Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, 2000. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 535-591).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, 2000. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 535-591).

Thesis--Université de Paris. / "Sources et bibliographie": p. [379]-390.

Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio State University, 1965. / Includes bibliographical references. Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

Originally presented as the author's thesis (master's)--al-Jāmiʻah al-Urdunīyah, 1985. / At head of cover title: al-Jāmiʻah al-Urdunīyah, Jāmiʻat al-Yarmūk. Includes bibliographical references (p. 231-250).

Thesis--Université de Paris. / "Sources et bibliographie": p. [379]-390.

Born in Damascus in 1931 Zakariyyā Tāmir is widely considered one of the most significant figures in the contemporary literary scene of Syria and the wider Middle East. This thesis addresses his literary trajectory and the ways in which representations of masculinity and femininity have changed throughout his career by situating the stylistic and thematic transformations in the context of major historical and political events in Syria and the region. Applying an approach that relates literary transformations to a rapidly changing political context, the research elucidates how the changing configurations of gender roles in Tāmir’s works can be understood in the context of what Kamal Abu- Deeb has described as a process of political and ideological fragmentation affecting the Arab East since the mid-1970s. Dividing Tāmir’s works into two periods (1958-1978 and 1994-2014) to connect them to the different historical conditions in which they appeared, this study examines the significance of masculinity, patriarchy, sexuality and female identity in relation to the collapse of the totalising discourse of modernity. The research scrutinises the ways in which this process has engendered a multiplication of voices and roles in his short stories. Employing Connel’s theory of hegemonic masculinity the study addresses the ways in which the mutually informing nature of masculinities and femininities in Tāmir’s stories channels compliance and/or subversion to patriarchy and patriarchal authoritarianism. In the first part, this dissertation puts into conversation Tāmir’s early works written in the late 1950s and early 1960s and the modernist trend. The organic relationship Arabic literature enjoyed with the project of national liberation is reflected in the fundamentally male-centred nature of the stories, leaving female characters at the margins of a progressive and existentialist struggle for emancipation from authoritarianism, patriarchy, religious tradition and exploitation. While examples from the very early stories show the significant presence of a genuine concern with the sexual dimension of female characters, episodes expressing a more openly political stance also exhibit a tendency to instrumentalise the female body in order to denounce the pervasiveness of the authoritarian state. The second part, devoted to the analysis of Tāmir’s latest works published since his self-imposed exile to the UK, looks at the emergence of prominent female characters openly expressing their sexual desire, simultaneously assessing their subjectivity and acting as decisive actors that shape the male protagonists’ masculinity. The analysis reveals how the works of this period retain a significant political charge, and brings together the appearance of original female characters and the correlated emergence of weak model of masculinity. In addition, stories typified by pessimism, as well as by extensive resorting to elements of Arab popular tradition, serve as illustrations of a peculiar form of Arab postmodernism which has appeared in Tāmir’s stories lately.

This thesis is an ethnographic study of ethical concepts and practices among contemporary Muslim textile traders and entrepreneurs in Aleppo, Syria. It draws on Lambek's perspective that ethics is 'ordinary': an inherent and pervasive aspect of exchange transactions, such as visits, hospitality, retail transactions and the negotiations leading up to them. Three ethnographic settings are explored - a textile factory in the north of Aleppo; a wholesale yarn market in the centre of Aleppo's old city markets that is also the site for speculative futures-trading; and a retail fabric shop where young salesmen are employed to get the best price they can from their mainly female customers. The moral processes, concepts and accomplishments that emerge in these different settings include affection and generosity; intention and pure-heartedness; substance and trustworthiness; autonomy, dignity and worth; and obligation and moral reasoning. The thesis describes the different ways that exchanges mediate these processes. This thesis approaches ethics as a function of life lived with others: an aspect of how one should be involved with others, and how one should manage, limit, extend and orient oneself in that involvement. One theme that emerges is how the relationship between autonomy and generosity is managed in these settings, by actors with differential access to resources. Another is what 'sincerity' means: is virtue simply a question of mastering the protocols that govern these exchanges, or is it a matter of the heart? How can social actors tell the difference? Why and when does it matter to them to be able to do so? This thesis also explores the connections between power relationships and ethical practice, arguing that ethics can never be isolated from power, but nor can it be collapsed into it. Moral accomplishments such as generosity, sincerity or affection can be ways of making and organising claims to social status and capital, and of course depend on these things too. However, they also define types of sociality – such as 'intimacy' and 'continuity' - that are seen as having intrinsic worth.

Since the rise of the first urban centers, the Middle Euphrates has functioned as a routeway between Mesopotamia and Syria. The towns and caravanseri located along the river served as important conduits of international exchange and as frontier towns buffering larger empires to the east and west. My research has investigated one small district along the Middle Euphrates. I have tried to document not only site distribution but also levels of communication between the middle valley of Euphrates and the southern Mesopotamian and western Syria core areas. Site distribution patterns show over and over again the location of entrepots, staging posts, and forts in this district. The chronological span of this study extends from ca 10,000 B.C. to A.D. 1980, an identifiable longue duree in which recurring cycles of conquest, depopulation, and revivification can be discerned. The area appears to have fared best during periods of intense competition among rival states for access to long-distance trade routes. However, when interactions between rival states in the stronger core areas of Syria and Mesopotamia resulted in the formation of empires whose capitals and interests lay far from the Middle Euphrates, the towns of this region perished. Nevertheless, the capture of the Middle Euphrates appears to have always been an important strategic battle in expansionistic efforts of such empires. I have analyzed the spatial distribution of sites in this region using data from a multi-stage field program. This program combined data from reconnaissance survey, intensive surface survey, intensive jeep survey, and test excavations at the Uruk period site of Tall Qraya with information from the broad-scale excavations at the regional center at Tall Harīrī and the provincial center at Tall al 'Ashārah. It is only with such archaeological data of long time depth gathered from many sources, in combination with information from textual sources, that one can attempt a "total history" of this area.

The growing realisation of national identity in the face of the threatening envelopment of globalisation has been one major inducement for the increasing practice of conservation of the world's built heritage. This study examines contemporary practices of heritage conservation, analyses their assumptions and theories, and critiques their guiding instruments, the Charters. It adopts a cross-cultural perspective to assess the merits, validity and agency of the most recognised Charters, to discuss their various adaptations, particularly in the Syrian context, and to reveal their Eurocentric focus and indifference to cultural concerns. The study also identifies the inadequacies of the Charters with regard to ethics and morality and proposes a code of ethics for urban conservation. The study focuses on the notion of authenticity that has been an issue of debate since the Nara Conference on Authenticity in 1994. Although arising from, and specifically aimed at, World Heritage Listing, authenticity is recognised as a complex issue dependent on cultural understandings. The study adopts the view that authenticity judgements are linked to a great variety of sources of information, such as form, design, materials, function, traditions, techniques, use, location and spirit that are context-related. It articulates a wide scope for conservation practices at the architectural, urban and archaeological levels, negotiating the breadth and depth of authenticity issues beyond mere fabric and function. The study promotes a dynamic view of authenticity, one that acknowledges socio-cultural change with its inevitable impact on the conditions and conservation of historic environment. The ethical code this study presents places the responsibility on the conservator to ensure the continued conservation and stewardship by the resident society. The study argues that both the Venice and Burra Charters, being the most recognised conservation instruments, are pitched at individual monuments. It critiques the widely held assumption that maintains applicability of these Charters to area and urban conservation. It draws attention to the paradox that while these Charters address the ethics of conservation their scope are limited to individual buildings, whereas the Charters concerned with urban and area conservation, like the Washington Charter, are inadequate with regards to ethical and cultural issues. By articulating a code of ethics for urban conservation, the study attempts to bridge a significant gap. The study draws on, and contextualises its arguments in, the rich and varied archaeological and urban heritage of Syria, a country that is still coming to terms with the practices, implications and problems of heritage conservation. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--School of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Design, 2004.