by the team. Moreover, members of the staff of the project were invited to present their work in more than 25 international conferences in Europe, USA and Africa. More than 40 papers, articles, and other written contributions were produced and circulated by the team throughout the duration of the project. In particular 9 research articles, 5 published conference papers, 21 sections of books and series and 5 edited monographs and university publications have been published and disseminated during the project.
Content wise, texts on mysticism, devotional poetry, Arabic grammar and Islamic law and theology have been discovered. Many manuscripts, particularly those kept in rural areas in poor storage conditions, were badly disrupted and fragmented, and they would have been probably lost, if the researchers had not intervened. Therefore, the project managed also to raise the awareness of the local communities towards the preservation of the written cultural heritage, as a necessary part of a wider process of social and economic empowerment of especially the younger generations.