Synopsis
The memoirs of Wasif Jawhariyyeh are a remarkable treasure trove of writings on the life, culture, music, and history of Jerusalem. Spanning over four decades, from 1904 to 1948, they cover a period of enormous and turbulent change in Jerusalem’s history, but change lived and recalled from the daily vantage point of the street storyteller. Oud player, music lover and ethnographer, poet, collector, partygoer, satirist, civil servant, local historian, devoted son, husband, father, and person of faith, Wasif viewed the life of his city through multiple roles and lenses. The result is a vibrant, unpredictable, sprawling collection of anecdotes, observations, and yearnings as varied as the city itself.
Reflecting the times of Ottoman rule, the British mandate, and the run-up to the founding of the state of Israel, The Storyteller of Jerusalem offers intimate glimpses of people and events, and of forces promoting confined, divisive ethnic and sectarian identities. Yet, through his passionate immersion in the life of the city, Wasif reveals the communitarian ethos that runs so powerfully through Jerusalem’s past. And that offers perhaps the best hope for its future.
About the Author
Salim Tamari is a professor of sociology at Birzeit University and co-editor of Jerusalem Quarterly. He is the author of several books, including, most recently, Year of the Locust: The Erasure of Palestine's Ottoman Past. Issam Nassar is a professor of history at Illinois State University and co-editor of Jerusalem Quarterly. He is the author of several books, including Laqatat Mughayira: al-Tasweer al-fotografi al-mubakir fi falastin (Different Snapshots: Early photography of Palestine). Nada Elzeer received her doctorate from Durham University and is now senior lector of Arabic at SOAS, University of London. Rachel Beckles Willson is professor of music at Royal Holloway, University of London. She is the author of numerous articles and three books, including, most recently, Orientalism and Musical Mission: Palestine and the West.
Issam Nassar is a professor of history at Illinois State University and co-editor of Jerusalem Quarterly. He is the author of several books, including Laqatat Mughayira: al-Tasweer al-fotografi al-mubakir fi falastin (Different Snapshots: Early photography of Palestine).
Nada Elzeer received her doctorate from Durham University and is now senior lector of Arabic at SOAS, University of London.
Rachel Beckles Willson is an award-winning writer and Professor of Intercultural Performing Arts at Codarts University of the Arts in Rotterdam, and the Academy of Creative and Performing Arts at Leiden University, Netherlands. She is an internationally sought-after scholar, multi-instrumentalist, and composer. Her articles on the oud led her to win the Frances Densmore Prize of the American Musical Instrument Society in 2021.
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