Discussion Leader: Hadley
Readings
Primary Source: Taha Hussein, The Future of the Culture of Egypt tr. Sidney Glazer (Washington, D.C.: American Council of Learned Societies, 1954 [1938]), p. 1-21.
Primary Source: David Kimche, "Better Mediterraneanism than Arabism," The Jerusalem Post, July 17, 2008, https://www.jpost.com/opinion/columnists/better-mediterraneanism-than-arabism.
Laurence Deschamps-Laporte, "Alexandria Again and Forever," Jadaliyya, July 13, 2015, https://www.jadaliyya.com/Details/32281.
Dina Ramadan, “The Alexandria Biennale and Egypt's Shifting Mediterranean,” in Adam J Goldwyn and Renée M Silverman (eds.) Mediterranean Modernism: Intercultural Exchange and Aesthetic Development (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016): 343-361.
Optional
Madeleine Dobie, “For and against the Mediterranean: Francophone Perspectives,” Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East (2014) 34 (2): 389–404.
Hala Halim, “Introduction,” Alexandrian Cosmopolitanism: An Archive (New York: Fordham University Press, 2013).
Sherry McKay, "Mediterraneanism: the politics of architectural production in Algiers during the 1930s." City & Society 12.1 (2000): 79-102. [SKIM]
In-Class
A key term that is introduced in this week's reading is the rise of “salafism” and “cosmopolitan.” In Laurence Deschamps-Laporte, text "Alexandria Again and Forever," he discusses such terms. Per definition, the Salafi movement, also called Salafiya and Salafism, “is a reform branch or revivalist movement within Sunni Islam that developed in Egypt in the late 19th century as a response to Western European imperialism.” On the other hand, as noted in the given text, “cosmopolitan” is defined as “... a cosmopolitan community or place is one characterized by multicultural exchanges, tolerance, and a shared feeling of belonging to a universal community, which often leads to the burgeoning of intellectual and artistic life” (Deschamps-Laporte).
ReplyDeleteI believe Laporte uses the terms “salafism’’ and “cosmopolitan” throughout his text to summon whether Egypt has modified to modernity or whether they’re stuck in their times of antiquity & backward ways. There's a common belief from many western states such as the European and North American states that associate the Middle East/Arab region with religion and only religion. They have a common belief that such Middle Easten states can’t adapt to modernity and are dominated by religion and only religion since time & need to be tranformed. They never portray the cosmopolitan community within the Middle East, the star attractions, and the landmark as is. The Middle East is always portrayed to be stirred in war, and religious conflict since time. Throughout, modern readings we see the Middle East depicted as being involved in Islamist movements; such as the Muslim Brotherhood or the Wahhabism & salafism movement. These movements are always depicted in a negative connotation, illustrating the Muslim Middle Eastern states as brutal and “backwards”. I point this out because I believe Deschamps has written this text with an ultimate goal. I believe he wants to circulate that there’s a common mindset that obsessively considers Middle Eastern societies through and ONLY THROUGH the lenses of its Islamist movements. Through out the media, academia articles, blogs etc we tend to see the Middle East perceived through the lenses of a particular violent Islamist movement. Therefore, he illustrates that such cities in Egypt are multi-racial and have inter-connections with other cultures since the Ancient Greeks when he discusses the term cosmopolitan. I am also glad that Laporte has discussed the “salafism movement.” It’s crucial to understand the Salafism as it sought to reconcile Islam with modernism.
Furtherly, this relates to one of our primary resources: Taha Hussein, “The Future of the Culture of Egypt.” Hussein highlights in his text that new Egypt is built on its ancient Egypt. From my understanding, Hussein and Laporte are outlining that Middle Easten states/Arab Region like Egypt were in connection with South Easten states like Greece since Ancient time. The Middle East is always potrayed to be feeding off of European ideolgy and aid. However, Hussain and Laporte clearly illustrate that globalization is vice versa. Hussein notes school children know that the Greek colonies were established in Egypt by the pharaohs, and that Egypt influenced Greek literature & poetry. Thus, it’s critical to understand that many Middle Eastern states have influenced European states. It’s not always Western states (European & NA) influencing and transforming the Middle East, it was and can be the other way around.
Best,
DeleteAya Mohamed
aya, you make a great point in your final few sentences, which is that the middle east has had a major hand in shaping europe/north america as well as the reverse. said argues a similar point in orientalism, stating that what orientalists wrote about the region often had more to do with the anxieties and preoccupations of the occident (and its identity) than the so-called orient itself. do be careful using globalization in this context because, as we have discussed, it has malleable meanings and often is too broadly conceptualized to give us any specific insights into historical processes.
DeleteThe main focus of the readings this week was the concept of Mediterraneanism and the idea of a Mediterranean Union. Major themes within the larger conversation include ideas of cosmopolitanism and colonialism and the nostalgia that exists and surrounds both terms. Using Alexandria as a focal point and place to contextualize cosmopolitanism and colonialism, many different problematic realities of the cosmopolitan city are obscured by colonialist ideals of longings for the good old days of racial segregation and European supremacy. The deep nostalgia many Europeans feel for Alexandria before the ascent of Nasser fails to acknowledge the slums that Egyptians were cast-off to and the exclusion that they faced. In the Western imagination, as Laurence Deschamps-Laporte comments, Alexandria is equated with loss, and only when under Western control and influence is it seen a culturally relevant and laudable place.
ReplyDeleteReading Taha Hussein’s Future of the Culture of Egypt, I was struck by how deeply he seemed to subscribe to ideas of Western superiority. Hussein worked throughout the piece to equate the Egyptian mind with the Greco-Roman tradition, examining the similarities between the Near-East and the West through the connections in philosophy, culture, and art, pointing out that even where they differ, in religion, that difference is still connected through the shared emphasis on the Old and New Testaments. Hussein advocates for assimilation with European traditions, and he sees it as the only way for Egyptians to prosper. Hussein says, “In order to become equal partners in civilization with the Europeans, we must literally and forthrightly do everything that they do,” (p.15). This statement is incredibly alarming to me. Hussein advocates for the erasure of cultural practices and ideas in favor of European ones. He has so deeply internalized Western notions of Orientalism that he is blind to the achievements of his own culture and people. Did he receive backlash after publishing this? Or am I reading it wrong?! What Hussein fails to see, Deschamps-Laporte is quick to call out, as Deschamps-Laporte crushes the European nostalgia for the “lost” Alexandria and praises the city’s cosmopolitanism present and future while undermining colonial narratives. Nevertheless, the tensions between the East and West peaks within the Mediterranean, as Western notions of cultural distance and superiority cannot be supported by their blatant geographical proximity to the Near and Far East.
Hadley
Key Word: Salafism- a reform branch or revivalist movement within Sunni Islam that developed in Egypt in the late 19th century as a response to Western European imperialism. The Salafist doctrine is based on looking back to the early years of the religion to understand how the contemporary Muslims should practise their faith. (definition from Wikipedia)
Deletegreat, thorough response. to answer your question, hussein did receive backlash but there is a large contingent of public intellectuals/civil servants of his generation who subscribed to his view, and the entrenchment of this view has become apparent in successive generations.
Delete“Cosmopolitan”
ReplyDeleteEgypt as described by the readings is a place that was exposed to multiple forms of cultures, traditions, ideas and era. By that they identity of such a place must be influenced by those factors. Taha Hussian, a famous Egyptian writer expressed his thoughts in sustaining the cultural aspect of Egypt, especially after the independence from the British colonization. He raised a respectable number of points that elevates his concerns in nourishing a strong identity and culture after the end of the colonization. He also, illustrated that Egyptian thoughts and identity might change after the end of the colonization. He started comparing the relationship in religion, language, politics, economics and geography between the far east and the west in constructing the cultural aspect of the Egyptian nation. He gave a one important statement that I think is important, he explained that west considers Egypt identity as similar to the far east identity, such as China and Japan. Which is completely wrong, the only ties that connects the far east with Egypt are Economical and Political ties. He also illustrated that the Egyptian culture is very affected by the Mediterranean identity from Greece, Spain and Italy for example.
We can connect the forms in formulating the Egyptian culture with the two reading of "Alexandria Again and Forever, and The Alexandria Biennale and Egypt’s Shifting Mediterranean. They illustrated how the Mediterranean countries have affected one of the most multi-cultural cities in the middle eastern region which is Alexandria. Alexandria, was given an image of a cosmopolitan city that had a similar luxury entertainment and political, artistic culture of the Mediterranean area. The interception of the “cosmopolitan” and “Salafism” is one of the most interesting relationships I read in conceptualizing the identity of Alexandria. They specified that the Nasser regime had a very strong correlation to this two interception. I want to know how did the Nasser regime with the ideology of the Soviet Union that had a lot of effects on the identity of the city of Alexandria. I really liked that in the opening of the Alexandria Biennale Nasser presented the nationalization of the Suzie canal. This is very important, because it is a setting stone that completely removed the English/Britain power in the Egypt and they brought Art pieces from the Mediterranean area as a signal of power and independence. I liked the relationship between the political element and cultural/ artistic element that formulated the identity of Alexandria.
In the last reading, it is just hard to unite the Mediterranean as a union due to the varying mixed of culture, traditions, religions, languages and economic performance that those countries preform and that Sarkozy failed to do that. One of the most taunting elements that failed to unite the Mediterranean is that there is fierce competition between Middle eastern and European states.
good analysis saif. i like that you highlight how nasser wields the opening of the alexandria biennale to practice public diplomacy and create a staged historical moment with the nationalization of the suez canal. bring this type of analysis to your midterm project!
DeleteThe two key terms that stuck out to me in this week's reading were the concept of certain geographical “minds” and “cosmopolitanism”.
ReplyDeleteAs I read “The Future of Culture in Egypt” originally written by Taha Hussein, it took me a moment to understand the author's opinion, as the piece spends a lot of time discussing the history of Egypt as well as its faults, but not much time on how we can try to resolve these issues (until the end). “The Future of Culture in Egypt” refers to many “minds”. When the piece refers to the Egyptian mind, for example, it is often just talking about something else that has influenced the Egyptian mind, but not the individual nature of the mind. For example, on page 6, the writing reads: “Until the time of Alexander, the Egyptian mind influenced and was influenced by the Greek mind, sharing most if not all of its characteristics (pg. 6). A few pages later, the author discusses the European mind, which is “made up of three parts”: “Greek civilization with its literature, philosophy, and art; Roman civilization with its political institutions and jurisprudence; and Christianity with its appeal for charity and its exhortation to good works” (pg. 10). As the piece goes on, the author makes his point clear that the Egyptian mind needs to be strengthened and become more individual. Instead of adopting the European mind (which many people do subconsciously), it is important to remain educated on Egyptian history and think of ways to enact change and stray away from the European mind. Ways in which the author suggests to do this is by altering not only the school system, but the government. The government system in Egypt is modeled after the European one, which is problematic when a country is still trying to gain true independence from various influences. The suggestion about the school system comes from the idea that many kids are being taught Eurocentric values instead of learning true history, which poses problems that will pass on for generations if curriculums are not adjusted. On page 19, the author clearly defines his argument: “in short, I want us to harmonize our words with our actions”.
In addition to this reading, the Laurence Deschamps-Laporte "Alexandria Again and Forever” piece also had me thinking, specifically about the word “cosmopolitanism”. To Deschamps-Laporte, a cosmopolitan community or place is one “characterized by multicultural exchanges, tolerance, and a shared feeling of belonging to a universal community, which often leads to the burgeoning of intellectual and artistic life” (pg. 2). I found this to be very interesting, because it seems to me that what is essential in finding the “mind” of wherever you're from is through acknowledging its history and the way the country/city/whatever it may be came to be. I think that this is what Deschamps-Laporte is getting at by the end of the piece: that Egypt should no longer accept being called a cosmopolitan place, especially the city of Alexandria, because Arabs are not included in the community anywhere near as much as other groups. Instead, it is a “mosaic of European and classist liberal pleasures that camouflage an Arab majority whose activities go largely unnoticed and whose existence-- when briefly acknowledged-- is disregarded as squalid” (pg. 3).
From reading these three pieces in particular, it was very apparent to me that what is most important, for all countries, is to understand their history, good and bad. To be able to trace back to the negative things that happened, as well as the good things, because that is the only way to enact change-- from the ground up. I think that altering the education system would be a great way to do this-- planting the seed in peoples heads that a lot of Egypts history is told from a Eurocentric point of view will allow change to come.
i'm glad that you had these takeaways from the pieces we read, diva. i'm especially glad that you note how deschamps-laporte questions the utility of "cosmopolitanism" to describe communities and spaces like alexandria. hussein, meanwhile, takes an entirely different approach and comes from a less critical point of view regarding mediterraneanism's role in egypt, which you also summarize succinctly and precisely.
DeleteToday’s readings focused on the Middle Eastern nations on the south and east coasts of the Mediterranean, exploring how this geographical proximity to Mediterranean Europe has impacted its history and in turn culture. Throughout this course we've been exploring the idea of Orientalism. Orientalism survives on the basis that there is an Occident and an Orient and that one is the antithesis of the other.
ReplyDeleteToday’s readings gave us a look at how people who prescribe to this theory view the Mediterranean Middle East. These countries are ones whose histories are deeply intertwined with both the Orientalist's ideas of "East" and "West", having been part of empires established in both Europe, Asia and Africa. It is important to note that all these countries which may have at one point belonged to a European power, have more or less retained their local population, a population which now identifies as Arab and predominantly Muslim.
“The Future of the Culture of Egypt" was written as Egypt was breaking away from one of these European powers. From the way Taha Hussein describes Egypt's relationship with the "West" and the "East" it is fair to deduce that his perspective here fits our description of an Orientalist. This explains his inability to fully conceive of Egypt as a multifaceted nation, instead choosing to tie it closer to Europe in its ideals, government and its "minds". This work gives the impression that Taha Hussein wants the reader to view Egypt as more European than Arab. He wants Egypt to recognize this and to choose to align itself with Europe.
This idea of forgetting what makes a country Arab and instead focusing instead on what the country has in common with Europe, comes across clearly in the Jerusalem Post's article "Better Mediterraneanism than Arabism". For these countries, what they have in common with Europe is their shared Sea which brought with it a shared history of trade, wars and Imperial forces. The Jerusalem Post article and Taha Hussein would rather see these countries perceive themselves as Mediterranean than Arab.
This relationship is also explored in "Alexandria again and Forever" which explores the coastal city's struggle with identifying itself as more Arab or Mediterranean. However, this same duplicity is instead labeled with the terms "Cosmopolitan" and "Salafi". The work uses cosmopolitism as a stand in for Mediterraneanism, as it describes a cosmopolitan city which largely harbors European natives. The paper ultimately finishes by giving the term: "cosmopolitan" a new meaning, one more in line with Global History's perspective. The author chooses to "dissociate the term from the connotation it inherited from the works of Durrell, Forster and Cavafy" and instead focuses on all the ways the city is actually cosmopolitan, keeping its Arab identity while also being home to a multi ethnic and national population.
Ultimately, the idea of Mediterraneanism is one that is used in contrast to these nations' Arab identity. However, this doesn't have to be the case, these countries do in fact owe a great deal of their culture and identity to their Mediterranean coast. Speaking from my perspective as an Egyptian, our shared mannerisms, diets and ideals remind me of the historical and cultural similarities I have with Greek people today. However, I recognize just as many or more similarities with my Sudanese friends, as well as my "Shami" Arabic friends. As Egyptians we must recognize our shared history with all these groups and think of our identity in terms of everything we are, Arab, African and Mediterranean. All while not letting one identity erase the other.
Terms I found relevant were "Cosmopolitan" and "Hellenism".
- Mostafa Kamel
excellent, thorough response. i'd also add that the binary of occident vs. orient finds a match in another common, and fatally flawed, binary of mediterraneanism vs. arabism, which is ever-present in the jerusalem post and taha hussein pieces, as you note. you say egypt has a "shared history" and i think this is an important concept to hold on to throughout the course, which flies in the face of many nationalistic and propagandistic notions of how present-day nation-states came to be.
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