Abu Dhabi, UAE – The Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC), part of the Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), has unveiled the longlists for the fourth edition of its Research Grants programme in 2024.

The programme seeks to support researchers in the Arabic language to submit high-quality projects that help advance the language, enhance knowledge, and promote scientific studies.

The Research Grants programme aims to shed light on creative works in various fields related to the Arabic language, providing an opportunity for serious researchers to submit inspiring and high-quality research projects that enrich the Arabic language and enhance its position as a fundamental pillar of thought and cultural identity. This year, the programme received 270 nominations from 31 countries, with the highest participation rates coming from Egypt, followed by Morocco, Syria, and Jordan.

The longlist included 33 nominated works, distributed across four knowledge fields: Literature and Criticism (19 submissions), Editing of Manuscripts (7 submissions), Arabic Lexicon (5 submissions), and Teaching Arabic to Non-Arabic Speakers (2 submissions).

The longlist for the Literature and Criticism category included 19 works:

  • ‘Character of the Other and Its Representations in Modern Arabic Feminist Poem’ by researchers Iyad Abdel Majeed Ibrahim and Ali Haddad Hussein Al-Saray.
  • ‘Building Azjal and Baleqat in the Andalusian and Mamluk Eras, (Comparative Study)’ by researchers Ahmed Atta, Muhammad Adel and Ahmed Mekkawi.
  • ‘Popular History of Arab Leaders in the Modern Era: Prince Abdel Qader Al-Jazairi, Saad Zaghloul, King Faisal, and Sheikh Zayed’ by researcher Khaled Abu Al-Lail.
  • ‘Eloquence of Ideas and Abundance of Meaning: A Cultural Approach to the Intellectual Identity of the Discourse of Ancient Arabic Poetry’ by researcher Abdel Fattah Youssef.
  • ‘The Semiotics of Narrative Text: Nafa’is Al-Aalaq fi Ma’athir Al-Ushaq by Ibn Hamamah Al-Maghribi as a Model’ by researcher Imad Hamdi Abdullah Ali.
  • ‘Nabati Sayings’ by researcher Qaddoura Al-Ajni.
  • ‘Translation and Power Disparities: Approaches in Theory and Practice’ by researcher Nahid Raheel.
  • ‘Environmental Sustainability in the Arabic Novel’ by researchers Nasr Al-Najjar and Muhammad Abdullah.
  • ‘Discourse on Educational Rajeez Poems and the Consolidation of the Sciences of Understanding: Research into the Pragmatic Function of Rhythm’ by researcher Mahdi Laaraj.
  • ‘The Ego and Its Shadows: Autobiography in Modern Arabic Poetry’ by researcher Abdul Latif Al-Warari.
  • ‘A Collection of Poetic Riddles’ by researcher Anas Abdel Hadi Abu Hilal.
  • ‘Dreams of Sand: The Poetics of Water in Pre-Islamic Poem’ by researcher Dergham Arif Al-Saeed.
  • ‘Al-Hawdaj Poetic Journey: Phenomenological Reflections’ by researcher Rania bint Muhammad Sharif bin Saleh Al-Ardawi.
  • ‘The Sacred in Pre-Islamic Poetry - A Thematic Study’ by researcher Abdullah Al-Baradi.
  • ‘Writing and Identity: Manifestations of Feminist Discourse in Autobiographical Literature: A Critical Approach’ by researcher Abbas Abdel Halim Abbas.
  • ‘The Record of Illnesses in Arabic Literature: A Cultural Approach’ by researcher Fatima Yousef Al-Qaraan.
  • ‘The Aesthetics of Image in the Poetry of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, an Aesthetic Analytical Study’ by researcher Aisha Ali Al-Ghais.
  • ‘Interaction between the Art of Interior Architecture and the Art of Short Story’ by researcher Fatima Ibrahim Al-Amiri.
  • ‘Questioning Modernity and Beyond in Emirati Poetry’ by researcher Maryam Al Hashemi.

Meanwhile, the Editing of Manuscripts category featured seven works in its longlist, namely:

  • ‘Explanation of the Al-Hamasa Collection by Abi Tammam, Explanation of Abu Al-Futuh Al-Jurjani, Thabit bin Muhammad Al-Adawi Al-Andalusi’ by researcher Ahmed Muhammad Attiya Abdul Hadi.
  • ‘Description of Blindness: A Study of Popular Literary Narratives and the Editing  of an Anonymous Copy of the One Thousand and One Nights’ by researcher Faraj Al-Fakharani.
  • ‘Biographies of Women in the Supplement of Ibn al-Abar in the Rabat Manuscript’ by researcher Mona Rabie, in collaboration with researcher Susan Nash’at.
  • ‘The Book of Illusion by Al-Harith Al-Muhasibi’ by researcher Aisha Ammor.
  • ‘Al-Muammirun wa Al-Wasaya by Abu Hatim Al-Sijistani’ (d. 255 AH) by researcher Muhammad bin Abdul-Sater Zakaria.
  • ‘Poet Suleiman bin Musa Al-Kala’i Al-Andalusi’s Collection (634 AH):: Collection and Editing ’ by researcher Rawan Sukkar.
  • ‘Maqamat Ibn Al-Haddad: Editing, Explanation, and Study’ by researcher Ibrahim Khalil Geries.

The longlist in the Arabic Lexicon category included five works:

  • ‘Bekheet’s Dictionary of Verbal Idioms, Arabic-English’ by researcher Ramadan Mohammed Mohammed Ahmed Bekheet.
  • ‘The Making of Modern Lexicon: Arabisation of Sciences and the Conflict over Modernising Arabic in Egypt 1918-1970’ by researcher Khalid Abu Huraira Ahmed.
  • ‘Dictionary of Food and Feeding ’ by researcher Taysir Khalaf.
  • ‘Dictionary of Pharmaceutical Terms  in Ancient Arabic Lexicons’ by researcher Khuloud Saleh Al-Saleh.
  • ‘The Lexical Commonality between Arabic and South Levantine Languages Before Islam: From the Fourth Century BC to the Sixth Century AD’ by researcher Omar Abdul Qadir Al-Ghoul.

The longlist for the Teaching Arabic to Non-Arabic Speakers included two submissions:

  • ‘Integrating 21st Century Skills into Teaching Arabic to Non-Native Speakers: Theoretical Foundations and Applied Strategies’ by researcher Khaled Abu Amsha.
  • ‘Arabic Literature for Speakers of Other Languages in the Light of Text Linguistics’ by researchers Muhammad Daoud and Israa Al-Hajj.

The Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre had previously published the winning works of the third edition of the Research Grants programme as part of the Basaer (Insights) series of research papers and studies at the 33rd Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (ADIBF 2024), held from 29 April to 5 May 2024.