Understanding Arabs: A Guide for Westerners (The Interact Series) - Softcover

Margaret K. Nydell

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1877864463 ISBN 13: 9781877864469

Publisher: Intercultural Press, 1997

Synopsis

This guide is designed for Westerners planning to visit, live or work in the Maghreb and the Middle East. The author has great experience of Arab culture and describes the patterns of change that have influenced the Arab world in recent times. She also analyzes basic Arab values religious beliefs and self-perceptions. The opening chapters of the book examine the Arab personality in a cultural context that is comprehensible to non-Arabs, yet not stereotypical. The author examines friendship patterns, attitudes towards strangers, hospitality, differences in ways of thinking, the value placed upon the expression of emotion, and relationships between men and women. Later chapters deal with broad societal structures, including social classes, the family, religion, language and communication.

About this title

About the Author

Margaret Nydell is an experienced trainer and highly esteemed Arabist. She has directed Arabic language training at the Foreign Service Institute and its School of Arabic Language and Area Studies in Tunis. She currently teaches Arabic at Georgetown University and consults with public and private organisations.

Review

Understanding Arabs provides an objective examination of Arab values, beliefs, and perceptions and compares and contrasts them with those of Westerners. Margaret Nydell highlights the dynamic patterns of change that have influenced the Arab World in recent times and offers illuminating insights into the minds and hearts of Arabs, while avoiding the political quicksands that lay in the path of Arab-Western relationships. Understanding Arabs constitutes a kind of cross-cultural handbook. Succinct and written in simple, straightforward prose, it sheds light on those aspects of culture and thought which most critically affect cross-cultural interaction and suggest ways Westerners can be more effective in dealing with the Arabs they encounter. Understanding Arabs is=20 a rich resource for those who wish to better comprehend what they read and hear in the media and an invaluable guide for people who interact directly with Arabs and wish to do so with greater skill and understanding. Understanding Arabs is a perfect introduction into contemporary Arab-Western relations for both students of American middle-east policies, and the non- -specialist general reader with an interest in the understanding the background to today's national headlines and issues. -- Midwest Book Review

Edition details

• Publisher: Intercultural Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 1877864463
• ISBN 13: 9781877864469
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 192