E-Book Overview
In this innovative study, Professor Tahar Labib seeks to understand how the 'Other' is viewed in Arab culture, and vice versa. Imagining The Arab Other examines how Turks, Europeans, Christians and Iranians have been represented in the arts, opinions and cultures of the Arab world. Conversely, it also explores the intellectual representation of 'The Arab' in other cultures. It demonstrates the central role of the Catholic Church in ascribing to the Arab peoples a set of characteristics associated with the 'Other'. Labib places this survey in the context of theoretical debates, started by Edward Said's 'Orientalism', on the construction of 'Other'. With its diversity of perspectives, Imagining The Arab Other offers a new way of understanding of identity and cultural difference in the Middle East, one which goes beyond the Orientalist / Occidentalist paradigm.
E-Book Content
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Centre for Arab Unity Studies
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Arab Association of Sociologists
Imagining the Arab Other: How Arabs and Non-Arabs View Each Other
Edited by Tahar Labib
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Published in 2008 by I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd 6 Salem Road, London W2 4BU 175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010 www.ibtauris.com Published in association with the Centre for Arab Unity Studies In the United States of America and Canada distributed by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of St. Martin’s Press 175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010 Copyright © 2008 Centre for Arab Unity Studies All rights reserved. This book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Library of Modern Middle East Studies 69 ISBN: 978 1 84511 384 1 A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library A full CIP record is available from the Library of Congress Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: available Designed and Typeset by 4word Ltd, Bristol, UK Printed and bound in Great Britain by William Clowes Ltd, Beccles, Suffolk
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Contents
Preface List of Contributors
v xi
Part I: On the Otherness Question 1. The Other as an Historical Invention Jean Ferreux
3
2. Orientalism and Occidentalism: Invention of the Other in Anthropological Discourse Munzer A. Kilani
10
3. The Other’s Image: The Sociology of Difference Haidar Ibrahim Ali
17
4. The Other, the Self and the Idea of Citizenship Pierre Paolo Donatti
35
Part II: Behind the Borders: (1) The Arab View of the Other 5. The Other in Arab Culture Tahar Labib
47
6. The African in Arab Culture: Dynamics of Inclusion and Exclusion Helmi Sharawi
92
7. The Dialectics of the Ego and the Other: A Study of Tahtawi’s Takhlis Al Ebriz Hassan Hanafi
157
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CONTENTS
8. The Other’s Image in Maghrebi Travel Writings Abdul Salam Heimer
183
9. Tunisia and the World: Attitude of the Young Tunisian to Other Countries Michael Suleiman
203
Part III: Behind the Borders: (2) The Other’s View of the Arab 10. The Image of Arabs and Islam in French Textbooks Marilyn Nassr
223
11. The Catholic Church and Islam Anzo Patchi
251
12. The Others’ Image: Real and False Fears in Arab–European Relations Sigurd N. Skirpekk
261
Part IV