EUME
2011/ 2012

Adam Mestyan

"A Garden with Mellow Fruits of Refinement" - Theatres and Politics in Cairo and Istanbul (1867-1892)

Adam Mestyan is a historian, specialized in 19th century Arab and Ottoman cultural history. He graduated in Philosophy of Art (MA, 2004), and Arabic and Semitic Philology (MA, 2005) at ELTE, Budapest. He also studied Arabic in Tunisia, Kuwait, and Egypt as well as Ottoman Turkish in Budapest and Istanbul. After pursuing a third MA in Comparative History (2007) at CEU, his doctoral dissertation, entitled "'A garden with mellow fruits of refinement' – Music Theatres and Politics in Istanbul and Cairo (1867-1892)" (CEU, 2011) was based on extensive research in Turkish, Egyptian, and French archives. Mestyan's comparative study examines the early cultural politics in the Middle East via music theatres, understanding theatre as a hierarchical public space incorporated in or excluded from official funding. He explores late 19th century colonial Egypt within its Ottoman setting thus contributing to the study of cosmopolitanism and Mediterranean networks, and late Ottoman urban history.

"A Garden with Mellow Fruits of Refinement" - Theatres and Politics in Cairo and Istanbul (1867-1892)

During his stay as a EUME-fellow in Berlin, Mestyan intends to turn his dissertation into a book and will prepare a number of articles. His latest publication on the topic is "Niqat hawla al-siyasa al-thaqafiyya li-hukumat 'Urabi – mustaqbal al-masrah al-'arabi fi mayu 1882" ("Remarks on the cultural politics of the 'Urabi government – the future of Arab theatre in May 1882"), Al-Ruzname – The Egyptian Documentary Annals (2010).