Memory and nation building : from ancient times to the Islamic state / Michael L. Galaty.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Galaty, Michael L., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Nationalism and collective memory--Case studies.

Nationalism and collective memory.

Collective memory--Political aspects--Case studies.

Collective memory.

State, The--Case studies.

State, The.

Genre:

Case studies.

Physical Description:

xxiii, 200 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Lanham, Maryland : Rowman & Littlefield, [2018]

Summary:

Memory and Nation Building addresses the complex topic of collective memory, first described by sociologist Maurice Halbwachs in the first half of the 20^th century. Author Michael Galaty argues that the first states appropriated traditional collective memory systems in order to form. With this in mind, he compares three Mediterranean societies - Egypt, Greece, and Albania - each of which experienced very different trajectories of state formation. Galaty attributes these differences to varying responses to collective memory in all three places through time, with climaxes in the Ottoman period, during which all three were under Ottoman control. Egypt was characterized by deeply meaningful memory tropes concerning national unity, which spanned all of Egyptian history, while Greece experienced memory fragmentation, a condition exacerbated by periods of imperial conquest. Albania adapted and assimilated when faced with foreign domination, such that an indigenous Albanian state did not form until 1912. Galaty builds a diachronic model of state formation and its relationship to memory and political control. Memory and Nation Building culminates in an analysis of modern collective memory systems and resistance to those systems, which are often framed as conflicts over "heritage". The formation and eventual fall of the short-lived Islamic State serves as an example of extreme memory work, with lessons for other modern nations.

Contents:

Egypt : unification

Greece : diversification

Albania : adaptation.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Galaty, Michael L., author. Memory and nation building

ISBN:

9780759122604

0759122601

OCLC:

1027833453