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(Vol. VIII No. 2/Vol. IX No. 1): Fall 2000/Spring 2001
From The Editors: Why this issue on "language and culture"? Over the last few decades, the intensely political implications of the act of studying the "other" have become obvious. Area studies--due to its institutional locations, historical legacies, and links to power structures--has been particularly problematic in its deployment of "culture" as an explanatory mechanism, sometimes sinking into cultural determinism. In Middle East studies, the notion of "political culture," a conceptual corollary of modernization theory, has been used and abused to corroborate familiar dichotomies: overemphasizing the tribal/primordial basis of politics and positing an Arabo-Islamic "nature" inimical to democracy, to cite two well-known examples. (For further elaboration, see the Spring 1998 issue of the ASJ, "Contending with Middle East Exceptionalism.") On the other hand, scholarship that is restricted to textual analysis of cultural or literary formations has--ironically--perpetuated conceptualizations of cultural productions as mere ephemeral appendages to core dynamics of political economy. This issue of the ASJ is one of many efforts that seek to recognize language and culture as generative, dynamic sites of social practice rather than objects which reflect political realities . . . [read more] |
Table of Contents
Special Issue: Language and Culture in the Arab World
Articles
10. The New Pharaonism: Nationalist Thought and the Egyptian Village Novel, 1967-1977
by Samah Selim
25. Reading Inside and Out: A Look at Habibi’s Pessoptimist
by Nancy Coffin
47. Representations of Arabic in Egypt, 1940-1990
by John Eisele
61. Creating Al-Sayyida al-Istihlakiyya: Advertising in Turn-of-the-Century Egypt
by Mona Russell
97. The Myth of the False: Ramses Younan’s Post-Structuralism avant la lettre
by Andrea Flores
111. Maintaining the Moral Economy: Egyptian State-Labor Relations in an Era of Economic Liberalization
by Nicola Pratt
Interview
130. Interview with Amin Zaoui
by Rabia Bekkar
Book Reviews
149. The Muslim Brotherhood and the Kings of Jordan, 1945-1993
by Marion Boulby
reviews by Oliver Wilcox
154. Stories of Democracy: Politics and Society in Contemporary Kuwait
by Mary Ann Tetreault
reviewed by Sean Foley
157. Rethinking Islam: Common Questions, Uncommon Answers
by Mohammad Arkoun
reviewed by Abdeslam Maghraoui
160. Mass Mediations: New Approaches to Popular CUlture in the Middle East and Beyond
by Walter Armbrust
reviewed by Greta Scharnweber
168. The Palestinian Hamas: Vision, Violence, Coexistence
by Shaul Mishal and Avraham Sela
reviewed by Steven Salaita
171. Women in the Medieval Islamic World
edited by Gavin R.G. Hambly
reviewed by Jeremie Peterson
175. No God but God: Egypt and the Triumph of Islam
by Geneive Abdo
reviewed by Mona El-Ghobashy
183. Saddam's Word: Political Discourse in Iraq
by Ofra Bangio
reviewed by Gregory J. Harris
Review Essays
187. Water Scarcity, Politics, and Conflict in the Middle East
by Sean Lawson
196. The Middle East in Wor(l)d Politics
by Pinar Bolgin
202. Social Issues and Community Development in Egypt
by Miranda Beshara
Special Issue: Language and Culture in the Arab World
Articles
10. The New Pharaonism: Nationalist Thought and the Egyptian Village Novel, 1967-1977
by Samah Selim
25. Reading Inside and Out: A Look at Habibi’s Pessoptimist
by Nancy Coffin
47. Representations of Arabic in Egypt, 1940-1990
by John Eisele
61. Creating Al-Sayyida al-Istihlakiyya: Advertising in Turn-of-the-Century Egypt
by Mona Russell
97. The Myth of the False: Ramses Younan’s Post-Structuralism avant la lettre
by Andrea Flores
111. Maintaining the Moral Economy: Egyptian State-Labor Relations in an Era of Economic Liberalization
by Nicola Pratt
Interview
130. Interview with Amin Zaoui
by Rabia Bekkar
Book Reviews
149. The Muslim Brotherhood and the Kings of Jordan, 1945-1993
by Marion Boulby
reviews by Oliver Wilcox
154. Stories of Democracy: Politics and Society in Contemporary Kuwait
by Mary Ann Tetreault
reviewed by Sean Foley
157. Rethinking Islam: Common Questions, Uncommon Answers
by Mohammad Arkoun
reviewed by Abdeslam Maghraoui
160. Mass Mediations: New Approaches to Popular CUlture in the Middle East and Beyond
by Walter Armbrust
reviewed by Greta Scharnweber
168. The Palestinian Hamas: Vision, Violence, Coexistence
by Shaul Mishal and Avraham Sela
reviewed by Steven Salaita
171. Women in the Medieval Islamic World
edited by Gavin R.G. Hambly
reviewed by Jeremie Peterson
175. No God but God: Egypt and the Triumph of Islam
by Geneive Abdo
reviewed by Mona El-Ghobashy
183. Saddam's Word: Political Discourse in Iraq
by Ofra Bangio
reviewed by Gregory J. Harris
Review Essays
187. Water Scarcity, Politics, and Conflict in the Middle East
by Sean Lawson
196. The Middle East in Wor(l)d Politics
by Pinar Bolgin
202. Social Issues and Community Development in Egypt
by Miranda Beshara