FALL 2000

Introduction to Islamic History

 

HISTORY 312-069

MWF, 1:30-2:20, DU-120

HISTORY 312-607

M, 6:00-8:30, LT-507

 

Zouhair Ghazzal

zouhairghazzal.com

 

Crown 545, MW, 2:30-3:00

LT-926, M, 5:00-6:00

(or by appointment)

zghazza@orion.it.luc.edu

 

(773) 508-2221

 

 

 

This course, a “survey” of Islamic societies from the Islamic conquests in the first half of the seventh century until the fall of Constantinople in the hands of the Ottomans Turks in 1453, is the first in a series that the History Department offers as part of its advanced undergraduate curriculum. A second course, History 313, focuses on the modern Middle East, starting with the Ottoman Empire and its “decline.” Additional courses shall be offered on special topics such as gender, sexuality, and kinship; Middle Eastern cities; Judicial systems in Islamic and Arab societies; contemporary literature, and in particular the status of the novel in the Arab world today; and the Arab-Israeli conflict and the rise of the Zionist nation-state, in addition to other topics that the students might suggest during the class discussions of the two survey courses (History 312 & 313).

               For this course, we shall focus, after a brief survey of pre-Islamic Arabia, at the main social forces that made up Islam possible in the Arabian Peninsula. We shall then discuss the Islamic “conquests,” futûhât, their rapid and overwhelming “successes,” and their attempts at integrating populations with different religious, linguistic, and ethnic structures. The outcome shall be the creation of large empires, in the line of other defunct pre-Islamic empires such as the Roman, Byzantine, and Sassanian, but with new elements brought to their bureaucratic, economic, and social structures. We shall focus on two such empire-experiences, the Umayyâd and ‘Abbâsid in particular (the rise of the Ottoman dynasty shall be touched upon very briefly in preparation for the modern Middle East course). The bulk of our material belongs to the social history genre, both descriptive and analytical, beginning with the life of the Prophet Muhammad, the social and political history of the Islamic empires, in addition to the main cultural and intellectual trends such as philosophy, theology, jurisprudence, and sufism.

               Islam as a religious “message” came into being in the Arabian Peninsula in the middle of the seventh century, in a region located between two powerful empires, the Sassanian and Byzantine, and whose social structures were, and remained for a long time, “tribal,” i.e. based on family and kinship affiliations and loyalties. In the Islamic view of the world, the one based on the Qur’ân and the Hadîth, the sayings and doings of the Prophet Muhammad (both sources are considered as the scriptures of Islam), the Prophet (ca. 570-632) was only a “medium” through which God “revealed” his “message” to humanity. Thus the act of “revelation,” wahî, is considered central to the ancient and modern Islamic mythologies. The opening verses (ayât) of chapters (sûra-s) 96 and 74 of the Qur’ân are generally recognized as the oldest revelations; Muhammad’s vision is mentioned in 53:1-18 and 81:19-25, and the night of the first revelation in 97:1-5 and 44:3. At first in private and then publicly, Muhammad began to proclaim his message: that there is but one God and that Muhammad is His messenger, rasûl. Thus right from the beginning, Muhammad’s message was “religious,” in the sense that it challenged the beliefs of a pagan society that worshipped a multitude of Gods. Of course, Muhammad’s monotheism had nothing unique since it was preceded by the Judeo-Christian traditions—and the Qur’ân is full of references to both beliefs—the Qur’ân introduced, however, a new way of worshipping God, in addition to a concept of “sin” so radically different from previous monotheistic (and pagan) religions, that a new concept of man-God relationship has emerged.

               But the main impact of Islam, however, was social and political, involving such crucial things as the umma as a political entity; strict rules of inheritance between the sexes, members of the same family and clan, and between generations; a list of “duties,” known as the “five pillars” that involve the duty of pilgrimage, fasting, almsgiving, praying, and the shahâda; etc. It is therefore not surprising to learn that Muhammad’s “message” was met with a great deal of resistance in his home town of Mecca (where the Ka‘ba is located) to the point that the Prophet decided to move to Medina, a city about 250 miles north. This move, called hijra, emigration, took place in 622, the first year of the Muslim calendar. (Muslim dates are usually preceded by a.h., “Anno Hegirae,” the year of the hijra.) From Medina, it took the Prophet ten years, since the hijra in 622 until his sudden death in 632, to lay down the foundations of Islam as a religion.

 

Concerning this course in particular, let me start by a general remark about the title itself: “Introduction to Islamic History” might indeed give the false impression that there is some entity called “Islam” that needs to be defined and analyzed as such, i.e. as a “totality” or as a “spirit” that conserved itself over the centuries. By contrast, in a title such as A History of Islamic Societies, which is borrowed from the book of Ira Lapidus that was published in 1988, an explicit recognition is made of a multitude of Islamic experiences that evolved historically; and the discovery of these diverse experiences in time and space shall be our main concern throughout this course. Moreover, the process of Islamicization of societies as diverse as the Byzantine lands of the Fertile Crescent, or the Zoroastrian societies of the Sassanian Empire, or those of North Africa, has never been fully completed, meaning that lots of the customary practices that survive until this day are of non-Islamic origin; not to forget that “Islam” also means different things in different places. We would therefore speak of Islamic practices with various historical and regional variations and meanings rather than Islam in general.

               It is, of course, a rather difficult task to study in a one-semester course all such experiences even if we end up selecting fragments from the fourteen-century period of Islamic histories. However, before outlining such difficulties and the kind of limitations they would impose, let me first remind you of the “periods” involved in the history of Islamic societies—period is here taken in a straightforward sense, that of a historical time dominated by a ruling dynasty, or a “pattern of government,” etc. (all of which will be challenged in Hodgson’s Venture of Islam): 1. The prophetic mission and the establishment of the first Islamic communities in the Arabian Peninsula; 2. The Islamic “conquests,” or more accurately the “openings,” futûhât; 3. The defeat of the followers of ‘Alî ibn Abû Tâlib, son-in-law of the Prophet, which in practice meant the subservience of the Shî‘is by Sunni dynasties as was the case of the first Islamic empire in history, the Umayyad, with Damascus as its capital (661-750); 4. Transfer of power from the Umayyads to the ‘Abbâsids with Baghdâd becoming the new capital of the empire; 5. With the ‘Abbâsids, Islamic civilization was at its best—the early ‘Abbâsid period, 750-833: known as the “classical” period of Islam, it witnessed progress and breakthroughs in philosophy, theology, soufism, and jurisprudence (and some of the “sciences” as well); 6. The dismantlement of the ‘Abbâsid empire into rival entities (833-945), a period particularly notorious for the power of the mamâlîk who were the slave born soldiers of the defunct empire and who later ruled in Syria and Egypt; 7. A new period of “unification” comes into existence with the rise and empowerment of the Ottomans; 8. The majority of the Arab lands shall live under Ottoman rule for four centuries, an experience of tremendous consequences on their modern history; 9. The dismantlement of the Ottoman empire after World War I and the establishment, until WWII, of the French and British colonial rules; 10. The end of WWII also meant, for the majority of the Arab/Islamic colonies, the end of colonial rule and the first “national” states—some like Algeria will establish their independence much later (1956); 11. The present period is that of the “national” states, dominated in the majority of cases by state ruled economies and military and/or tribal dictatorships.

               There are several ways to cover a history with such a complexity. I would like to point out to two in particular. The first possibility would be a kind of broad political history, not the chronological type, but a Tocquevillian type of analysis. (I’ve mentioned an author that you’re probably familiar with, but a more accurate description would be a “Khaldunian” type of history—from Ibn Khaldûn, the 14th-century Arab historian whose history we shall discuss in a few weeks.) Such a history would be primarily concerned with state formations from the point of view of dynastic lineages that would make them “stable” or “unstable.” In other words, in order to make our analysis possible, we’ll have to imagine the political as an “autonomous” sphere with its own rules and logic. We could thus analyze, say, the ‘Abbâsid empire from the standpoint of dynasties “coming together” and being subservient to each other: What was the logic behind this type of rule, and how did it hold together for a long period of time? What was the political concept behind this type of state formation? What type of political representation do we have? Why did this type of society produce this particular policy?

               As you can see, this is very different from the chronological history that you’re familiar with which presupposes that what comes “after” is explained by what was there “before”—a “natural” unfolding of events as history. On the other hand, the political history we’ll be aiming at is obviously very different. For one thing, it requires a much more abstract and analytical work.

               The second alternative would be some kind of social history: a study of social structures and the way they evolve in space and time. The work of Fernand Braudel on the expansion of European capitalism between the 15th and 18th centuries is an example of such a history. Time is here considered as multi-layered with the social structures, in contrast to the political, evolve very slowly and have a tempo of their own. Social agglomerations like cities, villages and the like, and institutions like the family and land tenure could be studied with a Braudelian horizon, i.e. extensively and over a period of several centuries.

               It is of course difficult, if not impossible, to do all this in a “survey” course, and our approach shall be necessarily “eclectic.” For example, there’s a great deal of chronology in the early Islamic history, the rise of Islam and the “conquests.” A purely social history would therefore be more than inappropriate because it would end up in serious difficulties in explaining the ideological and political tensions, or, in short, what made Islam as a worldly religion possible. By contrast, the Ottoman empire, with its less than colorful political and intellectual life would be more apt for a social structure analysis.

 

GENERAL

 

There are weekly readings that we’ll discuss collectively in class. Your participation is essential for the success of the course. You might be also occasionally requested to prepare a presentation on a chapter or book which are part of the weekly assignments. Presentations should be improvised and 5 to 10 minutes long. Do not prepare a written presentation. You’re also requested, after submission of a first-draft, to make a short presentation of your term-paper.

           Besides the two-draft research paper (see below the section on papers), you’re expected to submit three interpretive essays. The final grade will be calculated on the basis of one-fifth for each paper draft and one-fifth for each interpretive essay. All interpretive essays are take-home and you’ll be given a week to submit them. The purpose of the interpretative essays is to give you the opportunity to go “beyond” the literal meaning of the text and adopt interpretive and “textual” techniques. A failing grade in all interpretive essays means also a failing grade for the course, whatever your performance in the paper is. All essays and papers must be submitted on time according to the deadlines set below.

 

 

First Interpretive Essay

20%

Second Interpretive Essay

20%

Final Interpretive Essay

20%

Preliminary paper draft

20%

Term Paper:

In case the term paper grade is superior to the preliminary draft, it will count as 40%.

20%

 

 

READINGS

 

The two sets of dates for each week refer to the two history 312 sections:

312-069, MWF, 1:30-2:20, LSC, 3 dates per week

312-607, M, 6:00-8:30, WTC

 

Below is a very tentative schedule for the semester. The idea is to read Hodgson’s Venture of Islam in conjunction with a large variety of primary texts. In Lewis, readings are listed in conjunction with the volume number and documents numbers.

 

 

week

dates

hodgson

lewis

I

8/28, 30, 9/1

8/28

volume i

Introduction & Prologue

I:1-7.

II

9/6, 8, 11

9/11

9/4 labor day

Introduction & Prologue

I: 39-44.

III

9/13, 15, 18

9/18

Book One (I-III)

I: 52-54.

IV

9/20, 22, 25

9/25

Book Two (I-II)

First Interpretive Essay

II: 1-6.

V

9/27, 29, 10/2

10/2

Book Two (III-IV)

I: 8-11.

VI

10/4, 6, 9

10/9

Book Two (V-VI)

I: 39-51.

VII

10/11, 13, 18

10/23

10/16 mid-semester break

Book Two (VII)

II: 38-54.

VIII

10/20, 23, 25

10/30

volume ii

Book Three (I-III)

First Draft Deadline

II: 64-70.

IX

10/27, 30, 11/1

11/6

Book Three (IV-V)

 

II: 74-86.

X

11/3, 6, 8

11/13

Book Three (VI-VII)

Second Interpretive Essay

II: 15-26.

XI

11/10, 13, 15

11/20

Book Four (I-II)

I: 22-30.

XII

11/17, 20, 22

11/27

11/24 thanksgiving

Book Four (III-IV)

Final Interpretive Essay

I: 31-38.

XIII

11/27, 29, 12/1

12/4

papers: presentation and submission of all papers. Your presentation will be graded.

papers

XIV

12/4

papers

deadline for submitting all papers

papers

 

 

 

PAPERS

 

You are requested to write one major research paper to be submitted during the last session, Monday, October 30. You will have to submit, however, a first draft of this paper on Monday, December 4. The first draft should be as complete as possible and follow the same presentation and writing guidelines as your final draft, and it will count as 20% of your total grade unless the final draft is of superior quality. The purpose of the first draft is to let you assess your research and writing skills and improve the final version of your paper. It is advisable that you choose a research topic and start preparing a bibliography as soon as possible. I would strongly recommend that you consult with me before making any final commitment. It would be preferable to keep the same topic for both drafts. You will be allowed, however, after prior consultation, to change your topic if you wish to do so.

               You may choose any topic related to the social, economic, political, or cultural history of any Islamic society up to the early Ottomans. Even though papers on the Ottoman Empire might be accepted pending on the subject, no paper should cover contemporary twentieth-century topics. Papers should be analytical and conceptual. Avoid pure narratives and chronologies and construct your paper around a main thesis.

 

Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 5th ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987. Intended for students and other writers of papers not written for publication. Useful material on notes and bibliographies.

 

December 4: final draft deadline

submit your final draft with your preliminary corrected one

 

Keep in mind the following when preparing your preliminary and final drafts:

 

·        once you’ve decided on a paper-topic and prepared a preliminary bibliography, send an abstract and bibliography of your topic to the class-list <h312-l@luc.edu> (see below). Your abstract should include: (i) title; (ii) description; (iii) sources; (iv) methodology (e.g. suggestions on how to read sources). Your preliminary draft will not be accepted unless you’ve submitted an on-line abstract.

·        preliminary drafts should be submitted on time, October 30.

·        preliminary drafts should be complete and include footnotes and an annotated bibliography. (The Turabian reference above is annotated: it briefly spells what the book is about and to whom it might be useful.)

·        do not submit an outline as a first draft.

·        incomplete and poorly written first drafts will not be accepted, and you’ll be advised to revise your first draft completely.

·        if you submit a single draft throughout the semester, you’ll receive F for 20% of the total and your final grade will be averaged accordingly.

·        the oral presentation is an essential aspect of your grade; if you can’t attend the last session, request an appointment.

·        your final draft should take into consideration all the relevant comments provided on your earlier draft:

·        all factual and grammatical mistakes should be corrected, in addition to other stylistic revisions.

·        passages indicated as “revise” or “unclear” or “awkward” should be totally revised.

·        when specific additional references have been suggested, you should do your best to incorporate them into your material.

·        there might be several additional suggestions in particular on your overall assumptions and methodology. It will be up to you to decide what to take into consideration.

·        Submit the final draft with your preliminary corrected one.

·        if you’re interested in comments on your final paper and interpretive essay, request an appointment by e-mail.

 

Please use the following guidelines regarding the format of your papers:

 

·        use 8x10 white paper (the size and color of this paper). Do not use legal size or colored paper.

·        use a typewriter, laser printer or a good inkjet printer and hand in the original.

·        only type on one side of the paper.

·        should be double spaced, with single spaced footnotes at the end of each page and an annotated bibliography at the end (see bibliography below).

·        keep ample left and right margins for comments and corrections of at least 1.25 inches each.

·        all pages should be numbered and stapled.

·        a cover page should include the following: paper’s title, course number and section, your name, address, e-mail, and telephone.

 

E-MAIL DISCUSSION LIST

 

An open e-mail discussion list is available: each message—whether mine or from any student—will reach anyone else on the list, so that every subscriber could directly write to the list.

 

H312-L@luc.edu

 

The purpose of this electronic listserv is to discuss issues relevant to both courses, and current political and social matters as well. The focus, however, shall be primarily on the readings themselves since they represent our primary source for dealing with the complexities of these civilizations.

 

To join the list, please send an e-mail message to:

 

                              listproc@luc.edu

 

and include as your e-mail message (leaving the Subject: field blank, if possible):

 

                              subscribe H312-L first-name last-name

 

e.g., Janine Doe—you would type in:

 

                              subscribe H312-L Janine Doe

 

GroupWise Users at Loyola University Chicago: Please preface the 'listproc' address (or subscription address) with 'internet:' in the To: field. For example:

 

                              To: internet:listproc@luc.edu

 

Once you’ve successfully subscribed (you’ll receive a confirmation message with instructions), send all messages to the list’s address:

 

                              H312-L@luc.edu

 

Your message will be automatically forwarded to all the list’s subscribers. You should also receive a duplicate of your own message.

 

To unsubscribe send an e-mail to listproc@luc.edu with the following message:

 

                              unsubscribe h312-l first-name last-name

 

Do not send any mail to my private address <zghazza@luc.edu>, except for appointments or personal problems regarding the course. Suggestions for term-papers topics should be posted directly at the class-list.

 

Problems in joining the list? Questions? Send an e-mail to Brian Kinne <bkinne@luc.edu>.

 

notes from it services:

 

From: "Jack Corliss, Loyola University Chicago" <jcorlis@orion.it.luc.edu>

 

Please note that about 96% of all registered students have e-mail accounts, on the GroupWise e-mail system (university e-mail system). We no longer encourage students to obtain Orion accounts unless they plan to do personal web page design and development.

               Of course, students can use whatever e-mail account they have to subscribe and post to the class discussion list including AOL and Entereact. If you want to send attachments to the students on the list then they should find out their e-mail system handles attachments.

               You should also know that as of May 1997, anyone using the computer workstations in any of the University computing centers and public-access labs are required to have university network access account (which we call the UVID). This is required whether the student plans to access the Internet resources, their GroupWise or Orion e-mail, use word-processing to write their papers, whatever.

               Therefore, students are assigned these accounts automatically. However, if a student does not remember his or her university network access account/password, and registered late this year, then the student will need to go to the computing center to have the password reassigned or a network access account set up (usually takes 24 hours).

 

WHAT I HAVE JUST PRESENTED ABOVE IS VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Please be prepared to direct the student to one of the computing centers if he or she does not know nor remember the network access account or password.

               Please note that some students may know this network access account as the GroupWise account and password—an unfortunate nomenclature—but most likely this is one and the same. Previously, we referred to these as GroupWise accounts but now we are calling them university IDs (or UVID), or university network access accounts.

               The computing centers have had to deal with this last semester, so please do not hesitate to refer any students to the computing centers for assistance, or they can call the Help Desk at 4-4444 and the Help Desk staff will re-assign a network access password.

 

SELECTIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY

 

The following bibliography is highly selective and only restricted to books and articles which in a way or another are representative of a particular historical or sociological/anthropological trend. Students are thus encouraged, when writing their papers, to use more extensive bibliographies related to the topics they are dealing with. Some of the  books for our weekly discussion sessions include such bibliographies. (It would better if you discuss with me your papers’ topics before you start writing.)

 

1. Islam & The Early Empires—General

 

The Qur’ân is the holy book of the Muslims (in all their different factions and sects) delivered by God in Arabic to the community of believers (umma) through the “medium” of the Prophet Muhammad in sessions of “revelation” (wahî). Thus Arabic is not only the language of the Qur’ân (and the Sunna), but also a divine language, the language of God. All translations of the Qur’ân are thus considered as illegitimate and inaccurate. There are several such “translations”/“interpretations” available. A classical one would be that of A.J. Arberry, The Koran Interpreted (Oxford University Press). For a recent “reading” of the Qur’ân, see Jacques Berque, Relire le Coran (Paris: Albin Michel, 1993).

 

R. Stephen Humphreys, Islamic History. A Framework for Inquiry (Princeton University Press, 1991), is a long annotated and commented bibliography thematically organized. Recommended for all those looking at the best in the field for sources available in English, French and German. Some references to primary sources, mainly Arabic medieval sources, are also included. The problem with this “inquiry” is that it excludes from its field of investigation all publications in modern Arabic, as well as Turkish and Persian. In short, this book is an excellent tool for a primary survey on the status of the Middle Eastern Studies field in Europe and North America.

               Marshall G. S. Hodgson, The Venture of Islam, 3 vols. (Chicago University Press, 1974), is a landmark study on the “origins” of Islam and its historical evolution into empires. Recommended for those interested in Islam within a comparative religious and geographical perspective.

               Ira Lapidus, A History of Islamic Societies (Cambridge University Press, 1988), is a complete fourteen-century history of Islamic societies. Chapters vary in depth and horizon. No particular focus—Tedious to read.

               Bernard Lewis (ed.), The World of Islam (London: Thames and Hudson, 1976), is a thematically organized book with chapters on literature, jurisprudence, sufism, the cities, the Ottoman and modern experiences. Includes hundreds of illustrations and maps.

               Watt, W. M., Muhammad at Mecca (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1953); Muhammad at Medina (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1956), both are classics describing the life of the Prophet and his first achievements in Mecca and Medina.

               Franz Rozenthal, A History of Muslim Historiography (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1952); 2d rev. ed., 1968.

               Roy Mottahedeh, Loyalty and Leadership in an Early Islamic Society (Princeton University Press, 1980), an excellent book, based on primary sources from Southern Iraq that describe the process and concept of bay‘a in early Islamic thought.

               Hugh Kennedy, The Early Abbasid Caliphate: A Political History (London: Croom Helm, 1981).

               Jacob Lassner, The Shaping of Abbasid Rule (Princeton University Press, 1980).

               Lassner, Jacob, Islamic Revolution and Historical Memory: An Inquiry into the Art of ‘Abbâsid Apologetics  (American Oriental Series, number 66.) New Haven: American Oriental Society. 1986.

               The History of al-Tabarî (State University of New York Press, 1989), is a multi-volume series of the translation of the “History” of Tabarî, one of the major historians and interpreters of the Qur’ân of the early Islamic and empire periods.

               al-Shâfi‘î, Risâla. Treatise on the Foundations of Islamic Jurisprudence, translated by Majid Khadduri (Islamic Texts Society, 1987). Shâfi‘î was the founding father of one of the four major schools of Sunni jurisprudence and the Risâla contains some of his major theoretical foundations on the notions analogy, qiyâs, and the ijmâ‘, consensus of the community.

               Martin Lings, Muhammad. His Life Based on the Earliest Sources (Rochester, 1983).

               Newby, Gordon Darnell, The Making of the Last Prophet: A Reconstruction of the Earliest Biography of Muhammad (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1989).

               Maxime Rodinson, Muhammad (Pantheon, 1971), is an interesting interpretation of the early Islamic period based on a social and economic analysis of the Arabian Peninsula at the dawn of Islam.

               M. A. Shaban, Islamic History. A New Interpretation, 2 vol. (Cambridge University Press, 1971), is an attempt towards a new interpretation of the ‘Abbâsid Revolution of the eight century as a movement of assimilation of Arabs and non-Arabs into an “equal rights” Empire.

               Mohammad Hashim Kamali, Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence (Cambridge, 1991). See also the great classic of Joseph Schacht, The Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1950).

               Ignaz Goldziher, Introduction to Islamic Theology and Law (Princeton University Press, 1981).

               Fred Donner, The Early Islamic Conquests (Princeton University Press, 1981), reconstructs the early Islamic Conquests (futûhât) from a wealth of Arabic chronicles and literary and ethnographic sources.

               Bernard Lewis, The Political Language of Islam (Chicago University Press, 1988), discusses the notion of “government” and “politics” in Islamic societies.

               Ann Lambton, Continuity and Change in Medieval Persia. Aspects of Administrative, Economic and Social History, 11th-14th Century (The Persian Heritage Foundation, 1988).

               Dominique Urvoy, Ibn Rushd (Averroes) (Routledge, 1991). Henry Corbin, Avicenna and the Visionary Recital (Princeton University Press, 1960), is an analysis and interpretation of Hayy ibn Yaqzân.

               Salma Khadra Jayyusi, editor, The Legacy of Muslim Spain (Leiden: Brill, 1993). See also L. P. Harvey, Islamic Spain, 1250 to 1500 (Chicago University Press, 1990).

 

2. The Ottoman Empire

 

• REFERENCE

For a general social history of The Ottoman Empire, see H.A.R. Gibb and Harold Bowen, Islamic Society and the West, Volume One, 2 parts (London: Oxford University Press, 1950-57).

               For a general chronological history of the Ottoman Empire, see Stanford Shaw & Ezel Shaw, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, 2 vols., (Cambridge, 1977). See also M. A. Cook (ed.), A History of the Ottoman Empire to 1730 (Cambridge University Press, 1976).

               Paul Wittek, The Rise of the Ottoman Empire (London, 1963). A short monograph on the nature of early Ottoman expansion.

               For a narrative account of the rise of the Ottoman Empire viewed from the standpoint of historical geography, see Donald Edgar Pitcher, An Historical Geography of the Ottoman Empire. From earliest times to the end of the Sixteenth Century with detailed maps to illustrate the expansion of the Sultanate (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1972).

               George Young, Corps de droit ottoman, 7 vol. (Oxford, 1905-6) contains  selections from the Ottoman judicial code.

 

• GENERAL HISTORIES

Robert Mantran (ed.), Histoire de l’Empire ottoman (Paris: Fayard, 1989).

Barbara Jelavich, The Ottoman Empire (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1973).

Halil Inalcik, The Ottoman Empire (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1973).

Norman Itzkowitz, Ottoman Empire and Islamic Tradition (New York: Knopf, 1972)

Peter Mansfield, The Ottoman Empire and Its Successors (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1973).

William Miller, The Ottoman Empire and Its Successors, 1801-1927 (New York: Octagon Books, 1966).

Smith William Cooke, The Ottoman Empire and Its Tributary States (Chicago: Argonot, 1968).

 

• THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE IN THE INTER-STATE SYSTEM

Alexander H. de Groot, The Ottoman Empire and the Dutch Republic (Leiden, 1978).

Leopold von Ranke, The Ottoman and the Spanish Empires in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (New York: AMS Press, 1975).

Gustav Bayerle, Ottoman Diplomacy in Hungary (Bloomington: Indiana University, 1972).

J. C. Hurewitz, Diplomacy in the Near and Middle East. A Documentary Record, 2 vol. (Princeton, 1956), contains a selection of administrative documents, edicts,  and treaties since 1535.

 

• WORLD-SYSTEM THEORY

There has been numerous studies within the last two decades that describe in economic terms how the Ottoman societies have reacted to what is now known as the process of “incorporation” of the Ottoman Empire in the world-economy. Despite their merits, “world-systems” analyses are weak in understanding and interpreting cultures and social structures. See for example, Immanuel Wallerstein & Resat Kasaba, “Incorporation into the World-Economy: Change in the Structure of the Ottoman Empire,1750-1839,” in J.-L. Bacqué-Grammont & Paul Dumont, eds., Économie et sociétés dans l'Empire ottoman (Paris: CNRS, 1983), 335-54. Some of the most recent titles in “world-systems” include the following:

               Huri Islamoglu-Inan, ed., The Ottoman Empire and the World-Economy (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988).

               Caglar Keyder, ed., Ottoman Empire: Nineteenth-Century Transformations, in Review, 11(1988).

               Caglar Keyder, State and Class in Turkey: A Study in Capitalist Development (London & New York: Verso, 1987).

               Resat Kasaba, The Ottoman Empire and the World Economy: The 19th Century (Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1988).

               Pamuk, Sevket, The Ottoman Empire and European Capitalism,1820-1913: Trade, Investment, and Production (Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987).

 

• SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY

Halil Inalcik, Studies in Ottoman Social and Economic History (London: Variorum Reprints, 1985), is a reproduction of a series of articles on the “beginnings” of the Ottoman Empire, the impact of the Annales school on Ottoman historiography, etc., by a leading figure in the field of Ottoman studies. See also by the same author his collected studies under the title The Ottoman Empire: Conquest, Organization and Economy (London: Variorum Reprints, 1978).

               Halil Inalcik, “Military and Fiscal Transformation of the Ottoman Empire, 1600-1700,” Archivum Ottomanicum, 6(1980), 283-337, reproduced in Inalcik (1985), discusses the transformation of the Ottoman tax-farming system from the timâr to the iltizâm. See also Bruce McGowan, Economic Life in Ottoman Europe. Taxation, Trade and the Struggle for Land, 1600-1800 (Cambridge University Press, 1981).

               Kemal H. Karpat, Ottoman Population: Demographic and Social Characteristics (Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1985). This book attempts, on the basis of original archive materials, to show the demographic dimension of Middle Eastern and Balkan societies under Ottoman rule in the 19th century. See the review of Inalcik in IJMES, 21/3 (1989).

               Ömer Lutfi Barkan, “The Price Revolution of the Sixteenth Century: A Turning Point in the Economic History of the Near East,” IJMES, 6(1975), 3-28. A classical article which analyzes the effects of one of the first debasements of the Ottoman currency in the 16th century.

               Uriel Heyd, Studies in Old Ottoman Criminal Law, ed. by V. L. Ménage (Oxford, 1973) discusses, among others, the relation between the Islamic sharî‘a and the Ottoman qânûn.

               Benjamin Braude & Bernard Lewis (eds.), Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Empire: The Functioning of a Plural Society. Volume 1, The Central Lands; Volume 2, The Arabic-Speaking Lands. (New York, 1982), contains a wide range of articles on “minority” groups in the Ottoman Empire.

               On women in the Ottoman Empire, see Fanny Davis, The Ottoman Lady. A Social History from 1718 to 1918 (New York: Greenwood Press, 1986).

               Ehud R. Toledano, The Ottoman Slave Trade and Its Suppression (Princeton University Press, 1982), stresses the key role of the British in the elimination of the trade in black slaves from Africa and the importance of the Ottoman’s own actions in abolishing trade in white slaves from the lands around the Black Sea.

               Suraiya Faroqhi, Towns and Townsmen of Ottoman Anatolia. Trade, Crafts and Food Production in an Urban Setting, 1520-1650 (Cambridge University Press, 1984).

               Charles Issawi, Economic History of Turkey (Chicago, 1980), is an account, mainly based on the European consular correspondence of the 19th century, of the Turkish economy during the period of Western colonialism and imperialism.

               Gabriel Baer, “The Administrative, Economic and Social Functions of Turkish Guilds,” IJMES, 1(1970), 28-50. Haim Gerber, “Guilds in Seventeenth-Century Anatolian Bursa,” Asian and African Studies (AAS), 11(1976), 59-86. Orhan Kurmus, “Some Aspects of Handicraft and Industrial Production in Ottoman Anatolia, 1800-1915,” AAS, 15(1981), 85-101. Edward C. Clark, “The Ottoman Industrial Revolution,” IJMES, 5(1974), 65-76. Bernard Lewis, “The Islamic Guilds,” Economic History Review, 8(1937), 20-37.

               Jacques Thobie, Intérêts et impérialisme français dans l'empire Ottoman (Paris, 1977) focuses on the effects of French imperialism on the Ottoman Empire in general and on some Arab Provinces in particular (Syria and Lebanon).

 

• THE STATE, IDEOLOGY, & RELIGION

Serif Mardin, The Genesis of Young Ottoman Thought (Princeton University Press,1962) studies the effects of Western “liberal” thought on the Ottoman intelligentsia of the 19th century and the “origins” of the Tanzimât reforms of 1839. See also by the same author, “Ideology and Religion in the Turkish Revolution,” International Journal of Middle East Studies (IJMES), 2(1971), 197-211. See also R. C. Repp, The Müfti of Istanbul: A Study in the Development of the Ottoman Learned Hierarchy (London: Ithaca, 1986) and J. R. Barnes, An Introduction to Religious Foundations in the Ottoman Empire (Leiden: E.J. Brill,1986). Richard L. Chambers, “The Ottoman Ulema and the Tanzimat” in Nikki R. Keddie (ed.), Scholars, Saints, and Sufis: muslim Religious Institutions Since 1500 (Berkeley-Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1972).

               Cornell H. Fleisher, Bureaucrat and Intellectual in the Ottoman Empire: The Historian Mustafa Ali, 1546-1600 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986). The Ottoman 16th century through the eyes of the historian Mustafa Ali. See the critical review article (especially on the much debated issue of “decline”) by Rhoads Murphey, “Mustafa Ali and the Politics of Cultural Despair,” IJMES, 21(1989), 243-255; idem, Regional Structure in the Ottoman Economy (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1987). A Sultanic memorandum of 1636 A.D. concerning the sources and uses of the tax-farm revenues of Anatolia and the coastal and northern portions of Syria.

               Cornell H. Fleisher, “Royal Authority, Dynastic Cyclism, and ‘Ibn Khaldûnism’ in Sixteenth-Century Ottoman Letters,” Journal of Asian and African Studies, 18/3-4(1983), 198-220.

               Bernard Lewis, The Emergence of Modern Turkey (Oxford University Press, 1968[1961]) A survey of the first Turkish pan-movements till the proclamation of the Turkish Republic and its aftermath. See also Uriel Heyd, Foundations of Turkish Nationalism (Westport, Conn.: Hyperion Press, 1979).

               Kemal H. Karpat, “The Transformations of the Ottoman State, 1789-1908,” IJMES, 3(1972), 243-81.

               Carter Findley, Bureaucratic Reform in the Ottoman Empire. The Sublime Porte, 1789-1922 (Princeton University Press, 1980); idem, Ottoman Civil Officialdom. A Social History (Princeton University Press, 1989) reassesses Ottoman accomplishments and failures in turning an archaic scribal corps into an effective civil service.

               For a political anthropology of the Ottoman Empire and the cultural barriers for its development, see Ilkay Sunar, State and Society in the Politics of Turkey’s Development (Ankara, 1974).

 

3. The Arab Provinces. General.

The work of Charles Issawi gives the best synthesis of the economic development of the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire (Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt). Among his numerous works, Economic History of the Middle East (Chicago, 1966), Economic History of the Middle East and North Africa (New York, 1982), The Fertile Crescent, 1800-1914, A Documentary Economic History (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988).

               Another excellent work of economic synthesis is Roger Owen’s The Middle East in the World Economy (London: Methuen, 1981).

               William Polk & Richard Chambers, eds., Beginnings of Modernization in the Middle East (Chicago, 1968) contains some key articles by Karpat, Chevallier, Berque, Hourani, and others. Highly recommended.

 

4. Syria, Lebanon, & Palestine

The Lebanese historiography did not progress much beyond the classical works of Chevallier (1971), Harik (1968), and Smilyanskaya (1965), despite a number of interesting recent publications in the field.

               Dominique Chevallier, La société du mont Liban à l’époque de la révolution industrielle en Europe (Paris, 1971) is a complete study on the economic, cultural, and political effects of the industrial revolution on Mount Lebanon during the 19th century. See also by the same author, Villes et travail en Syrie, du XIXe au XXe siècle (Paris, 1982).

               Iliya Harik, Politics and Change in a Traditional Society, Lebanon, 1711-1845 (Princeton, N. J., 1968), is very powerful in analyzing the cultural transformations of the societies of Mount Lebanon. The chapters on the process of “rationalization” (in the sense of Weber) of the Maronite Church are among the best in the field.

               I. M. Smilyanskaya’s thesis, Krestyanskoe dvizhenie v Livane (Moscow,1965), is unfortunately only available in the original Russian with a complete Arabic translation (Beirut, 1971). Some chapters are translated in English in Issawi (1966 & 1988). Smilyanskaya’s thesis is an attempt to explain the peasant’s movements of the 19th century in terms of class struggle rather than inter-confessional struggles.

               Boutros Labaki, Introduction à l’histoire économique du Liban (Beirut,1984), focuses mainly on the production of silk in Mount Lebanon during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

               Leila Fawaz, Merchants and Migrants in Nineteenth Century Beirut (Cambridge, Mass., 1983), covers the rapid evolution of Beirut during the 19th century from a small provincial town to a key commercial city.

               William Polk, The Opening of South Lebanon (Cambridge, Mass., 1963), is another classical study of Mount Lebanon.

               Mikhâyil Mishâqa, Murder, Mayhem, Pillage, and Plunder. The History of the Lebanon in the 18th and 19th Centuries, translated from the Arabic by Wheeler M. Thackston, Jr. (Albany: State University of New York Press,1988), is a 19th century chronicle by Mishâqa (1800-1888) who among other things served as financial comptroller to the Shihâb emirs of Hâsbayyâ and in his later years was a physician and consul to the United States in Damascus.

               Thomas Philipp, The Syrians in Egypt, 1725-1975 (Stuttgart, 1985), discusses the immigration of Syrians (mainly Christians) to Egypt starting with the Ottoman period.

               A.L. Tibawi, American Interests in Syria (Oxford, 1961), analyzes the role and function of the Protestant missionaries in Syria from the 1820s till the opening of the Syrian Protestant College in Beirut in 1866.

               Abraham Marcus, The Middle East on the Eve of Modernity. Aleppo in the Eighteenth Century (New York: Columbia University Press, 1989), would be interesting to compare with Brown, People of Salé concerning the social and economic structures of Arab/Islamic cities. See also Bruce Masters, The Origins of Western Economic Dominance in the Middle East. Mercantilism and the Islamic Economy in Aleppo, 1600-1750 (New York University Press, 1988).

               Karl K. Barbir, Ottoman Rule in Damascus, 1708-1758 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980), focuses on the politics of the notables during the 18th century, the governorship of the ‘Azm, and the political and economic importance of the pilgrimage for Damascus.

               Philip Khouri, Urban Notables and Arab Nationalism (Cambridge, 1983), discusses the formation, during the Tanzimât period and after the Land Code of 1858, of provincial bureaucracies composed mainly of Damascene land-owners belonging to the traditional notable's class.

               Linda Schatkowski Schilcher, Families in Politics. Damascene Factions and Estates of the 18th and 19th Centuries (Stuttgart, 1985), is a more complete version of Khouri’s thesis on Damascus. Her division of the city in three “conflicting” parts and the maps provided are the best parts of the book.

               William Polk (ed.), “Document: Rural Syria in 1845,” Middle East Journal, 16(1962), 508-14.

               Roger Owen, ed., Studies in the Economic and Social History of Palestine in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (Carbondale, Ill., 1982), contains a series of well written articles on the effects of foreign investments in Palestine.

               Neville J. Mandel, The Arabs and Zionism Before World War I (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976) focuses on the Arab and Ottoman reactions (mainly by leading politicians and intellectuals) to Jewish immigration to Palestine during the last four decades of Ottoman rule.

               Kenneth Stein, The Land Question in Palestine,1917-1939 (Chapel Hill, N.C., 1984) is in some aspects a complementary study to Mandel’s Arabs and Zionism. Highly recommended for those interested in the social and economic dimensions of the Arab-Israeli conflict. See also Gershon Shafir, Land and Labor and the Origins of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,1882-1914 (Cambridge University Press, 1989).

               David Kushner (ed.), Palestine in the Late Ottoman Period (Jerusalem-Leiden, 1986), has a number of interesting articles on the economy of Palestine at the turn of this century. Problems related to the demography, the system of iltizâm, and the waqf (Gabriel Baer), are well covered. See also Moshe Ma‘oz (ed.), Studies on Palestine During the Ottoman Period (Jerusalem: The Magnes Press, 1975). On the Jews of the Arab Provinces of the Ottoman Empire, see Norman A. Stillman, The Jews of the Arab Lands. A History and Source Book (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1979).

               Gabriel Baer, “The Dismemberment of Awqâf in Early 19th Century Jerusalem,” AAS, 13(1979), 220-41. This article, based on the law-court registers of Jerusalem, shows that the process of the “dismemberment” of the waqf is only a judicial device to transform it to the status of a quasi private property.

               Philip Matar, The Mufti of Jerusalem. al-Hajj Amin al-Husayni and the Palestinian National Movement (Studies of the Middle East Institute, 1988), offers a comprehensive biography of Muhammad Amin al-Husayni, the principle leader of Palestinian nationalism during the British Mandate.

               Muhammad Muslih, The Origins of Palestinian Nationalism (Institute for Palestine Studies, 1988).

               Justin McCarthy, The Population of Palestine. Population Statistics of the Late Ottoman Period and the Mandate (Institute for Palestine Studies, 1990), shows that Arabs were a large majority in Palestine up to 1947.

               Avi Shlaim, The Politics of Partition. King Abdullah, The Zionists, and Palestine, 1912-1951 (Columbia University Press, 1990), focuses on the secret Arab-Zionist agreement to partition Palestine.

               Zouhair Ghazzal, L’économie politique de Damas durant le XIXe siècle. Structures traditionnelles et capitalisme (Damascus: Institut Français de Damas, 1993).

 

5. Iraq

 

Hanna Batatu, The Old Social Classes and the Revolutionary Movements of Iraq (Princeton University Press, 1978), covers extensively the rise and fall of the Iraqi Communist Party (ICP) in the 1940s in the second part of the book, while the first part is an introduction to the Iraqi society from a profile of its landowning and other social “classes.” Finally, a third part deals, though less extensively than for the Communists, with the formation of the Ba‘th and the coming to power of Saddâm Husayn. The three parts seem like three different narratives without a major thread to bring them together. Extensive use of the Foreign Office archives that the British left in Iraq.

               Samir al-Khalil, Republic of Fear. The Inside Story of Saddam’s Iraq (Pantheon, 1989), analyses the logic of Iraqi “totalitarianism.” Important insights on the ideology of the Ba‘th party, its organization, and its links with other state organizations such as the army, the mukhâbarât, etc. See also by the same author, The Monument. Art, Vulgarity and Responsibility in Iraq (University of California Press, 1991).

 

6. Iran

 

Roy Mottahedeh, The Mantle of the Prophet. Religion and Politics in Iran (Pantheon, 1985), is an analysis of some of the main intellectual movements in Iran prior and during the Islamic Revolution in 1978 as seen through the eyes of a “character” under the pseudonym of Ali Hashemi. However, despite this focus on the education and becoming of a single Iranian ‘âlim, the overall point of the book remains unclear.

 

7. Turkey

 

Serif Mardin, Religion and Social Change in Modern Turkey. The Case of Bediüzzaman Said Nursi (SUNY, 1989), raises the question of religious fundamentalism in Turkey through the case of Said Nursi and his movement.

 

8. Egypt

André Raymond’s seminal work Artisans et commerçants au Caire au 18ème siècle (Damascus, 1973-4) in 2 volumes is a must for the economic history of Egypt during the 18th century. Compare with Marcus (1989) and Brown (1976) on the concept of Arab/Islamic cities.

               For the 19th century and in particular the Muhammad Ali experience in “modernization,” a revisionist work is Afaf Lutfi al-Sayyid Marsot, Egypt in the Reign of Muhammad Ali (Cambridge, 1984).

               Judith Tucker, Women in Nineteenth Century Egypt (Cambridge University Press, 1985), discusses the problems in the historiography of women in Middle Eastern societies.

               Bryon Cannon, Politics of Law and the Courts in Nineteenth-Century Egypt (University of Utah Press, 1988), explores the interaction between local and international factors, both political and economic, that affected the establishment of an effective civil and criminal court system in Egypt during the last decades of the nineteenth century.

               Timothy Mitchell, Colonising Egypt (Cambridge University Press, 1988), examines the peculiar methods of order and truth that characterize the modern West through a re-reading of Europe’s colonial impact on 19th century Egypt.

               Beinin, Joel and Zachary Lockman, Workers on the Nile: Nationalism, Communism, Islam, and the Egyptian Working Class, 1882-1954 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987).

               Peter Gran, Islamic Roots of Capitalism. Egypt, 1760-1840 (University of Texas Press, 1979). Gran’s main hypothesis is that the output of the ‘ulamâ’ marked “developments in secular culture and were supportive of capitalism.”

               Gabriel Baer, Egyptian Guilds in Modern Times (Jerusalem, 1964).

               Juan R.I. Cole, Colonialism and Revolution in the Middle East. Social and Cultural Origins of Egypt’s ‘Urabi Movement (Princeton University Press, 1993), focuses on the ‘Urâbî movement as a broadly based social revolution hardly underway when it was cut off by the British. A challenge to traditional élite-centered theories.

 

9. The Maghreb

What is interesting in the Moroccan case is that this society has not been subject to Ottoman rule. Hence it could be used as a background for a comparative analysis with the Ottoman societies.

               Abdallah Laroui's Les origines sociales et culturelles du nationalisme marocain,1830-1912 (Paris: Maspero, 1977), is a monumental study on how the idea of Moroccan “nationalism” evolved through the existence of “internal” institutions (mainly the Makhzen). Highly recommended.

               Schroeter, Daniel J., Merchants of Essaouira: Urban Society and Imperialism in Southwestern Morocco, 1844-1886 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988). An account of Essaouira in its heyday, as the city was opening to foreign penetration, sheds light on the problems of traditional societies in the age of European economic imperialism. Compare with the classical study of Kenneth L. Brown, People of Salé. Tradition and Change in a Moroccan City, 1830-1930 (Harvard University Press, 1976).

               Edmund Burke III, “The Moroccan Ulama, 1860-1912: An Introduction” in Nikki R. Keddie (ed.), Scholars, Saints, and Sufis: Muslim Religious Institutions Since 1500 (Berkeley-Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1972).

               Carl L. Brown, The Tunisia of Ahmad Bey, 1837-1855 (Princeton University Press, 1974).

               Peter Von Sivers, “The Realm of Justice: Apocaliptic Revolts in Algeria (1849-1879), Humaniora Islamica, 1(1973), 47-60.

 

10. The Modern Middle East Within an Anthropological & Historical Perspectives

 

Roger Owen, State, Power and Politics in the Making of the Modern Middle East (Routledge, 1992), presents the state, society, religion and the military within a comparative perspective.

               Dale F. Eickelman, The Middle East. An Anthropological Approach, 2nd. ed. (Prentice-Hall, 1981, 1989), covers a wide variety of topics from the villages and cities to self, gender and sexuality. Depth of treatment varies from one chapter to another—some chapters, like the one on the cities, are purely disappointing while others fail to come up with an approach from the multitude of secondary studies that the author relies on. A crucial book for an overview on the current state of anthropological literature on the Middle East.

               Pierre Bourdieu, The Logic of Practice (Stanford University Press, 1990), originally published in Paris as Le sens pratique (1980), is a pioneering study on the social “practices” of the Kabyles in Algeria, based on a field work in the 1950s, and with tremendous philosophical, epistemological and anthropological implications. Recommended for those who would like to take account of the most recent discoveries in the “social sciences,” and most notably anthropology and combine them with their own historical findings.

               Dresch, Paul, Tribes, Government and History in Yemen (Oxford University Press, 1990).

               Goldberg, Harvey E., Jewish Life in Muslim Libya: Rivals and relatives (Chicago University Press, 1990).

               Haeri, Shahla, Law of Desire: Temporary Marriage in Iran (Tauris, 1990), on the status of women and the types of marriages (in particular the mut‘a, pleasure marriage) in contemporary Iran.

               Rosen, Lawrence, The Anthropology of Justice: Law as Culture in Islamic Society (Cambridge UP, 1989), is an important study on the practice of law in Morocco. Rosen starts with the basic assumption that law in every society is part of the cultural system, and then proceeds to show that “bargaining” is an essential “concept” towards an understanding of the “practice” of Islamic law. A breakthrough in the study of law in general.

               Brinkley Messick, The Calligraphic State. Textual Domination and History in a Muslim Society (California University Press, 1992), discusses the transmission, conservation and interpretation of the fiqh (jurisprudence) literature from one generation to another in the context of an Islamic society like Yemen. Focuses on details that historians usually avoid. Recommended for those interested in history within an anthropological perspective.

               Michael Fischer and Mehdi Abedi, Debating Muslims. Cultural Dialogues in Postmodernity and Tradition (Wisconsin University Press, 1990). Written in a post-modernist Derridean style, this book is supposed to show that all kinds of Islamic practices wherever they’re located are always in a permanent process of adaptation and re-adaptation to the social realities of a particular period. This is done through a re-assessment of the previous mainly “textual” traditions. Thus, according to our authors, it is the various hermeneutical traditions that save Islam (or any other religion for that matter) from any dogmatism—even though they note a fear of différance in the Islamic traditions. Shortly prior to publication, the authors have added an annex on Salman Rushdi’s The Satanic Verses which is probably the best thing ever written on this highly controversial book. For one thing, the authors show quite convincingly that Rushdi’s knowledge of his “Islamic material” was very close to the “authoritative sources” of Islam.

               Smadar Lavie, The Poetics of Military Occupation. Mzeina Allegories of Bedouin Identity Under Israeli and Egyptian Rule (California University Press, 1990). This book, based on extensive fieldwork on the South Sinai desert, borrows several post-modernist and deconstructionist approaches from literary criticism and creatively applies them to the Mzeina Bedouins. Thus the book is constructed around several “allegorical characters”—the Shaykh, the mad-woman, the old-woman, the ex-smuggler, and the “one who writes about us,” i.e. the author herself who had decided at one point to leave the Bedouins and write about them at Berkeley. The “allegorical characters” are supposed to show the Bedouins-in-transition between their old kinship and survival oriented ideology towards “modernity,” i.e. the male Bedouins as part of a cheap and under-paid Israeli labor-force. Her text is inserted with large “dialogues”—or “interviews”—to emphasize the author’s “textual” approach: translate practices into “texts” with meaning.

               Lila Abu-Lughod, Veiled Sentiments. Honor and Poetry in a Bedouin Society (University of California Press, 1986), reflects on the politics of sentiment and the relationship between ideology and human experience.

               Virginia R. Domínguez, People as Subject, People as Object. Selfhood and Peoplehood in Contemporary Israel (Wisconsin University Press).

 

11. Gender, Women, The Family & Sexuality

 

Lois Beck and Nikki Keddie, eds., Women in the Muslim World (Cambridge University Press, 1978).