Dr. Eylaf Bader Eddin
Associated Scholar
Contact information
eylaf.badereddin@staff 1 Deutschhausstraße 1235032 Marburg
F|14 Institutsgebäude
Organizational unit
Philipps-Universität Marburg Centrum für Nah- und Mittelost-Studien (CNMS) Arabic StudiesDr. Eylaf Bader Eddin
Main research areas
Arab Revolutions and Protests
Translation and Digital Archives
Discursive Domination and the Language of the Syrian Revolution
Cultural Practices and Music for reifying Power(s) and Ideology
Vita
Eylaf Bader Eddin was a post-doctoral researcher in the DFG-funded research group “Figures of Thought/Turning Points at Philipps-Universität Marburg. He has studied English, Arabic and Comparative Literature in Damascus, Paris, Aix-en-Provence, and Marburg. From 2004 to 2009, he studied English language and literature at the University of Damascus. He received his MA in 2014 from the University of Vincennes in Saint-Denis (Paris 8), and his thesis was entitled “(Un)-Translating Slogans of the Syrian Revolution.” From 2015 to 2020, he studied in the Cotutelle doctoral program of the University of Aix-Marseille and Philipps-Universität Marburg. His doctoral dissertation is entitled “Translating the Language of the Syrian Revolution 2011-2012.”
Current research project
Singing Power(s): Authoritarianism, Nationalism, and Patriotic Music in Syria (1970–2015)
Singing Power(s) is a research project that studies political songs in Syria as a cultural practice, incorporating the political, social, cultural, and economic dimensions of song production. It explicitly addresses how music, as a practice, can be used to reify power and exert control through the use of symbolic domination (see Wedeen 1999, 2019; Cook 2007, 2016; Badir al-Dīn 2018; Ismail 2018). The creation of patriotic songs is one way that Syrians express their love for their homeland; these songs have also been used by the regime to control the population through the “patriotic” label. The use of singing as a weapon in the struggle for power, influence and control did not go unnoticed by pacifist groups and activists, armed Islamist groups, the Free Syrian Army, or DAESH after 2011. At the same time, Singing Power(s) recognizes music as not only a tool of control but also one of resistance that can emancipate the dominated or be used as a metaphorical weapon by the imprisoned. Singing Power(s) studies the song production strategies of various political factions in Syria from 1970 to 2015, focusing on the roles of ideology, politics, and music. This theoretically grounded project (informed by Bourdieu 1984, 1990, 1991; Derrida 1995; Foucault 1972, 1978) aims to develop a comprehensive understanding of modern Syrian history through music by creating an archive of Syrian songs from this timeframe. I argue that, despite the differences between conflicting factions in Syria during this time, each imitated others’ practices in order to seize power, resist domination by another faction, and metaphorically emancipate their members. The various dimensions of singing and song production can be demonstrated by the relationship between the length of time that a given faction controlled a particular geographic location and the number, themes, and genres of songs created as instruments to diffuse their ideology and narrate events, thereby retaining control of the region.
Academic Fellowships and Awards
Ph.D. Fellowship, Friederich-Ebert Stiftung, 2017-2020
Sadiq Jalal al-Azm Memorial Award for Exceptional Culture Research, Etijahat, 2017
Pre-Doctoral Fieldwork Award for “Translating the Language of the Syrian Revolution 2011-2012,” Zeit-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius, 2014Publications
“Surviving and Remembering through Singing in the Female Secret Service Branch 215 (Death Branch) in Syria.” In Women in revolt: Mobilizations, pathways, imaginations – the Arab Mediterranean 1950-2020. (Forthcoming).
“Killing the Immortal Assad through Slogans.” The Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication: Keywords in Contemporary Media, Culture and Politics [Special Series]. Edited by Omar Ghazi. (Forthcoming).
“Assadism and Syria of Assad”, an entry in “lexique vivant de la révolution et de la guerre en Syrie”. (Forthcoming).
“Translating the Mourning Walls: Aleppo’s Last Words.” In Routledge Handbook of Translation and Activism. Edited by Rebecca Gould and Kayvan Tahmesian. Routledge, 2020.
“Al-Tarjama ka-ʿUnf [Translation as Violence ].” Al-Jumhuryya. November 7, 2019.
When They Cried “Forever”: The Language of the Syrian Revolution. Arabic. Damascus: Mamduh Idwan Publishing House, 2018.Academic Conferences
“Syria Speaks: A Translated Archive or an Original New Archive in English.” Images et imaginaires au Moyen-Orient et en Afrique du Nord conference of Cercle des Chercheurs sur le Moyen-Orient (CCMO). Paris, January 2020.
“Translating the Language of the Syrian Revolution.” Europe in the Middle East—the Middle East in Europe (EUME). Berlin, November 2019.
“Translation and Archiving.” Trajectories of Change: Middle East and North Africa workshop. German Institute for International and Security Affairs [Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik]. Berlin, November 2019.
“Translating the Language of the Syrian Revolution.” Europe in the Middle East—the Middle East in Europe (EUME). Berlin, September 2019.
“Translation as an Act of Representation.” Le Groupement d'Intérêt Scientifique (GIS) 3rd International Conference. July 2019.
When They Cried “Forever”: The Language of the Syrian Revolution. Book launch and discussion, Baynatna Library. Berlin, October 2018.
“Because of War.” Workshop. Introduction to the main ideas of When They Cried “Forever.” Marburg University, July 2017.
“Translating Protests (Syria 2011).” Paper presented to the American Comparative Literature Association (ACLA). Utrecht University, July 2017.
“Syrian Revolutionary Language.” Paper presented at Univesity of Aix-Marseille Annual Meeting. Halqa, June 2017.
“Translation. The Cognitive Appropriation of European Key Concepts in Asian and Middle Eastern Societies.” Ph.D. Winter School. University of Bon, December 2015.
“The Translatability of the Language of the Syrian Revolution.” Guest lectures at Marmara University, the Arab Academic League (Istanbul), Baytuna Cultural Center (Gaziantep) and Kemal Nemik University (Tagerta). October 2015.
Participant in “Construire l'autre.” Summer school of Euro-Mediterranean University. Marseille, July 2015.
“The Untranslatability and the Syrian Revolution.” Paper presented at the Territories of Understanding: Conflict and Encounter 2nd International Postgraduate Conference. Queen’s University of Belfast, June 2015.
“Un-Translating Slogans of the Syrian Revolution.” Paper presented at Authenticity and Imitation in Translation and Culture conference. University of Social Sciences of Warsaw, May 2015.Memberships
Associate member, SHAKK (From revolt to war in Syria: Conflict, displacements, uncertainties), École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris. 2019-present.
Associate member, DREAM (DRafting and Enacting the Revolutions in the Arab Mediterranean), Berlin. 2020-present.
Associate member, IREMAM (Institut de Recherches et d'Etudes sur les Mondes Arabes et Musulmans), Aix-en-Provence. 2021-present.
Founding member and co-organizer “Für ein aktives Wissenschaftsarabisch: Halqa arabiyya” initiative, Marburg University. 2017-present.
Member, American Comparative Literature Association (ACLA). 2017-present.
Member, CCMO Cercles des Chercheurs sur le Moyen Orient, Paris. 2016-present.
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