Yemeni Society Research Articles

دور المراکز البحثية في جامعة صنعاء في تحقيق التنمية المستدامة

هدف البحث الحالي إلى التعرف على دور المراکز البحثية في جامعة صنعاء في تحقيق التنمية المستدامة، وکذا رصد الواقع الحالي لمنظومة البحث العلمي في جامعة صنعاء، ومعرفة أهم متطلبات تفعيل دور المراکز البحثية في جامعة صنعاء، وتم استخدام المنهج الوصفي التحليلي، وتوصل البحث إلى عدة نتائج أهمها: أن لمؤسسات البحث العلمي دورا کبيرا ومهما في تحقيق التنمية بشتى أشکالها، وأظهرت النتائج أن وظيفة البحث العلمي قد أخذت حيزا هامشيا في مصفوفة أهداف الجامعات اليمنية، وأن واقع المراکز العلمية والبحثية في جامعة صنعاء لم يرق إلى مستوى الأهداف العلمية، وتنمية المجتمع التي أنشئت من أجلها، وأن واقع المراکز العلمية والبحثية في جامعة صنعاء دون المستوى المطلوب نتيجة لقلة الإمکانات المادية والبشرية والمعنوية بهذه المراکز، وأن للبحث العلمي حضورا نسبيا في الجامعات في التشريعات منذ النشأة الأولى للتعليم الجامعي، وأن الممارسات الفعلية للمراکز ليست بذلک التأکيد القانوني، وأکدت مؤشرات واقع البحث العلمي لجامعة صنعاء أنها تحتل ذيول تقارير ومؤشرات إنتاج المعرفة التي تصدرها المنظمات الدولية والإقليمية. کما أظهرت النتائج أن أهم المتطلبات البشرية والمادية والإدارية لتفعيل دور المراکز البحثية بجامعة صنعاء لخدمة قضايا التنمية المستدامة في المجتمع اليمني هي: إيجاد استراتيجية للبحث العلمي، مراجعة التشريعات المنظمة لعمل المراکز، تأمين مصادر التمويل الضرورية، وتزويد المراکز بالإمکانات المادية والتکنولوجية الحديثة اللازمة لتطوير الأداء البحثي وتوفير الکوادر العلمية المدربة والکفؤة والقادرة على إجراء البحوث، تفعيل دور المراکز البحثية في إنتاج وتسويق الأبحاث التطبيقية التي تخدم المجتمع، إيجاد نظم فعالة لتقييم ومتابعة الأداء البحثي لتلک المراکز، الاستفادة من خبرات الدول المتقدمة وتجاربها في مجال البحث العملي. وخلص البحث إلى عدة توصيات أهمها: ضرورة إيجاد خطة استراتيجية واضحة ومرسومة توجه البحث العلمي لخدمة التنمية المستدامة، وضرورة تخصيص ميزانية مالية کافية لمراکز البحث العلمي بجامعة صنعاء لقيامها بمهامها المطلوبة، وضرورة إعداد قواعد بيانات وطنية لإنتاج البحث العلمي المنشور عالميا ووطنيا، وتمکين محرکات البحوث العالمية من البيانات والمعلومات حتى يتم وضع اليمن في موقعه الصحيح في التصنيفات العالمية. Abstract: The current research aimed at identifying the role of research centers at Sana'a University in achieving sustainable development, as well as monitoring the current status of the scientific research system at Sana'a University, and knowing the most important requirements for activating the role of research centers at Sana'a University. The descriptive analytical method was used, and the research reached several results the most important of which are: Scientific research has a large and important role in achieving development in all its forms, and the results showed that the function of scientific research has taken a marginal space in the matrix of Yemeni universities' goals, and that the reality of scientific and research centers at Sana'a University did not rise to the level of the scientific goals and the development of the society for which they were established, and that The status of the scientific and research centers at the University of Sana'a is below the required level as a result of the lack of material, human and moral capabilities in these centers, and that scientific research has a relative presence in universities in legislation since the first establishment of university education, and that the actual practices of the centers are not that legal confirmation, and indicators of the reality of scientific research of Sana'a University confirmed It occupies the tails of reports and indicators of knowledge production issued by international and regional organizations. The results also showed that the most important human, material and administrative requirements to activate the role of research centers at the University of Sana'a to serve sustainable development issues in Yemeni society are: finding a strategy for scientific research, reviewing legislation governing the centers ’work, securing the necessary sources of funding, and providing the centers with the modern material and technological capabilities needed to develop research performance. And the provision of trained and competent scientific cadres capable of conducting research, activating the role of research centers in the production and marketing of applied research that serves the community, creating effective systems for evaluating and following up the research performance of these centers, making use of the experiences of developed countries and their experiences in the field of practical research. The research concluded with several recommendations, the most important of which are: the need to find a clear and drawn-out strategic plan that directs scientific research to serve sustainable development, the need to allocate sufficient financial budget for scientific research centers at Sana'a University to carry out their required tasks, the need to prepare national databases for the production of scientific research published internationally and nationally, and to enable global research engines. From data and information so that Yemen is placed in its rightful position in the international rankings.

Yemeni Narrative and Society: Socio-political Issues in Dammaj's The Hostage

Narrative writing is relatively a new phenomenon in Yemeni literary discourse and a sequel to the maturity of the common folk forms. The present study investigates both the rise of Yemeni novel and the representation of the major social and economic issues in early Yemeni novel between the 1970s-1980s. Since the 1970s, the novel genre has become one of the most relevant phenomena in Yemeni literary canon. Yemeni writers of this era were aware of the importance of introducing contemporary issues to the reader. In addition to this task, the novel has enriched the Yemeni cultural field and remained dynamic in national identity formation. This study has a special reference to Zayd Dammaj's The Hostage (1984) for it is the first Yemeni novel that has unflinching determination and frankness in representing injustices and miseries in the society. Though The Hostage is also a tender critique of influential families that were part of the oppressive regime, it succeeds in helping the nation compromise with the past. The conclusion of the study suggests that while criticizing certain families for the misery of the whole nation may challenge co-existence, this discourse is seen as a subtle manifestation of negotiating differences. Further, the conclusion of this study finds that investigating history and major issues in Yemeni novel will guide readers and critics to a much-needed area of study on the factors which led to the rise of the Yemeni novel.

The Experience of Coexistence and Love: A Critical Study of Al-Muqri’s The Handsome Jew

This study aims at exploring issue of coexistence and love in Yemeni society in the seventeenth century represented in Al- Muqri’s The Handsome Jew by the prominent characters Fatima, a Muslim, and Salem, a Jew. The experience of coexistence is still controversial that has not received enough study in the light of the complexities that are involved in understanding the reasons of violence, social and religious conflicts in order to accept the culture and ideas of the other. The objective of the study is to show how this issue affects Muslim- Jewish women and men in a city that opens its doors for all people. Coexistence theory has often shed light on the language and practice of living together and love stories between Muslim women and Jewish boys and vice versa that stemmed from the social, cultural and religious coexistent in Yemeni society. Al-Muqri’s novel depicts Muslim-Jewish love relation in a way that counters religious and conventional ideas. It is concluded that Ali Al-Muqri addresses the issues of tolerant and peaceful love of human beings that transcends religion, sects and classes. In this sense, he tries hardly to consolidate not only his views, but also all views about the values of cultural, religious and social tolerance and coexistence away from stereotypes, intolerance, racial discrimination and ideological hatred that leave nothing, but destruction to all of humanity.

Discourse of Yemeni TV broadcasters and the dilemma of regime criticism, 2015–19

Abstract The discourse of the Yemeni TV broadcasters has undergone major changes since the Arab Spring in 2011. Moreover, since the outbreak of Civil War in 2015, this discourse has been diverse and has become a clear reflection of the contexts in which it is produced. This article analyses Yemeni media discourse by analysing the titles of news reports published on YouTube by five Yemeni TV channels belonging to five diversified discourses in terms of political, ideological, cultural and social orientation. The article adopts discourse framing as a methodological tool, with which we can address media discourse and thus reveal its social, political and cultural contexts. The article concludes that Yemeni TV broadcasters’ discourse depends on a limited number of keywords that have a cognitive and cultural balance in Yemeni society, words originally taken from cultural, religious and social backgrounds in the collective memory of Yemen. Knowing these keywords can be employed in different dimensions. While it can contribute to developing the recipient awareness, it can also help to raise the degree of professionalism in media performance in Yemen, especially in the stage of peace-building and post-war.

Growth Pattern Among Yemeni Children Suffering from Β Thalassemia Major in Relation to Serum Ferritin the Yemeni Society for Thalassemia and Genetic Blood Disorder - Sana'a Yemen

Growth Pattern Among Yemeni Children Suffering from Β Thalassemia Major in Relation to Serum Ferritin the Yemeni Society for Thalassemia and Genetic Blood Disorder - Sana'a Yemen

Effect of Some Variables on the Level of Health Behavior among Faculty Members at the University of Science and Technology – Yemen

The aim of this study was to identify the level of health behavior of faculty members at the University of Science and Technology- Yemen; and to what extent this level is affected by some variables, such as gender, age, marital status, academic level, college type and years of experience. To achieve the study objectives, the descriptive method was followed; and a test of the level of health behavior, consisting of certain health aspects and five dimensions, was used. Some items of the test were modified by the researcher in order to adapt them to the Yemeni context. The study sample consisted of 125 faculty members, but 94 of them took the test. The study results revealed that the level of health behavior among faculty members was medium. There were no statistically significant differences in the level of health behavior attributed to these variables: gender, age and college type. However, there were statistically significant differences in the level of health behavior attributed to these variables: marital status, academic level and years of experience. It was recommended that the study findings be taken into consideration to develop and plan programs for promoting health behavior and raising the level of health awareness and culture of organizational change in the university in particular and in the Yemeni society in general.
 Keywords: health behavior, faculty members, demographic variables.

Gender, Language and Culture in the Yemeni Society

The issue of language and gender has become one of the most is This issuethe modern cultural studies. important issues among of deep cultural background. This paper multidisciplinary in scope andaims at focusing and analyzing the study from different spectrum. The issue of gender and its relation with culture is a sophisticated matter that needs to be discussed carefully taking into consideration the social as well as the religious norms. Surely, it is an issue that intervenes with called religious legislation of the society. It is due to this -some sooverlap and complexity between culture and religion from one side and side that this paper tries to between sex and gender from the other investigate the issue of gender in Arabic society, especially Yemeni. Almost all Arab countries find it difficult to accept the concept of gender in its broad meaning as the West does. It is due to the social us restrictions that people may interpret the word norms and religiogender differently or wrongly. Based on their social as well as religious , Arabs with their culture look at the issue of gender as the inheritedersonality.

Yemeni EFL Learners’ Identity Conflicts: An Exploratory Case Study

The importance of the concept of “identity” in the context of language learning is unassailable. Stemming from this premise, the current study is intended to explore the identity conflicts of a group of Yemeni learners who were studying English, as well as the techniques and strategies used to mitigate and/or lessen the conflicts between their actual identity and the identity associated with the target language, i.e., English. This research project used a qualitative exploratory case study research design with a sample of 20 students who were requested to write their journal diaries. Following that, semi-structured interviews were conducted using the double-sampling technique to select 10 of the previously sampled students who were proven to have written the most stimulating and intriguing journal entries. From the results of the study, tangible identity conflicts between the Yemeni culture and society at large and the implied behaviors and conventions accompanying the intensive study of the English language became apparent. The students exhibit a high level of motivation and they also exert their efforts using different techniques and strategies to excel at the learning and/or acquisition of the speaking skill of the English language. These conflicts may be consciously or subconsciously realized by the language learners, but what has been proven is that their attitudes, motivation and general inclinations towards the goal of speaking with a native or a native-like accent are unquestionably genuine. Lastly, the study suggested or recommended a revamp of the current textbooks giving teachers more training sessions in order to improve their individual repertoire, as well as a higher degree of awareness upon the part of the Yemeni society at large that these conflicts can interfere with the strong motivations, both aspirational and actual, to achieve the learning outcomes of the nation’s most promising future leaders and pioneers.

Muhamesheen activism: enacting citizenship during Yemen’s transition

ABSTRACTPolitical divides often take center stage in studies of Yemen, but the social fabric of Yemeni society is also highly heterogeneous, governed by norms that sharply define boundaries between different social strata. The Muhamesheen, or the marginalized are assumed to have an African origin, and constitute a class of untouchables who in a moralizing discourse on the Mohamesheen prevalent in Yemeni society, claims their inability to practice or possess moral virtues. Along with other groups active during the uprising of 2011, the Mohamesheen demanded equal citizen and an equal state, demands that were accompanied by a new solidarity that recognized the diversity of identities among Yemenis. This possibility for new overarching solidarities was soon closed again during the subsequent transition phase outlined in an agreement known as the GCC agreement, lasting from March 2012 to February 2014. It was supposed to lead towards a ‘new Yemen’, but failed utterly to do so. During the transitional phase, however, in conventional political activism and in subversive acts in public arenas, citizenship was enacted by Muhamesheen activists who did not accommodate a Muhamesheen women’s agenda; neither did Yemeni women’s organizations.

Environmental Standards in Housing Design in Hodeidah, Yemen

The most important solutions adopted by the craftsman in the production of the constituent units of the house is the use of local building materials, where building materials were used to help preserve the heat and prevent the impact of sunlight and thermal insulation. The main problem of this study is the need of Yemeni society during this stage to achieve the highest utilization rates from Economic capabilities and local raw materials in the design and furnishing of housing to achieve the function of environmental performance taking into account the economic dimension and social values ​​and the importance of research in its treatment of a major problem suffered by the Yemeni society during this stage, In order to achieve the highest rates of utilization of economic resources and raw materials, the aim of the research is to employ local raw materials in the interior design and furniture of the housing in Hodeidah region in Yemen. The study of the environmental impact of the local materials in the interior design and furniture of the residence in Hodeidah region in Yemen; analysis of the architectural vocabulary and Function of local raw materials (Multi-storey houses Sailors and El-Asha). The research has led to the achievement of a good design system in the interior space. The researcher also provided a design for the residential space of the fence.

Pattern and clinical profile of thalassemia among pediatric patients attending the Yemeni Society Centers for Thalassemia and Genetic Blood Disorders in Yemen

Background Thalassemia is a type of inherited anemia. Its management is complex and expensive, and requires a multiple-team approach. Optimal and sufficient clinical care is demanding. Aim The aim of this study was to determine the magnitude, sex and age distribution, clinical profile, complications, investigation, and management of transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia major among Yemeni pediatric patients attending the Yemeni Society Centers for Thalassemia and Genetic Blood Disorders in Yemen as, to our knowledge, no similar previous study has been carried out in Yemen. Patients and methods This was a prospective, cross-sectional, descriptive study carried out during the period from January 2015 to December 2016. A total of 109 Yemeni pediatric transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia major patients who attended the Yemeni Society Centers for Thalassemia and Genetic Blood Disorders in Yemen were included. Detailed assessment of history, clinical examination, investigations, treatment, and follow-up were performed for every patient. The data were collected from the medical records of the patients. Results There was a slight male predominance (53.2%), with a male to female ratio of 1.14 : 1. Approximately 33% of the patients were in the age group 7–10 years, followed by the age group 3–6 years. The mean age of the cases was 7.68±5.8 years. Positive parent consanguinity was present (74.2%) and the majority (64.2%) were first-degree relatives. The best outcome of thalassemia was among those patients 1.7 years old or younger at the time of diagnosis and those patients 2 years old or younger at first blood transfusion. Earlier initiation of chelating therapy yielded better outcomes and reduced the mortality rate with a highly statistically significant difference. The usage of a combination of both oral chelation and subcutaneous iron chelation (iron pump) therapies led to a noticeably better outcome and reduced the mortality rate markedly. A proportional relation was detected between serum ferritin level and mortality among the cases, with a statistically significant difference. The complication rate was high (40.2%). The mortality rate was also high (27.5%). Cardiac dysfunction was the major risk factor of death among our thalassemic patients as about 60% of the deaths were because of cardiac complications, with a highly statistically significant difference. Conclusion Increasing awareness of the morbidity and mortality of transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia major among pediatric Yemeni patients, with an emphasis on the great importance of premarital screening before marriage in Yemen, is mandatory. For better outcomes, routine investigations to detect early complications with proper treatment of the predisposing factors and complications are necessary.

The Water Crisis in Yemen: Managing Extreme Water Scarcity in the Middle East

The Water Crisis in Yemen: Managing Extreme Water Scarcity in the Middle East

Tribal Mediation and Empowered Women: Potential Contributions of Heritage to National Development in Yemen

Abstract When demonstrations against Yemen’s former regime first began in 2011, observers expressed surprise at two developments: first, that women led the demonstrations, and second, that Yemen’s heavily armed tribes did not lead the country into civil war. Instead, a significant number of tribesmen went into cities to protect demonstrators from harm, and others protected their own communities from the incursions of outsiders. This article suggests that both developments are rooted in a deeply engrained tribal heritage that provides social capital, contributes to Yemeni society’s resilience and counteracts stereotypes of primitivism by prioritizing mediation, dialogue and consensus above the facile use of force or terrorism. Ways in which this heritage can be harnessed to support national reconciliation and development are proposed. Yemen’s tribal heritage is threatened by recurrent political and economic crises, various forms of modernism, and imported conservative interpretations of Islam that perceive tribalism as divisive and women’s mobility unacceptable. By far the most serious threat to Yemen’s population and heritage, however, is the current war unleashed by Saudi Arabia and its allies, which threatens to destroy the very foundations of Yemeni society.

المهارات الحياتية المتضمنة في كتابي التربية الإسلامية (الفقه – الحديث) المقررة على طلبة الصف الثالث الثانوي في الجمهورية اليمنية

This study aimed to investigate the most important life skills that should be contained in the Islamic education textbooks (Jurisprudence/Figh – Hadith) in the secondary schools in the Republic of Yemen. To achieve the objectives of this study, the researcher used a tool for the analysis which he had already prepared and validated. Thus, he analyzed the two courses ( biography of the prophet and Faith or Al-Eman) which are compulsory courses to the secondary school students. For the modernity of this tool and its relevance to the course, the researcher used the tool in this study as being a validated and reliable tool which consisted of seven areas with (39) skills. Findings of the Study: The life skills related to the use of modern technology are not included in the two Islamic education textbooks (Jurisprudence /Figh – Hadith). There is a variance in the life skills of the course “Hadith” which represented (9) skills with a significant percentage of (%23) and (15) skills by an average of (%39) and (11) skills with a low percentage of (%28) and unavailability of (4) items which represented (%10). The life skills of the course “Jurisprudence” represented (4) skills which is a greater than the skills contained in the tool of the study by a percentage of (%10) and (16) skills with an average degree by a percentage of (%41) and (15) skills with low degree by a percentage of (%39), and unavailability of (4) skills which represented (%10). j Recommendations of the Study: The study emphasized on the following recommendations: The life skills should be included in the two courses (Hadith and jurisprudence) to a greater extent than the existing skills. Life skills should be included in all the Islamic education textbooks of the public education students. By combining the life skills in the Islamic education textbooks, many problems encountered the Yemeni society can be addressed.

Letter From Yemen: Failed State or Just Failing?

Letter From Yemen:Failed State or Just Failing? Christopher Thornton (bio) On the morning of September 17, 2008, a Hilux pickup truck and a Toyota Prado pulled up in front of the American embassy in Sanaa, Yemen, and exploded. Seventeen people were killed, including six embassy guards, but, as is the case with nearly every event of consequence in the Middle East, reports were conflicting. Some said there were six attackers, some said four. Some said the lone non-Yemeni victim was an Indian woman, others said it was a Yemeni American. In a macabre coincidence, the attack on the USS Cole in 2003, while it was docked in the port city of Aden, also killed seventeen. AFEW weeks after the bombing I was sitting about a mile from the embassy in the lounge of the Movenpick Hotel, perched on a hilltop with a sweeping panorama of the city below. Few guests were on hand to take in the view. The bar was empty, and the staff at the reception desk fiddled with paperwork and tapped monotonously on computer keyboards, surrounded by the silent, cavernous entrance hall. Business was only slightly better at the less ostentatious Sheraton, a few hundred yards down the road. The presence of either hotel showed appalling naiveté, or bravado, depending on one’s point of view: who would think of dropping an opulent hotel in the poorest, most conflict-ridden part of the Arab world? But somehow the board members of the international chains must have believed that the rebels who had been running wild for decades would be defeated and a victory in the “war on terror” would send the Al Qaeda operatives fleeing to Somalia or neighboring Saudi Arabia. Then the five-star rooms would fill with tourists and international businessmen chasing the investment that would flow in. It hasn’t quite worked out that [End Page 579] way. Many of the provinces are still ruled by tribal warlords; the country’s president of thirty-two years, Ali Abdullah Al-Saleh, has been driven from power; the Shiite Al-Houthi rebels have taken over the capital; and the primary question now is whether Yemen is a failed state or just a failing one. Since there were few customers for the café waitress to look after she was killing time reading a Thomas Pynchon novel. She had the olive brown skin and delicate features of the Yemeni women I had seen in the markets covered in black abayas, their eyes peeking out from between the slits of their niqabs. But there the similarity stopped. Her skirt ended a few inches above the knee and her hair tumbled to her shoulders in swirling black curls. I didn’t know which was more surprising, the fact that she could pore over Thomas Pynchon in a country where most of the women couldn’t read in any language, or the name on her name tag—Mary. By the standard of Yemen’s cultural norms Mary was, to put it bluntly, a bit of a freak. I asked her, with a touch of sarcasm, if business had been slow. She put down her book and rolled her eyes, and I soon learned why her life had followed a path so different from the women picking through vegetables in the market. Her father was a successful businessman who had lived abroad for most of her childhood, and so she had been educated at a boarding school run by Irish nuns. Since then Mary had become a living embodiment of a society that had splintered in many ways. There are so many fault lines in Yemeni society—tribal and political, but primarily tribal—that it could hardly be called a society at all. It was rather an agglomeration of overlapping alliances, and these were by nature tenuous, far more fragile than the rugged mountain ridges circling the city, and always leaning in the direction of the political winds. I asked her how long business had slumped. “Ever since … well … you know … ” I knew what she meant in the broadest sense, but not exactly, because there had been a lot of “you knows” in Yemen recently. Yemen was a country plagued...

Periodontal Health Condition and Associated Factors among University Students, Yemen.

Studies on oral health status among Yemeni population are scarce. This study aimed to evaluate the periodontal health among advantaged section of Yemeni society, university students, in health and non-health fields. Periodontal health status of a sample of 360 students from dental, medical and literature faculties (120 each with equal gender distribution) at Sana'a University was evaluated by two calibrated examiners using CPI index. Data regarding tooth-brushing practices and smoking and khat chewing habits were obtained using a structured interview questionnaire. Only 45 students (12.5%) had healthy periodontium, while 113 (31.4%), 186 (51.7%) and 16 (4.4%) had bleeding, calculus and shallow pocket, respectively, with no significant differences between faculties. Females revealed significantly better periodontal health compared to males, though their bleeding score was higher. Dental and medical students and female students in general were significantly more interested in tooth-brushing and significantly less interested in practicing the deleterious habits such as smoking and khat chewing. The overall periodontal health of Sana'a University students is still unsatisfactory even among students in health field. Females and students in health field revealed better periodontal health and oral health practices (tooth-brushing) in comparison to male students and those in non-health field. The negative effects of the highly prevalent smoking and khat chewing habits deserve further reliable researches and proper educational programs at the national level.

Geiseln in der jemenitischen Geschichte

More than any other country in the Near and Middle East, Yemen has become known for the taking of foreigners – tourists or others – as hostages during the last two decades. While such incidents evoke much international sensation, the fact that hostages were taken in Yemeni society itself for centuries has been generally ignored by the public, except for some experts on Yemen and the Yemenis themselves. The article explores the practice of local hostage taking, starting from the twentieth century, then going back to the historical dimension. Yemeni historiography from the Middle Ages and later as well as modern ethnographical and historical studies testify to the existence of a many-layered phenomenon rooted deeply in the political strategies of dynasties or powers aiming at central rule and in the tribal society. The article collects situations of hostage taking documented in the sources and examines them as to the parties engaged, the policies pursued and the fate of the individuals taken as hostages. Finally the article proposes an answer to the question why Yemen stands so unique amongst other regions in the Middle East in a political practice which is testified for from pre-Islamic times until the twentieth century.

Islamist political movements in Yemen

This article presents an overview of Yemeni society before proceeding to a detailed account of research undertaken by the author into the factors behind the rise of Islamic extremism in Yemen and its appeal, especially among the young and most deprived sectors of society. The author draws on and relates his findings to a number of theoretical works, including those of authorities such as Max Weber as well as more recent analysts, in a discussion of what drives extremist group formation and what attracts their adherents, in general terms and in Yemen in particular. The findings of a survey of public opinion in Yemen conducted by the author are recounted in some detail.

Transnational Yemen

The region known as “Yemen” has been for centuries a place of movement and exchange. Its strategic position on many trade routes has made it a place of passage; a region of contact and conquest, of immigration and emigration, and has enjoyed numerous ties to the Arabian Peninsula, around the Red Sea and, beyond the Indian Ocean, all the way to Indonesia. If mobility and exchanges with the outside world have been a feature of Yemeni society throughout the centuries, the question of transnation...

In Focus n° 3: Sana’a and Rapid Urbanization in some Short Stories by Muḥammad al‑Gharbī ‘Amrān

This article presents a few short stories by the famous Yemeni writer Muḥammad al‑Gharbī ‘Amrān and offers some information regarding Yemeni society to illustrate these tales set in Sana’a on the threshold of the 21st century. The author focuses on the new features of the expanding metropolis as he highlights the shortcomings of rapid urbanization, such as air pollution, landscape alteration and above all social fragmentation caused by rural‑urban migration. Combined with long standing gender and racial segregation, the recent collapse of traditional familial and communal networks leads to solitude in a populous city like Sana’a: this is the paradox that ‘Amrān highlights in most of his stories. In other tales, he focuses on poverty and especially on extreme poverty, showing how socio‑economic inequalities in Yemen have increased due to free market economy.