Approaches to Kurban Said's Ali and Nino


Book Description

Essays showcasing the novel Ali and Nino as particularly topical for today's readers both in and out of the classroom, and providing a number of diverse approaches to it.




Ali and Nino


Book Description

"Ali 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.




The Orientalist


Book Description

A thrilling page-turner of epic proportions, Tom Reiss’s panoramic bestseller tells the true story of a Jew who transformed himself into a Muslim prince in Nazi Germany. Lev Nussimbaum escaped the Russian Revolution in a camel caravan and, as “Essad Bey,” became a celebrated author with the enduring novel Ali and Nino as well as an adventurer, a real-life Indiana Jones with a fatal secret. Reiss pursued Lev’s story across ten countries and found himself caught up in encounters as dramatic and surreal–and sometimes as heartbreaking–as his subject’s life.




The Orientalist


Book Description

The Orientalist unravels the mysterious life of a man born on the border between West and East, a Jewish man with a passion for the Arab world. Tom Reiss first came across the man who called himself 'Kurban Said' when he went to the ex-USSR to research the oil business on the Caspian Sea, and discovered a novel instead. Written on the eve of the Second World War, Ali and Nino is a captivating love story set in the glamorous city of Baku, Azerbaijan's capital. The novel's depiction of a lost cosmopolitan society is enthralling, but equally intriguing is the identity of the man who wrote it. Who was its supposed author? And why was he so forgotten that no one could agree on the simplest facts about him? For five years, Reiss tracked Lev Nussimbaum, alias Kurban Said, from a wealthy Jewish childhood in Baku, to a romantic adolescence in Persia on the run from the Bolsheviks, and an exile in Berlin as bestselling author and self-proclaimed Muslim prince. The result is a thoroughly unexpected picture of the twentieth-century - of the origins of our ideas about race and religious self-definition, and of the roots of modern fanaticism.




A Cosmopolitan Approach to Literature


Book Description

This cross-disciplinary approach to literary reading of any provenance based on an “experimental cosmopolitan” epistemology de- and recontextualizes the texts from the points of view of multiple cultures and historical moments, enriching interpretation and aesthetic experience beyond the backgrounds of the present reader and the origin of a particular literary discourse. Trusting the authority of an author or an “original” text and ignoring the fundamental plurilingualism of the literary experience obstructs the wealth of cosmopolitan reading in a globalized and fragmented world. A thorough critique of both local and overarching theories in clear dissent from the binaries of “decolonial theory” and the overextension of “nomadic theory” supports a precise research and teaching methodology at variance with past trends of Comparative and World Literature. Considering literature as the aestheticized use of language, which is universal, the many analyses provided can be extrapolated to other genres, eras, and cultural areas.




My Animal, My Self


Book Description

In this groundbreaking book, animal communicator Marta Williams brings into focus an unexamined dynamic in our relationships with our animals: the idea that our animals are often our mirrors. Deeply and inextricably connected to us on the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual levels, they can pick up and reflect back to us the issues and events of our lives. Through stories, exercises, and an extensive questionnaire, you will gain unique insight into the healing and teaching roles of your companion animals, both past and current, and the profound gifts they offer.




Affective Nationalism


Book Description

This book develops the concept of affective nationalism - the banal affirmation of the national emerging in moments of encounter between different bodies and objects. Based on eight months of ethnographic field work, conducted between 2012 and 2014 in Azerbaijan, the book examines the ways in which moments of bodily encounter perpetuate banal enactments and experiences of national belonging and alienation. The book advances scholarship on nationalism and affect by suggesting to study nationalisms not as given, but as potential and emergent experiences of differently positioned bodies in a world divided into nations.




Memories of Baku


Book Description

Memories of Baku is the visual retelling of the rich history of the capital of Azerbaijan and the country's rise to power as one of the largest oil producing nations in the world. This publication showcases the unique socio-economic cultural and political situation of Baku in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, presented alongside aspects of Baku culture in the forms of architecture, music, theater and the visual arts. Embellished with photographs, advertisements and postcard views of the once-opulent city, Memories of Baku reaches beyond the classical stereotypes of Azerbaijan as the land of fire, focusing instead on what are considered the more formative elements of Baku's community. The postcard illustrations included in this collection are derived from the personal collection of editor Nicolas V. Iljine, who has developed a passion for discovering and sharing these impressions of an antiquated city with the public.




Seven Sixes are Forty Three


Book Description

It s a complex universe that Kiran Nagarkar leads us into. Seven Sixes are Forty Three explores the dimensions of relationships in terms of an empty physicality and loneliness as an inherent element in modern lives. Translated by Subha Slee, the novel s quest for compatibility is inspiring.




Modeling and Simulation of Systems Using MATLAB and Simulink


Book Description

Not only do modeling and simulation help provide a better understanding of how real-world systems function, they also enable us to predict system behavior before a system is actually built and analyze systems accurately under varying operating conditions. Modeling and Simulation of Systems Using MATLAB® and Simulink® provides comprehensive, state-of-the-art coverage of all the important aspects of modeling and simulating both physical and conceptual systems. Various real-life examples show how simulation plays a key role in understanding real-world systems. The author also explains how to effectively use MATLAB and Simulink software to successfully apply the modeling and simulation techniques presented. After introducing the underlying philosophy of systems, the book offers step-by-step procedures for modeling different types of systems using modeling techniques, such as the graph-theoretic approach, interpretive structural modeling, and system dynamics modeling. It then explores how simulation evolved from pre-computer days into the current science of today. The text also presents modern soft computing techniques, including artificial neural networks, fuzzy systems, and genetic algorithms, for modeling and simulating complex and nonlinear systems. The final chapter addresses discrete systems modeling. Preparing both undergraduate and graduate students for advanced modeling and simulation courses, this text helps them carry out effective simulation studies. In addition, graduate students should be able to comprehend and conduct simulation research after completing this book.