The invention of identities in the Arab Middle East. (c2010)

Includes bibliographical references (l. 115-122).

محفوظ في:
التفاصيل البيبلوغرافية
المؤلف الرئيسي: Touqan, Hosam (author)
التنسيق: masterThesis
منشور في: 2010
الموضوعات:
الوصول للمادة أونلاين:http://hdl.handle.net/10725/680
https://doi.org/10.26756/th.2010.33
الوسوم: إضافة وسم
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author Touqan, Hosam
author_facet Touqan, Hosam
author_role author
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Touqan, Hosam
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2010
2010-04-06
2011-10-04T11:45:26Z
2011-10-04T11:45:26Z
2011-10-04
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10725/680
https://doi.org/10.26756/th.2010.33
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv en
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Lebanese American University
dc.rights.*.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Saadeh, Antoun -- 1904-1949 -- Criticism and interpretation
Nationalism -- Syria
Identity (Psychology) -- Arab countries
Anderson, Benedict R. O'G -- (Benedict Richard O'Gorman) -- 1936- -- Imagined communities
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv The invention of identities in the Arab Middle East. (c2010)
A study and a critique of Antoun Saadeh's Syrian nationalism
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv Thesis
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
info:eu-repo/semantics/masterThesis
description Includes bibliographical references (l. 115-122).
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network_acronym_str LAURepo
network_name_str Lebanese American University repository
oai_identifier_str oai:laur.lau.edu.lb:10725/680
publishDate 2010
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Lebanese American University
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
repository.name.fl_str_mv
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spelling The invention of identities in the Arab Middle East. (c2010)A study and a critique of Antoun Saadeh's Syrian nationalismTouqan, HosamSaadeh, Antoun -- 1904-1949 -- Criticism and interpretationNationalism -- SyriaIdentity (Psychology) -- Arab countriesAnderson, Benedict R. O'G -- (Benedict Richard O'Gorman) -- 1936- -- Imagined communitiesIncludes bibliographical references (l. 115-122).This thesis examines Antoun Saadeh' s national ideas by using Benedict Anderson's concept of "imagined community." It aims at unpacking Saadeh's thoughts by using a new perspective to clarify his vision of what a nation is and the basis on which he had constructed his theory on Syrian nationalism. The study examines critically Saadeh's concept of nationalism with particular emphasis on the relationship of this concept to both Arabs and Islam. It also traces the origins of Saadeh's thought and the sources from which he derived his national and historic.al writings to formulate the concept of Syrian nationalism. The current research also provides an epistemological evaluation of Saadeh's ideas via resorting to scholarly studies which reveal some of his historical fallacies. The main contribution of this thesis is meant to expose the way through which Saadeh had formulated the Syrian "imagined community". The current study unveiled that Saadeh's version of Syrian nationalism was a novel case. It is a form of what Benedict Anderson considered to be an "official nationalism." In this case Saadeh's political party, the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, was and remains to be a "state within a state." By implementing Anderson's model, Saadeh's ideology attempts to place the inhabitants of the "fertile crescent" in one "organic body," by providing them, through its propaganda and party discipline, with a new vision on "life, the universe and art." This was conducted through reviving the heritage of the ancient civilizations in the region and avoiding the Arab-Islamic tradition. SU,ch a view overlooks the Arab presence and assumes that it was both trivial and unnecessary within the realm of the Syrian nation. Accordingly, Saadeh vigorously indicated that Syrian nationalism proved to be a channel through which segments of minority groups within the Arab Middle East were able to illustrate their vision of the past, the present and the future. Saadeh's nationalist discourse sought to create a unifying identity for the inhabitants of the "Fertile Crescent" region. This was conducted through promoting an anthropological biological interpretation of what nation is, based on the effect of geography and racial fusion on the course of development of the Syrian nation. The current study also proved that Benedict Anderson's interpretation of the rise of nationalism remains to be viable even in colonial states. Saadeh was one example of the validity of Anderson's historical paradigm. He was indulged in creating a specific "Syrian" nation by attempting to impose his national theory through his party. "Syrian" nationalism remains to be a source of understanding contemporary Arab intellectuals' mindset. This is evident in the eclectic nature of both Saadeh's social and economic ideas. He is an example of what can be perceived as the "Arab attitude of mind," where western ideologies are fused with traditional ones. The implications of this ideological process are embedded in the formation of hybrid ideology that neither represents the old ideas nor the modern ones. Instead such an outlook creates a distorted form of intellectual consciousness. Finally, the study proves that Saadeh's ideology and historical perspective regarding the existence of a unique civilization in the Fertile Crescent extending from the ancient past, intersects with several modern Arab historians and writers' studies and research. This clarifies that Saadeh's national ideology is currently active in the Arab Middle East notwithstanding the fact that Saadeh's party is politically weak.1 bound copy: 122 leaves; 30 cm. Available at RNL.Lebanese American University2011-10-04T11:45:26Z2011-10-04T11:45:26Z20102011-10-042010-04-06Thesisinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/masterThesishttp://hdl.handle.net/10725/680https://doi.org/10.26756/th.2010.33eninfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:laur.lau.edu.lb:10725/6802020-05-18T14:53:46Z
spellingShingle The invention of identities in the Arab Middle East. (c2010)
Touqan, Hosam
Saadeh, Antoun -- 1904-1949 -- Criticism and interpretation
Nationalism -- Syria
Identity (Psychology) -- Arab countries
Anderson, Benedict R. O'G -- (Benedict Richard O'Gorman) -- 1936- -- Imagined communities
status_str publishedVersion
title The invention of identities in the Arab Middle East. (c2010)
title_full The invention of identities in the Arab Middle East. (c2010)
title_fullStr The invention of identities in the Arab Middle East. (c2010)
title_full_unstemmed The invention of identities in the Arab Middle East. (c2010)
title_short The invention of identities in the Arab Middle East. (c2010)
title_sort The invention of identities in the Arab Middle East. (c2010)
topic Saadeh, Antoun -- 1904-1949 -- Criticism and interpretation
Nationalism -- Syria
Identity (Psychology) -- Arab countries
Anderson, Benedict R. O'G -- (Benedict Richard O'Gorman) -- 1936- -- Imagined communities
url http://hdl.handle.net/10725/680
https://doi.org/10.26756/th.2010.33