The Jew, the Arab : a history of the enemy / Gil Anidjar.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Anidjar, Gil

Series:

Cultural memory in the present

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Christianity and antisemitism--Europe--History.

Christianity and antisemitism.

Christianity and other religions--Islam.

Christianity and other religions.

Islam.

Enemies--Europe--History.

Enemies.

History.

Europe.

Physical Description:

xxv, 261 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Stanford, Calif. : Stanford University Press, 2003.

Summary:

Is there a concept of the enemy? To what discursive sphere would it belong? Or, if there is no concept of the enemy, what are the factors that could have prevented its articulation? Following the reflections of Carl Schmitt and Jacques Derrida on the theologico-political, and reading canonical texts from the Western philosophical, political, and religious traditions, the author seeks to account for the absence of a history of the enemy. The question of the enemy emerges in this book as contingent on the way Europe has related to both Jew and Arab as concrete enemies. Moreover, the author provocatively argues that the Jew and the Arab constitute the condition of religion and politics. Among the many strengths of the book is the timeliness of its profound study of contemporary actuality: the volume provides a basis for philosophical understanding of the forces that produced and kindled current conflicts in Europe, the U.S., and the Middle East.

Contents:

The theological enemy

Derrida, the Jew, the Arab

De inimicitia

Rosenzweig's war

The enemy's two bodies (political theology, too)

Muslims (Hegel, Freud, Auschwitz)

Corpse of law : the Messiah and the Muslim.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [237]-261) and index.

ISBN:

0804748241

OCLC:

51265983