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Overview
During the second half of the twentieth century, the Arab intellectual and political scene polarized between a search for totalizing doctrines-nationalist, Marxist, and religious-and radical critique. Arab thinkers were reacting to the disenchanting experience of postindependence Arab states, as well as to authoritarianism, intolerance, and failed development. They were also responding to successive defeats by Israel, humiliation, and injustice. The first book to take stock of these critical responses, this volume illuminates the relationship between cultural and political critique in the work of major Arab thinkers, and it connects Arab debates on cultural malaise, identity, and authenticity to the postcolonial issues of Latin America and Africa, revealing the shared struggles of different regions and various Arab concerns.
Columbia University Press
Synopsis
During the second half of the twentieth century, the Arab intellectual and political scene polarized between a search for totalizing doctrines-nationalist, Marxist, and religious-and radical critique. Arab thinkers were reacting to the disenchanting experience of postindependence Arab states, as well as to authoritarianism, intolerance, and failed development. They were also responding to successive defeats by Israel, humiliation, and injustice. The first book to take stock of these critical responses, this volume illuminates the relationship between cultural and political critique in the work of major Arab thinkers, and it connects Arab debates on cultural malaise, identity, and authenticity to the postcolonial issues of Latin America and Africa, revealing the shared struggles of different regions and various Arab concerns.
Editorials
The Middle East Journal -
A must read for all those who want to understand the Arab world's cultural predicament.
H-Levant -
[An] outstanding contribution that does an excellent job of exposing the self-analysis of contemporary Arab culture.
International Journal of Middle East Studies -
...a very important contribution to the field of Arab intellectual history...a much-need addition to our field.
The Middle East Journal
A must read for all those who want to understand the Arab world's cultural predicament.— Issa J. Boullata
H-Levant
[An] outstanding contribution that does an excellent job of exposing the self-analysis of contemporary Arab culture.— Yoav Di-Capua