Accurate translations of her authentic and intimate voice

What happens when we make choices beyond what is allowed or accepted? Last month I wrote a blog post about endless choice, and how we tend to think that more choice means more freedom and more freedom, more choice. [1] Today I am writing about bounded choice, where freedom stops. At some level, we transgress frequently. With so many rules and norms, it does not take much. Every time I walk across an intersection at a red light (especially in Germany, heaven forbid!), I choos

Die Qual der Wahl [1] – it’s a catchy German phrase that captures so much of our Zeitgeist. Have you walked into a store, taken one look, and walked back out, overwhelmed by the number of shampoos on offer – and no earthly idea about what actually distinguishes one from the other, with no soul in sight to give you any insights? Or do you live on Amazon, so you can select from zillions of doormats and backpacks to find just the right size, style, and motif? Or maybe you subsc

The Island’s Heyday of Photos and Postcards   Many of you know that Zanzibar harbored a world-class port city in the 19 th century, with...

We, as custodians of the past, turn history into legacy. Sayyida Salme / Emily Ruete left us her writings, but what do we make of them?...

Among the culture shocks experienced by Sayyida Salme when she left Zanzibar for Germany was the loss of financial agency. She may not...

“Freedom” is a watchword these days, as it was in Sayyida Salme’s time. The word gets bandied about so much – as a rallying cry,...