Driven by the need to put Libya on the map in a number of academic disciplines, a group of scholars launched two initiatives to draw attention to available resources and studies on Libya, and create a space to critically address the complex realities in this North African country.
The Silphium Gatherer: The Silphium Gatherer is a blog that focuses on scholarship of Libya in a variety of fields, including but not limited to: arts, ethnography, histories, linguistics, literature, music, and urban studies. Most blogposts are in the form of bibliographic references with a brief description of the study, and links where possible. Longer posts, announcements of events and exhibits, and the odd commentary also occasionally appear. The curator of this blog is Adam Benkato, currently a Humboldt fellow at FU Berlin.
The blog is named after the Silphium plant, which was produced in ancient Libya and prized for its medicinal benefits
Lamma: A Journal of Libyan Studies: Lauched by the team behind The Silphium Gatherer, which is giving the journal its temporary home, Lamma is an academic journal that aims to provide a forum for critically understanding the complex ideas, values, social configurations, histories, and material realities in Libya. The Journal focuses on a wide range of disciplines, including - but not limited to - anthropology, art, gender, history, linguistics, literature, music, performance studies, religion, sociology, politics, and urban studies in addition to their intersections, their subfields, and places in between. The journal particularly welcomes articles that adopt innovative critical, theoretical, and postcolonial approaches.
The journal takes its name from the Arabic word "lamma," which means a "gathering."
Lamma is an open-access journal published in conjunction with open-access publisher punctum books. The journal will publish articles primarily in Arabic and English. Other languages might be considered, if necessary, in order to reach a wider audience.
Check the journal's page for the upcoming call for submissions.
The first issue of the journal is set for the end of 2017.