Assyrians in modern Iraq : negotiating political and cultural space / Alda Benjamen, University of California, Berkeley.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Benjamen, Alda, 1980- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Assyrians--Iraq--History--20th century.

Assyrians.

Assyrians--Iraq--Politics and government.

Iraq--Politics and government--1958-.

Iraq.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xxxi, 258 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2022.

Summary:

Examining the relationship between a strengthened Iraqi state under the Baʿth regime and the Assyrians, a Christian ethno-religious group, Alda Benjamen studies the role of minorities in twentieth-century Iraqi political and cultural history. Relying on extensive research in Iraq, including sources uncovered at the Iraqi National Archives in Baghdad, as well as in libraries and private collections in Erbil, Duhok, and Mosul, in Arabic and modern Aramaic, Benjamen foregrounds the Iraqi periphery as well as the history of bilingualism to challenge the monolingual narrative of the state. By exploring the role of Assyrians in Iraq's leftist and oppositional movements, including gendered representations of women, she demonstrates how, within newly politicized urban spaces, minorities became attracted to intellectual and political movements that allowed them to advance their own concerns while engaging with other Iraqis of their socio-economic background and relying on transnational community networks. Assyrian intellectuals not only negotiated but also resisted government policies through their cultural production, thereby achieving a softening of Baʿthist policies towards the Assyrians

Contents:

Introduction: Identity, urbanization, and citizenship

Assyrians and the Iraqi Communist Party

The role of Assyrians and communists in the Kurdish Uprising (1961-1975)

Between reconciliation and repression : Ba'thist policies towards the Assyrians in the 1970s

Compliance, negotiation, resistance : Assyrian press and popular culture (1970s-1980s)

The re-establishment of the Assyrian nationalist political movement (1970s-1980s)

Conclusion

Appendix 1: Census data tables

Appendix 2: The 'Simele' song.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 24 Jan 2022).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-108-98568-8

1-108-98524-6

1-108-97663-8

OCLC:

1250431665