Life Worlds of a Nomadic Tribe from 1900 to 2000: the Welde Example

Programme

Our project focusses on the history of a small tribal group of former sheepherding nomads on the Syrian middle Euphrates. This group's history offers a wide range of different forms of adaptation and self-assertion. Large-scale economic and political interventions by state and urban institutions have been countered by a diverse repertoire of reactions by the Welde. As a premise of our project, the varied types of adjustment, resistance and self-assertion are interpreted not as stages during a unilinear evolutionary process, but rather as coexisting historical phenomena. They will be investigated in detail on the levels of economy, lifestyle and corporate identity.

The different causes for visible transformations in these spheres are going to be determined. Also, their consequences will be investigated. Among them are events within the tribal group (feuds, razzias, alliances) as well as exogenous developments: agro-economic transformations, political decisions of the central powers, as well as development-related decisions.

The project combines historical methods (archival research) with anthropological fieldwork (recording of oral traditions, memories, biographies, genealogies) in order to research the various phases of Welde history between 1900 and 2000. During fieldwork, the preliminary construction of Welde history between 1900 and 2000, based on European sources and archival material, will be discussed with members of the Welde today, their memories and perspectives on their history.

Publications

Prof. Dr. Annegret Nippa

Unterwegs am Golf. Zu den Photographien und Reisebeschreibungen von Hermann Burchardt 1904. Berlin (in print).

West-Himalaya – Christen und Buddhisten. In: Ethnographie und Herrnhuter Mission. Herrnhut 2003, 72–88.

Luxus auf dem Lande – Eine Reise in den Alltag der arabischen Welt. In: Leben unter dem Halbmond. Die Wohnkulturen der arabischen Welt. Weil am Rhein 2003, 128–167.

Forschen in Grauen Zonen und Weißen Flecken. Die Zeit der Expeditionen ist zu Ende. In: Orientale 1. Recherchen, Expeditionen, Handlungsreisen. Weimar 2001, 44–57.

Tugendreiche Männer – Beduinenforschung. In: G. Teichmann/G. Völger (eds.): Faszination Orient. Max von Oppenheim, Forscher, Sammler, Diplomat. Köln 2001, 140–175.

The Curious Mosque of Gabral Jaba, Swat-Kohistan. Reading the Drawings of Robert Powell. In: M. Oppitz (ed.): Robert Powell. Himalayan Drawings. Zürich 2001, 77–90.

with P. Herbstreuth: Eine kleine Geschichte der Synagoge aus dreizehn Städten. Hamburg 1999.

Dr. Katharina Lange

Zwischen den Kategorien – Nomaden, Halbseßhafte, Seßhafte? Das Beispiel der Welde. In: Mitteilungen des SFB "Differenz und Integration" 4/1 (2003), 253–287.

Die Welde zur Zeit des französischen Mandats. In: Materialien des SFB "Differenz und Integration" 1 (2002), 13–22.

Indigenization Tendencies in Arabic Anthropology. In: Istanbuler Almanach 5 (2001).