Karthala is a French
publishing house specializing in the
history,
sociology,
religion,
languages
Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...
and
geopolitics
Geopolitics (from Greek γῆ ''gê'' "earth, land" and πολιτική ''politikḗ'' "politics") is the study of the effects of Earth's geography (human and physical) on politics and international relations. While geopolitics usually refers to ...
of
developing countries.
Its headquarters is at 22-24 boulevard Arago in the
13th arrondissement of
Paris,
France.
Karthala was founded in 1980 by Robert Ageneau, who was previously editor of the journal
Spiritus
Spiritus (Latin for "spirit" or "breathing"), may refer to:
*Spiritus lenis, the "soft breathing" in Byzantine Greek orthography
*Spiritus asper, the "hard breathing" in Byzantine Greek orthography
* ''Spiritus'' (journal), an academic journal devo ...
(1969 - 1974), member of the
Congregation of the Holy Spirit and co-director of another publishing house,
Harmattan
The Harmattan is a season in West Africa that occurs between the end of November and the middle of March. It is characterized by the dry and dusty northeasterly trade wind, of the same name, which blows from the Sahara over West Africa into the ...
.
Karthala was founded with the aim of publishing texts on international issues related to developing countries. Twenty years after the independence movements of the 1950s and 1960s, there was felt to be a need for new approaches to what was then known as the "
Third World", and in particular
Africa.
In 2011, the Karthala catalogue contained some 2200 titles.
It is mainly composed of human, political and social sciences. Early publications focused on Africa, the
Maghreb, the
Arab world,
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
,
Latin America, and the countries of the
Indian Ocean and the
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
. The quarterly journal
Politique africaine
''Politique africaine'' is a quarterly francophone
French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow ...
was also launched at this time. Literary studies, travel books, and collections of folktales have also present from the start as well as a series of dictionaries and other linguistic studies.
During the 1990s, Karthala expanded and diversified its catalogue to included
Asia,
Central Europe and
Eastern Europe. Topical series have been created (including series on World Medicine,
Childhood, International Research, and contemporary
Christianity). Karthala currently publishes around 120 new titles a year.
In 2014, Xavier Audrain became director of Karthala.
The publishing house takes its name from
Mount Karthala, an active volcano in the
Comoros
The Comoros,, ' officially the Union of the Comoros,; ar, الاتحاد القمري ' is an independent country made up of three islands in southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. It ...
.
See also
*
L'Harmattan
*
James Currey
References
External links
* http://www.karthala.com
* https://www.facebook.com/KarthalaEdition
* https://twitter.com/KarthalaEdition
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Publishing companies of France
13th arrondissement of Paris