Thursday, April 27, 2023

Book Review: Remoteness and Modernity Transformation and Continuity in Northern Pakistan by Shafqat Hussain

 Hussain’s work is an anthropological inquiry into the idea of remote areas. He examines the diverse ways in which the people of Hunza have been viewed by outsiders over the past century. He also writes about how the local people used their remote status strategically, ensuring their own interest were served as they engaged with the outside world. There are a number of errors in the book. The author states that Nazeem Khan was appointed as...

Monday, April 17, 2023

Book Review: Married to a Bedouin By Marguerite van Geldermalsen

 This story is about a New Zealand-born nurse who marries Mohammad Abdallah, a Bedouin souvenir-seller from Petra in Jordan. In 1978 Marguerite and her friend travel to the Middle East where they meet Mohammad. She marries Mohammad and starts living with him in an old cave on a hill side. She becomes a nurse for the locals, learns Arabic, converts to Islam and gives birth to three children. The author believes that she married a ‘wonderful...