The Arabic Language and National Identity: A Study in Ideology

by Yasir Suleiman

Overview

Considering the communicative and symbolic roles of language in articulating national identity, Yasir Suleiman provides a fresh perspective on nationalism in the Middle East. The links between language and nationalism are delineated and he demonstrates how this has been articulated over the past two centuries.

Straddling the domains of cultural and political nationalism, Suleiman examines the Arab past (looking at the interpretation and reinvention of tradition, and myth-making); the clash between Arab and Turkish cultural nationalism in the 19th and early 20th century; readings of canonical treatises on the topic of Arab cultural nationalism, the major ideological trends linking language to territorial nationalism; and provides a research agenda for the study of language and nationalism in the Arab context.

This the first full-scale study of this important topic and will be of interest to students of nationalism, Arab and comparative politics, Arabic Studies, history, cultural studies and sociolinguistics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780878403950
Publisher:	Georgetown University Press
Publication date:	02/01/2003
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Professor Yasir Suleiman, FRSE, is Director of the Edinburgh Institute for the Advanced Study of Islam and the Middle East at the University of Edinburgh. He has written and edited several books including The Arabic Grammatical Tradition, Arabic Sociolinguistics and Language and Identity in the Middle East and North Africa.

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgements	viii
1	The Arabic Language and National Identity: Aims and Scope
1	Aims of the Study: The Disciplinary Context	1
2	What is National Identity?	4
3	Theoretical and Empirical Scope	9
4	Organization of this Book	12
2	Setting the Scene
1	Definition: The Achilles Heel	16
2	Two Modes of Defining the Nation	20
3	Two Types of Nation, Two Types of Nationalism	23
4	Language and National Identity	27
5	Conclusion	33
3	The Past Lives On
1	Introduction	38
2	In Praise of Arabic	42
3	Hikmat al-`Arab: Wisdom of the Arabs	47
4	Lahn: Solecism	49
5	`Ajam and `Arab	55
6	The Arabs as a Nation (umma): Further Evidence	64
7	Conclusion	66
4	The Arabic Language Unites Us
1	Introduction	69
2	From Ottomanism to Turkism: The Turkification of the Ottoman Turks	70
3	From Ottomanism to Arabism: Preliminary Remarks	79
3.1	The Placards	82
3.2	Resisting Linguistic Turkification	85
3.3	The Intellectuals Speak	89
4	Ibrahim al-Yaziji: From Immediate Aims to Underlying Motives	96
5	Conclusion	109
5	Arabic, First and Foremost
1	Introduction	113
2	Under the Banner of Arabic	117
3	Sati` al-Husri: Arabic, First and Foremost	126
3.1	Populism: A Question of Style	126
3.2	Nation, Language and Education	128
3.3	Defining the Arab Nation	131
3.4	Arab Nationalism and the Ideologization of Language	134
3.5	Nation, Language and Religion	140
3.6	Between the Standard and the Dialects: The Case for Linguistic Reforms	142
4	Zaki al-Arsuzi: The Genius of the Arab Nation Inheres in its Language	146
5	Conclusion	158
6	The Arabic Language and Territorial Nationalism
1	Introduction	162
2	The Arabic Language and Territorial Nationalism: Antun Sa`ada and Regional Syrian Nationalism	164
3	The Arabic Language and Egyptian Nationalism: Early Beginnings	169
4	The Arabic Language and Egyptian Nationalism: Full Elaboration	174
4.1	The Arabic Language and Egyptian Nationalism: Salama Musa	180
4.2	The Arabic Language and Egyptian Nationalism: Taha Husayn	190
4.3	The Arabic Language and Egyptian Nationalism: Luwis `Awad	197
5	The Arabic Language and Lebanese Nationalism: A General Introduction	204
5.1	The Arabic Language and Lebanese Nationalism: `Abdalla Lahhud	207
5.2	The Arabic Language and Lebanese Nationalism: Kamal Yusuf al-Hajj	210
6	Conclusion	219
7	Conclusion: Looking Back, Looking Forward
1	The Arabic Language and National Identity: Looking Back	224
2	The Arabic Language and National Identity: Looking Forward	228
	Notes	232
	Bibliography
	Works in Arabic Cited in the Text	249
	Works in Other Languages Cited in the Text	260
	Index	270

What People are Saying About This

Tim Niblock

A major work. . . . [it] combine[s] detailed knowledge of the language, the underlying philosophy, political trends through the 20th century, and also literary production...will constitute a basic text in all departments where the Arabic language and its associated literature are studied.

Clive Holes

Performs a very useful service in its careful assembling, summarizing, and linking together a lot of rather obscure material, much of it in Arabic...a very useful addition to courses on Arab nationalism, nationalism in general, and Arabic linguistics.

From the Publisher

"This compelling and timely study of Arabic culture, language, history, and nationalism by distinguished Arabic linguist Yasir Suleiman, allows English-speaking audiences an inside view of key issues in understanding the Arab world. Based on Suleiman's extensive research in Arabic language and society, the book is scholarly but not pedantic, and will appeal to a wide range of readers."—Karin C. Ryding, professor emerita, Department of Arabic Language, Literature and Linguistics, Georgetown University

"A major work. . . . [it] combine[s] detailed knowledge of the language, the underlying philosophy, political trends through the 20th century, and also literary production...will constitute a basic text in all departments where the Arabic language and its associated literature are studied."—Tim Niblock, professor of Middle Eastern Studies and director, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter

"Masterfully combine[s] his profound familiarity with the Arabic literature, the endless literature on nationalist ideology, and the very substantial sociolinguistic literature on language and ethnic identity."—Joshua A. Fishman, Distinguished University Research Professor of Social Sciences, Emeritus, Yeshiva University and visiting professor of linguistics and education, Stanford University and New York University

"Performs a very useful service in its careful assembling, summarizing, and linking together a lot of rather obscure material, much of it in Arabic...a very useful addition to courses on Arab nationalism, nationalism in general, and Arabic linguistics."—Clive Holes, professor for the Study of the Contemporary Arab World, University of Oxford

Joshua A. Fishman

Masterfully combine[s] his profound familiarity with the Arabic literature, the endless literature on nationalist ideology, and the very substantial sociolinguistic literature on language and ethnic identity.

Karin C. Ryding

This compelling and timely study of Arabic culture, language, history, and nationalism by distinguished Arabic linguist Yasir Suleiman, allows English-speaking audiences an inside view of key issues in understanding the Arab world. Based on Suleiman's extensive research in Arabic language and society, the book is scholarly but not pedantic, and will appeal to a wide range of readers.

Editorial Reviews

Suleiman carefully reads and sifts a large amount of theoretical and applied information in order to provide his readers with a clear and cogent picture of the crucial relationship between language and identity in the Arabic-speaking region. Suleiman's excellent work of synthesis should be required reading in all courses dealing with the languages, politics, and history of the Arabic-speaking world.

MESA Bulletin

This interesting book is a contribution not only to Arabic sociolinguistics but also to other disciplines. The background of the author, with the perspective and tools to undertake the challenging task of the topic, enables him to combine masterfully various fields of study—sociolinguistics, Arabic literature, and nationalist ideology—making the book valuable to all who are interested in the Arab world, nationalism, sociolinguistics in general, and Arabic sociolinguistics in particular.

Language in Society

Performs a very useful service in its careful assembling, summarizing, and linking together a lot of rather obscure material, much of it in Arabic...a very useful addition to courses on Arab nationalism, nationalism in general, and Arabic linguistics.

Clive Holes

This compelling and timely study of Arabic culture, language, history, and nationalism by distinguished Arabic linguist Yasir Suleiman, allows English-speaking audiences an inside view of key issues in understanding the Arab world. Based on Suleiman's extensive research in Arabic language and society, the book is scholarly but not pedantic, and will appeal to a wide range of readers.

Karin C. Ryding

A major work. . . . [it] combine[s] detailed knowledge of the language, the underlying philosophy, political trends through the 20th century, and also literary production...will constitute a basic text in all departments where the Arabic language and its associated literature are studied.

Tim Niblock

Masterfully combine[s] his profound familiarity with the Arabic literature, the endless literature on nationalist ideology, and the very substantial sociolinguistic literature on language and ethnic identity.

Joshua A. Fishman

"This interesting book is a contribution not only to Arabic sociolinguistics but also to other disciplines. The background of the author, with the perspective and tools to undertake the challenging task of the topic, enables him to combine masterfully various fields of study—sociolinguistics, Arabic literature, and nationalist ideology—making the book valuable to all who are interested in the Arab world, nationalism, sociolinguistics in general, and Arabic sociolinguistics in particular."—Language in Society

"Suleiman carefully reads and sifts a large amount of theoretical and applied information in order to provide his readers with a clear and cogent picture of the crucial relationship between language and identity in the Arabic-speaking region. Suleiman's excellent work of synthesis should be required reading in all courses dealing with the languages, politics, and history of the Arabic-speaking world."—MESA Bulletin

From the Publisher