Arabic, Self and Identity: A Study in Conflict and Displacement - Softcover

Suleiman, Yasir

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0199747008 ISBN 13: 9780199747009

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2011

Synopsis

Arabic, Self, and Identity uses autoethnography, autobiography, and a detailed study of names to investigate the links between conflict and displacement, and between the Self and group identity. In the process it raises questions about trauma and globalization, underscoring the complex roles of language and identity in society.

Yasir Suleiman frames his findings against a far-reaching critique of the dominant, correlational approach in Arabic sociolinguitics. He argues that this approach does not sufficiently explore the link between language and the major narratives of identity and conflict in the Middle East. Instead he advocates for combining this approach with qualitative studies that are nevertheless aware of the limits of interpretation and the positionality of the researcher. This combined endeavor, Suleiman says, can generate a richer understanding of the sociopolitical underpinnings of language, and help to bridge the gaps between the various disciplines that converge on language as a field of investigation and analysis.

About this title

About the Author

Yasir Suleiman is Professor of Modern Arabic Studies at the University of Cambridge.

Review

"A deep and detailed analysis, supplemented by acute observations about the intricate and subtle ways in which politics, self, identity, and language integrate and collide in the Arab world...it is likely to leave a lasting impact."--Language in Society

"Arabic, Self and Identity is Yasir Suleiman's third book on the politics of language and the role of language in constructing modern identities in the Arabic-speaking world...All three books provide and indispensable corpus on the inner workings of identity in relation to Arabic languages today. Suleiman draws attention to how language becomes a resource for the solidification of identities, marks the boundaries of a group, constructs "friend or foe" binaries, and bestows a strong sense of solidarity and belonging. At the same time, language is anxiety-ridden and a source for fragmented and hyphenated identities. Suleiman navigates elegantly through these inherent contradictions and shows how identity is anchored in language yet expressed in counter-intuitive, often surprising alliances."--Journal of Levantine Studies

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0199747008
• ISBN 13: 9780199747009
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288