Prof. dr. R. (Remke) Kruk

Position:

Professor emeritus

Expertise:

Arabic studies

Telephone number:	+31 (0)71 527 2171
E-Mail:	r.kruk@hum.leidenuniv.nl
Faculty / Department:	Faculteit der Geesteswetenschappen, Leiden Institute for Area Studies, SMES APT
Office Address:	VERZENDING VIA PRIVE-ADRES Room number 0.18b

Research

Perhaps my fascination with the field can best be demonstrated by the fact that when I showed a tenth-century Arabic manuscript to a second-year student of Arabic, she could read it without difficulty. This demonstrates the unbroken continuity of the literary tradition, which, along with its vast intellectual range, never ceases to amaze me, and which is a vital factor in understanding contemporary developments. Another thing that fascinates me is the way in which Arabic culture has kept alive and assimilated material from older traditions, incorporating them and sometimes passing them on well into the present. A very different aspect that interests me is the enormously vital, semi-oral popular tradition that existed from medieval times onwards next to the formal literary culture of the elite, and also the way in which this popular tradition nowadays switches without difficulty to new media.

Teaching

Prof. Kruk teaches courses on classical Arabic literature, Islamic philosophy and science, classical Arabic literary texts, and modern Arabic religious texts.

Key publications

(2001) "Ibn abi-l-Ash`ath's Kitâb al-hayawân: a scientific approach to anthropology, dietetics and zoological systematics", Zeitschrift für die Geschichte der arabisch-islamischen Wissenschaften, 14: 119-68.
(1999) with Claudia Ott, "`In the Popular Manner'; Sîra-recitation in Marrakesh anno 1997", Edebiyat, X, 183-198.
(1996) The Ancient Tradition in Christian and Islamic Hellenism. Studies on the Transmission of Greek Philosophy and Sciences dedicated to H.J. Drossaart Lulofs on his Ninetieth Birthday, Endress, Gerhard, and Kruk, Remke (eds.), Leiden, 318 pp., index.
(1995) "History and Apocalypse: Ibn an-Nafîs' justification of Mamluk rule", Der Islam 72, 2, pp. 324-37.
(1994) "Warrior women in Arabic popular romance: Qannâsa bint Muzâhim and other valiant ladies". Deel I: Journal of Arabic Literature XXIV, 1993, 3, pp. 213-30. Deel II: id. XXV, 1. 16-33.

2011

Kruk, R. (2011)
De bruiloften van Maryam Dollekop: Het gebruik van herhaling in de Arabische volksepiek. In: Houppermans, J.M.M., Jacobs, J.G.A.M., Kruk, R. (Eds.), Déjà Vu; Herhaling in culturen wereldwijd, pp. 129-146. Leiden: Leiden University Press.
(Part of book or chapter of book)
Kruk, R. (2011)
De mens in al zijn ijdelheid is minder dan een beest. Madoc. Tijdschrift over de Middeleeuwen, 25 (1), pp. 76-84.
(Article)
Houppermans, J.M.M. & Kruk, R. & Jacobs, J.G.A.M. (Eds.) (2011)
Déjà Vu, herhaling in culturen wereldwijd. Leiden: Leiden University Press.
(Book editorial)
Kruk, R. (2011)
Man and his Fellow Creatures: Views of the Pure Brethren of Basra. Proceedings of the International Memorial Conference in Honour of Nasr Abu Zayd: How Can a Humanistic Approach to Islam Be Realized? April 14th and 15th, 2011, University of Humanistic Studies, Utrecht, The Netherlands Vol. XVI. Journal of the Dutch-Flemish Levinas Society (pp. 53-61).
(Article in monograph or in proceedings)
Kruk, R. (2011)
[Bespreking van: Samar Attar, The Vital Roots of European Enlightenment; Ibn Tufayl’s Influence on Modern Western Thought]. In: Middle Eastern Literatures, 14/1, pp. 91-95.
(Book review)
Kruk, R. (2011)
[Bespreking van: Dimitri Gutas, Theophrastus On First Principles (known as his Metaphysics). Greek Text and Medieval Arabic Translation, Edited and Translated with Introduction, Commentaries and Glossaries, as Well as the Medieval Latin Translation, and with an Excursus on Graeco- Arabic Editorial Technique]. In: Scripta Classica Israelica, Yearbook of the Israel Society for the Promotion of Classical Studies, XXX, pp. 151-152.
(Book review)