In 2016, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that Max Brod’s posthumous papers which included a collection of Kafka’s manuscripts be transferred to the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem. If Kafka’s writings may be seen to belong to Jewish national culture and if they may be considered part of Israel’s heritage, then their analysis within a Jewish framework should be both viable and valuable. This volume is dedicated to the research of Franz Kafka’s late narrative “The Burrow� and its autobiographical and theological significance. Research is extended to incorporate many fields of study (architecture, sound studies, philosophy, cultural studies, Jewish studies, literary studies) to illustrate the dynamics at work within the text which reveal the Jewish aspects implicitly thematicized. Examination of the structure created, the nature of sound perceived, the atmosphere experienced and the acts performed by the protagonist serve as the foundation of this analysis and offer new access to Kafka’s work by presenting an interpretive, space-semantic approach. “Der Bau� is presented as a life concept given the task of constituting identity, highlighting the critical link between the literary and biographical Kafka and demonstrating the necessity of understanding the author as a Jewish writer to understand his late narrative. For her outstanding research project, Andrea Newsom Ebarb was awarded the “Forschungsförderpreis der Vereinigung der Freunde der Universität Mainz e.V.� in 2023.

Although Turkey is a secular state, it is often characterised as a Muslim country. In her latest book, Lejla Voloder provides an engaging and revealing study of a Bosniak community in Turkey, one of the Muslim minorities actually recognised by the state in Turkey. Under what circumstances have they resettled to Turkey? How do they embrace Islam? How does one live as a Bosniak, a Turkish citizen, a mother, a father, a member of a household, and as one guided by Islam? The first book based on fieldwork to detail the lives of members of the Bosnian and Bosniak diaspora in Turkey, A Muslim Minority in Turkey makes a unique contribution to the study of Muslim minority groups in Turkey and the Middle East.

With extensive research and creative interpretations, Dasan's Noneo gogeum ju (Old and New Commentaries of the Analects) has been evaluated in the academia of Korean Studies as a crystallization of his studies on the Confucian classics. Dasan (Jeong Yak-yong: 1762-1836) attempted through this book to synthesize and overcome the lengthy scholarly tradition of the classical studies of the Analects, leading it not only to represent one of the greatest achievements of Korean Confucianism but also demonstrate an innovative prospect for the progress of Confucian philosophy, positioning it as one of the ground-breaking works in all Confucian legacies in East Asia. Originally consisting of forty volumes in traditional book binding, his Noneo gogeum ju contains one hundred and seventy-five new interpretations on the Analects, hundreds of "arguments" about the neo-Confucian commentaries, hundreds of references to the scholarly works of the Analects, thousands of supportive quotations from various East Asian classics for the author's arguments, and hundreds of philological discussions. This book is an English translation of Noneo gogeum ju with the translator's comments on the innovative ideas and interpretations of Dasan on the Analects.

Shinto, Nature and Ideology in Contemporary Japan is the first systematic study of Shinto's environmental turn. The book traces the development in recent decades of the idea of Shinto as an 'ancient nature religion,' and a resource for overcoming environmental problems. The volume shows how these ideas gradually achieved popularity among scientists, priests, Shinto-related new religious movements and, eventually, the conservative shrine establishment. Aike P. Rots argues that central to this development is the notion of chinju no mori: the sacred groves surrounding many Shinto shrines. Although initially used to refer to remaining areas of primary or secondary forest, today the term has come to be extended to any sort of shrine land, signifying not only historical and ecological continuity but also abstract values such as community spirit, patriotism and traditional culture. The book shows how Shinto's environmental turn has also provided legitimacy internationally: influenced by the global discourse on religion and ecology, in recent years the Shinto establishment has actively engaged with international organizations devoted to the conservation of sacred sites. Shinto sacred forests thus carry significance locally as well as nationally and internationally, and figure prominently in attempts to reposition Shinto in the centre of public space.