Stefan Weidner (born 1967 in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

) is a German scholar of Islamic cultures, writer, and translator. Due to his contributions to the reception of

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and other Middle Eastern literatures, the German scholar of Modern Oriental Studies

Stefan Wild Stefan Wild (born 1937) is a German scholar of Quranic studies. Biography Born in Leipzig in 1937, Stefan Wild pursued studies in Semitic languages, Islamic Studies, Egyptology, and philosophy at institutions in Munich, Yale, Erlangen, and Tübing ...

described him as a "leading mediator of Middle Eastern poetry and prose into German".

Life

Already as a schoolboy, Weidner travelled to North Africa and made his first experiences with Muslim society. He later studied Modern Oriental studies, German studies and philosophy at Georg-August-Universität Göttingen,

University of Damascus A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, and

Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

. Weidner is mainly known as author, translator, editor and literary critic of Arabic literature in Germany. From 2001 until the last issue in 2016, he was editor-in-chief of the magazine '' Fikrun wa Fann,'' published by the

Goethe-Institut The Goethe-Institut (; GI, ''Goethe Institute'') is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit German culture, cultural organization operational worldwide with more than 150 cultural centres, promoting the study of the German language abroad and en ...

and aimed to contribute to the dialogue between Western and Islamic-influenced cultures. He has translated numerous Arab poets, including

Adonis In Greek mythology, Adonis (; ) was the mortal lover of the goddesses Aphrodite and Persephone. He was considered to be the ideal of male beauty in classical antiquity. The myth goes that Adonis was gored by a wild boar during a hunting trip ...

and Mahmud Darwish. Since October 2012, Weidner has been a founding member of the in Cologne. Weidner is a member of the

Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung The Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung (in English German Academy for Language and Literature) was founded on 28 August 1949, on the 200th birthday of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, in the Paulskirche, Frankfurt, Paulskirche in Frankfurt. I ...

and the writers' association

PEN Centre Germany PEN Centre Germany is part of the worldwide association of writers founded in London in 1921, now known as PEN International. One of over 140 autonomous PEN centres around the world, PEN Centre Germany is based in Darmstadt, Hesse. Work PEN Ce ...

. Among others, he has written for the ''

Süddeutsche Zeitung The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest and most influential daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of ''SZ'' is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and ...

'' the ''

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The (; ''FAZ''; "Frankfurt General Newspaper") is a German newspaper founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt and is considered a newspaper of record for Germany. Its Sunday edition is the ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung'' ( ...

'' ''

Die Zeit (, ) is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The first edition of was ...

'' and

Qantara.de Qantara.de (Classical Arabic: , meaning 'bridge') is an Internet portal in German, English, and Arabic, produced by the German Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations in order to promote intercultural dialogue between the Western and Islam ...

. His 400-page non-fiction book ''1001 Buch: Die Literaturen des Orients'' has been described as an expert "walk through the centuries of the literatures of the Orient". Modern Oriental Studies scholar Stefan Wild commented on the book as follows: "Now, with ''1001 Buch'', he eidnerhas succeeded in his greatest coup yet: an overall view of Arabic, Persian and Ottoman/Turkish literature from the seventh century to the present day."

Publications

; As author * ''Erlesener Orient. Ein Führer durch die Literaturen der islamischen Welt.'' Edition Elene, Vienna 2004, (Literary criticism). * ''Mohammedanische Versuchungen. Ein erzählter Essay.'' Ammann Verlag, Zürich 2004, , 237 pages * ''„…und sehnen uns nach einem neuen Gott…“ Poesie und Religion im Werk von Adonis.'' Verlag Schiler, Berlin 2005, . * ''Allah heißt Gott. Eine Reise durch den Islam.'' Fischer Taschenbuch, Frankfurt 2006 (Non-fiction book for the youth) * ''Fes. Sieben Umkreisungen''. Amann Verlag, Zürich 2006 . * ''Manual für den Kampf der Kulturen. Warum der Islam eine Herausforderung ist. Ein Versuch''. Verlag der Weltreligionen, Frankfurt 2008 * ''Mohammedanische Versuchungen. Ein erzählter Essay''. Neuausg. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 2008, * ''Aufbruch in die Vernunft. Islamdebatten und islamische Welt zwischen 9/11 und den arabischen Revolutionen''. Verlag J.H.W. Dietz Nachf., Bonn 2011 * ''Das Morgenland des Gefühls braucht eine Neue Sachlichkeit''. Essay, FAZ, 14 January 2013, * ''Anti-Pegida: Eine Streitschrift''. Create Space Independent Publishing, 2015 * ''Fluchthelferin Poesie. Friedrich Rückert und der Orient''. Wallstein, Göttingen 2017, * ''Jenseits des Westens: Für ein neues kosmopolitisches Denken.'' Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich 2018, . * ''1001 Buch: Die Literaturen des Orients'', Verlag Edition Converso, Bad Herrenalb 2019, . *''Ground Zero: 9/11 und die Geburt der Gegenwart'', Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich 2021, . ; As publisher * ''Die Farbe der Ferne. Moderne arabische Lyrik.'' C.H. Beck Verlag, Munich 2000, , 296 pages * ''Kaffeeduft und Brandgeruch. Beirut erzählt. Ein Lesebuch.'' Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt, 2002, , 314 pages *

: ''Wortgesang. Von der Dichtung zur Revolution.'' S. Fischer, Frankfurt, 2012 ; As translator *

Ibn Arabi Ibn Arabi (July 1165–November 1240) was an Andalusian Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest com ...

: ''Der Übersetzer der Sehnsüchte. Liebesgedichte aus dem arabischen Mittelalter.'' Jung und Jung, Salzburg 2016

Awards

* 2006:

Clemens-Brentano-Preis Clemens-Brentano-Preis of the city of Heidelberg is a literary prize of Germany. It was established in 1993, and named after the German poet Clemens Brentano (1778–1842). The prize money is €10,000. Recipients Source: * 1993 Günter Coufal ...

der Stadt Heidelberg * 2007:

Johann-Heinrich-Voß-Preis für Übersetzung The Johann Heinrich Voß Prize in Translation () is awarded yearly by the Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung in Darmstadt. Established 1958, it was named after the German poet and philologist Johann Heinrich Voß. Not to be confused wit ...

* 2008: * 2011: Thomas-Kling-Poetikdozentur der Universität Bonn * 2014: Paul Scheerbart-Preis für die Adonis-Übersetzung * 2017: Member of the

* 2018: First prize of the Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding for his translation of Ibn Arabi's "Übersetzer der Sehnsüchte"

References

External links

*
Stefan Weidner
on Literaturport *
Zur Verleihung des Scheerbart-Preises, Laudatio
von Hans-Jürgen Balmes, im Bericht von ''Verleihung der at St. W., and Bettina Abarbanell,'' Frankfurt, 10 October 2014; zu Weidner die Kapitel: ''Wie von einem Kristall umschlossen'' und ''E-Book als Architektur aus Glas.'' In ', 1, 2015, S. 5f.
Deutschlandfunk ''Essay und Diskurs'' vom 20. Januar 2019: ''Liberalismus. Unsere Freiheit, von außen gesehen''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weidner, Stefan German Islamic studies scholars Translators from Arabic Arabic–German translators German literary critics 20th-century German journalists 1967 births Living people Writers from Cologne

Life

Publications

Awards

See also

References

External links