Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-06T11:50:57.906Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

9 - Marginal Literatures of the Middle East

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 September 2012

Yasir Suleiman
Affiliation:
King's College, Cambridge
Ibrahim Muhawi
Affiliation:
Edinburgh Institute for the Advanced Study of the Arab World and Islam
Get access

Summary

In the last hundred years the Arab world has been given a unity that has been more ideological than real. Most Arabs both within the Arab world and beyond acknowledge to some extent some idea of cultural unity. The idea is reinforced by the existence of the Arab League and other regional organisations and has, by and large, been accepted by all Arab governments. Other Arab countries are shaqiq ‘brother’ rather than sadiq ‘friend’. Modern Standard Arabic, Arab Clubs among students in British, mainland European and American universities, tapes of Umm Kulthum, the novels of Naguib Mahfouz, the poetry of Nizar Qabbani and the issue of Palestine all contribute towards this cultural unity. Arab newspapers treat news of other Arab countries as of greater relevance than news of Europe, the Far East or the United States.

It is easy to see this successful idea, with its emphasis on the territory of the Arab world, as somehow deep-rooted and everlasting. The Arabic language, as the language of Islamic revelation, suggests an unchanging nature of ‘uruba, Arabness. Its status is within the realm of sacred geography, and cannot be subject to academic examination or scientific analysis like secular languages. Study of the colloquial Arabic is seen as divisive (Suleiman 1994: 12). Even the study of local history can open old wounds and conflicts to the detriment of Arab unity (Jabbur 1993: 11–12).

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Print publication year: 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×