Why are the Arabs not free? : the politics of writing / Moustapha Safouan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Safouan, Moustafa

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Arab countries--Politics and government--20th century.

Arab countries.

Politics and government.

Arab countries--Intellectual life--20th century.

Intellectual life.

Civilization, Arab--20th century.

Civilization, Arab.

Physical Description:

xvii, 106 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Boston, MA : Blackwell Pub., 2007.

Summary:

For centuries the dominant image of the Middle East has been one of despotism. Those on the right argue that this despotism is the result of Arab or Islamic culture; those on the left see it as an effect of Imperialism. In this ground breaking book the eminent Egyptian psychoanalyst Moustapha Safouan argues that this endless despotism finds its most important foundation in the divorce between the classical Arabic which is the medium of education and the diverse vernacular Arabics which are the language of the street. Safouan's impassioned argument to his fellow Arabs is that if they wish to realise the potential of their great culture, they must follow the linguistic lead of the European Reformation and develop the currently despised vernaculars. Safouan's magisterial essay is a tour de force of political philosophy, religious argument and linguistic history. It will be required reading for all those interested in the relations between language and culture, religion and politics.

Contents:

Foreword / by Colin MacCabe

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Components of Western dominance

Questions that have been forgotten in our political philosophy

Creative transmission and stagnant transmission: culture and power

Peoples and writers

The role of language in the creation of culture

Writing and power

The fraud of the Islamic state

Further reading

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781405161718

140516171X

OCLC:

85892501