Counter‑Narratives through the lens of al‑Baraddūnī: The case of the 1962 Yemeni revolution

One of the main features of Yemeni historiography is that for many centuries it focused on the history of rulers and the biographies of elite scholars. Since the revolution and the end of the Yemeni Imamate in 1962, scholars such as ʻAbd Allāh al‑Baraddūnī began to focus on popular narratives that r...

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Main Author: Noura Kamal
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Centre Français d’Archéologie et de Sciences Sociales de Sanaa 2020-07-01
Series:Arabian Humanities
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/arabianhumanities/6173
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author Noura Kamal
author_facet Noura Kamal
author_sort Noura Kamal
collection DOAJ
description One of the main features of Yemeni historiography is that for many centuries it focused on the history of rulers and the biographies of elite scholars. Since the revolution and the end of the Yemeni Imamate in 1962, scholars such as ʻAbd Allāh al‑Baraddūnī began to focus on popular narratives that retold history from the vantage point of those who, historically, have been marginalized by Yemen’s ruling elites. Al‑Baraddūnī’s endeavours to rehabilitate popular narratives and historiography were a prominent reaction to the dominant formal history, literature and art during the Imamate, and were triggered by the spirit of the 1962 revolution in Yemen’s north. This paper explores how al‑Baraddūnī worked towards the rehabilitation of the roles of formerly marginalized people in Yemen, and how folk history provided hitherto undocumented and “unofficial” knowledge about the changing social, political and power relations in twentieth‑century Yemen.
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spelling doaj-art-82445af67a314f988a224d6acb68e1382025-08-20T03:08:12ZengCentre Français d’Archéologie et de Sciences Sociales de SanaaArabian Humanities2308-61222020-07-011310.4000/cy.6173Counter‑Narratives through the lens of al‑Baraddūnī: The case of the 1962 Yemeni revolutionNoura KamalOne of the main features of Yemeni historiography is that for many centuries it focused on the history of rulers and the biographies of elite scholars. Since the revolution and the end of the Yemeni Imamate in 1962, scholars such as ʻAbd Allāh al‑Baraddūnī began to focus on popular narratives that retold history from the vantage point of those who, historically, have been marginalized by Yemen’s ruling elites. Al‑Baraddūnī’s endeavours to rehabilitate popular narratives and historiography were a prominent reaction to the dominant formal history, literature and art during the Imamate, and were triggered by the spirit of the 1962 revolution in Yemen’s north. This paper explores how al‑Baraddūnī worked towards the rehabilitation of the roles of formerly marginalized people in Yemen, and how folk history provided hitherto undocumented and “unofficial” knowledge about the changing social, political and power relations in twentieth‑century Yemen.https://journals.openedition.org/arabianhumanities/6173YemenrevolutionʻAbd Allāh al‑Baraddūnīcounter‑narrativeoral history
spellingShingle Noura Kamal
Counter‑Narratives through the lens of al‑Baraddūnī: The case of the 1962 Yemeni revolution
Arabian Humanities
Yemen
revolution
ʻAbd Allāh al‑Baraddūnī
counter‑narrative
oral history
title Counter‑Narratives through the lens of al‑Baraddūnī: The case of the 1962 Yemeni revolution
title_full Counter‑Narratives through the lens of al‑Baraddūnī: The case of the 1962 Yemeni revolution
title_fullStr Counter‑Narratives through the lens of al‑Baraddūnī: The case of the 1962 Yemeni revolution
title_full_unstemmed Counter‑Narratives through the lens of al‑Baraddūnī: The case of the 1962 Yemeni revolution
title_short Counter‑Narratives through the lens of al‑Baraddūnī: The case of the 1962 Yemeni revolution
title_sort counter narratives through the lens of al baradduni the case of the 1962 yemeni revolution
topic Yemen
revolution
ʻAbd Allāh al‑Baraddūnī
counter‑narrative
oral history
url https://journals.openedition.org/arabianhumanities/6173
work_keys_str_mv AT nourakamal counternarrativesthroughthelensofalbaraddunithecaseofthe1962yemenirevolution