Dr. Stephan Milich
University of Cologne
Lecturer of Arabic Culture and Islamic Studies at the Institute of Oriental Studies
E-Mail: smilich(at)uni-koeln.de
Website: http://orient.phil-fak.uni-koeln.de/18245.html?&L=1
Stephan Milich teaches modern Arabic culture and Islamic Studies at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the University of Cologne. His research interests focus on contemporary Arabic poetry and prose, culture & ideology, representations and concepts of exile and trauma in Arabic culture, and perceptions and self-perceptions of psychology/psychotherapy in the Arab countries. He has published a book on Mahmoud Darwish’s late poetry (Fremd meinem Namen und Fremd meiner Zeit: Identität und Exil in der Dichtung von Mahmud Darwisch, 2005) and on the poetics and politics of Palestinian and Iraqi exile poetry (PhD thesis), and co-edited a volume on Modern Iraqi culture (Conflicting Narratives: War, trauma and memory in Modern Iraqi Culture, Reichert: 2012). A volume on “Representations and Visions of Homeland in Arabic Literature”, co-edited with Sebastian Günther, will be published in 2015.
He has been working as a project manager for the Institute of Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa) as well as for “litprom” (promotion of literature from Asia, Africa and Latin America, affiliated with the Frankfurt Book Fair). Moreover, he has translated a number of literary works by contemporary Arab authors (e.g. Mahmoud Darwish, Mohammed Bennis, Rosa Yassin Hassan) into German. He currently works on representations of ‘trauma’ in contemporary Arabic prose with a special interest in ‘trauma politics’.
Publications related to trauma
"Narrating, Metaphorizing or Performing the Unforgettable? The Politics of Trauma in Contemporary Arabic Literature" in Pannewick, Friederike and Georges Khalil (eds.). Commitment and Beyond. Reflections on/of the Political in Arabic Literature since the 1940s. Wiesbaden: Reichert 2015, 285-302.
“Heimsuchungen: Writing watan in Modern Arabic Poetry” in Sebastian Günther & Stephan Milich (eds.): „Visions and Representations of Homeland in Modern Arabic Poetry and Prose Literature” Hannover: Olms Verlag 2015. (forthcoming)
“From Nostalgia to Nightmares: Enactments of Travel and Trauma in Contemporary Iraqi Poetry” in Frédéric Bauden (ed.): TROPICS OF TRAVEL. 4. HOMES (Proceedings of the International Conference Organized at the University of Liège, January 13-15, 2011), Peters: Louvain/Paris, S. 69.80.
“Das Unvergessene übersetzen: Trauma in der zeitgenössischen arabischen Literatur“ in Stefan Weidner (ed.): Art & Thought (Fikrun wa Fann), Nr. 102, S. 54-58. (Online unter: http://www.goethe.de/ges/phi/prj/ffs/the/102/de13991614.htm)
„Conflicting Narratives: War, Trauma and Memory in Contemporary Iraq“, coedited with Friederike Pannewick und Leslie Tramontini. Wiesbaden: Dr. Reichert Verlag Februar 2012.
„Poetik der Fremdheit: Palästinensische und irakische Lyrik des Exils“. Dissertationsschrift, Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, Dez. 2009.
„Fremd meinem Namen und fremd meiner Zeit: Identität und Exil in der Dichtung von Mahmud Darwisch“. Introduction Angelika Neuwirth. Hans Schiler Verlag, Berlin 2004
„The Other Martyr: The Trauma of War and Exile in the Poetry of Kamal Sabti“ in: Conflicting Narratives, ed. S. Milich/ F. Pannewick/ L. Tramontini. Dr. Reichert Verlag Wiesbaden Februar 2012.
„The Positioning of Iraqi Writers and Intellectuals before and after 2003: The Case of Abd al-Razzaq Abd al-Wahid” in: Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication (MEJCC) 3; Special issue “Iraq”, Brill 2011, S. 298-319.
“Conceptions and Representations of History in Modern Iraqi Fiction.” In From New Values to New Aesthetics: Turning Points in Modern Arabic Literature: Proceedings of the 8th EURAMAL Conference, 11-14 June, 2008, Uppsala/Sweden. Vol. II: Postmodernism and Thereafter, edited by Stephan Guth and Gail Ramsay, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2011, S. 167-185.
„Heimsuchungen: Kleines Portrait der arabischen Exillyrik“ in: Akzente Heft 5/ Oktober 2009.
“Will Iraq Perish?: Concepts of Exile, Hybridity and Intertextuality in Saadi Youssef’s Post-Colonial Poetry”. In: BRIFFS, Vol. 8 Amman 2008.
„Exile and Post-Exile in the Poetry of Sa’di Yusuf“ In: al-Abhath 55-56, Beirut 2007-2008.