Friendship, though esteemed, has not been central in critical studies. It has been overshadowed by other bonding relationships. However, it figures as a privileged theme in classical, medieval, renaissance, and modern philosophy. More recently, sociological, anthropological, and psychological studies have explored the varied dimensions of friendship. Different cultures view friendship in various perspectives that intersect, contrast, and echo each other. In Middle Eastern, East Asian, European, and American thought, philosophers, jurists, and creative writers have explored the idea of friendship and their input is analyzed in this issue. Alif 36 foregrounds different ways of presenting friendship in diverse cultures and historical periods.
Alif 36
Friendship: Representations and Cultural Variations
Friendship, though esteemed, has not been central in critical studies. It has been overshadowed by other bonding relationships. However, it figures as
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Ferial Ghazoul is an Iraqi scholar, critic, and translator. She is professor of English and comparative literature at the American University in Cairo and editor of Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics. She has translated modern Arabic poetry and fiction to English and critical theory from English and French to Arabic.
