«DAILY ACCIDENTS OF DAMASCUS» BY AHMAD AL-BUDAIRI AND THE SERIES «URBAN STUDIES: PRIMARY SOURCES AND RESEARCH» AT ODESSA NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

Abstract

This publication is a comprehensive review of the book «Daily Incidents of Damascus» by Ahmad al-Budayri, an Arabic author of the XVIII century.Text refers to the widespread genre of Arab-Muslim literature «hawadis» - daily incidents. A translation of this work with extensive commentaries and a analytic preface made by a scholar F.O. Nofal opens the book series “Urban Studies: Primary Sources and Studies” at the Odessa I. I. Mechnikov National University. In this regard, it is made an attempt to connect the urban issues of the unassuming story of a simple barber of the XVIII century with contemporary problems of urban studies as an interdisciplinary field of scientific research and practice.Background. The Faculty of Philosophy has a long tradition of investigation of the city phenomenon as part of various scientific projects, for example “Academic Jewish Studies” with Hebrew University in Jerusalem(the first issue of series “Jewish Studies in Odessa”is published under the title “Mom of the Cities of Israel ...”, international scientific seminar “Strategies for working with otherness. Regional Judaica in Odessa”). All these projects are somehow related to the theoretical and practical problems of urban studies. In addition, the “Philosophical Oriental Studies” series has recently been established in Odessa National University. And the first book in this series became a monograph of Faris Nofal “The category of “faith” in classical Islamic theology. Historical and philosophical essays” (2016). Thus, the necessary background was created for a synthetic contemplation of the problems of urban and oriental studies.Objectives. The purpose of this publication is to show the heuristic possibilities of the synthesis of modern urban and oriental studies using an example of the book «Daily Incidents of Damascus» by Ahmad al-Budayri, that was first translated from Arabic and has became available to Ukrainian and Russian philosophy and Humanities.Methods. We consider that the most fruitful areas of modern re-reading of «Daily Incidentsof Damascus» in the light of urbanism are the theoretical and methodological trends studies of everyday life in cities, “biography of the city”, “own logic of cities”,urban discourse, urban anthropology.Research. Based on the published text, it is difficult to get an idea of an integral and coherent picture of the life of the Middle Eastern city. Al-Budairi writes his story without looking back at the canon and the metropolitan example. This is his own biography, derived from the background of urban routine. A small ordinary man who does not identify himself with either the Caliphate or the Ottoman Empire dissolves in everyday life and puts forward his view of the events in which his city participates. He constantly criticizes power and appeals to the will of Allah. In this case, according to the translator and the author of the preface, we are dealing with the product of a “new Arab consciousness” and an example of a new urban “philosophy”.Conclusion. The published text of the chronicler al-Budairi allows us to look at the city with different eyes. The Havadis genre, updated by the author of “Everyday Incidents…”, is the result of a turn to habits and everyday life, to natural world-experience, and pre-reflexive knowledge. No less valuable is the fact that it allows you to plunge into the atmosphere of a traditional Muslim city, while usually urbanism takes as a model a modern western city. Thus, there is every reason to consider such a synthesis of traditional oriental studies and the modern t urbanism of the XXI century relevant and promising for the development of the philosophical and interdisciplinary urban studies.