The Multiple Identities of the Middle East [Paperback]

Bernard Lewis (Author)

Book Description

Release date: January 30, 2001

The Middle East is the birthplace of ancient civilizations, but most of the modern states that occupy its territory today are of recent origin, as are many key concepts of communal and individual identity and loyalty that the peoples of the region now confront. In The Multiple Identities of the Middle East, eminent Middle East historian Bernard Lewis elucidates the critical role of identity in the domestic, regional, and international tensions and conflicts of the Middle East today.

Examining religion, race and language, country, nation, and state, Lewis traces the rapid evolution of the identities of the Middle Eastern peoples, from the collapse of the centuries-old Ottoman Empire in 1918 to today's clash of old and new allegiances. He shows how, during the twentieth century, imported Western ideas such as liberalism, fascism, socialism, patriotism, and nationalism have transformed Middle Easterners' ancient notions of community, their self-perceptions, and their aspirations.

To this fascinating historical portrait, Lewis brings an understanding of the region and its peoples, as well as a profound sympathy for the plight that the modern world has imposed on them. The result is an invaluable tool in our understanding of an area that is of increasing global importance and concern today.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Multiple Identities of the Middle East by Bernard Lewis is a sharp diamond of a book. It cuts to the essence of how identity has traditionally been experienced by people in the Middle East, how Western political concepts have altered Middle-Eastern notions of identity, and how these imported Western ideas have inflamed political conflicts in that region. "The primary identities are those acquired at birth," Lewis writes. The first determiner of identity is blood, the second is place, and the third is religious community, which for many is "the only loyalty that transcends local and immediate bonds." Lewis adds, "The second broad category of identity is that of allegiance to a ruler," and notes that these two categories of identity were the only ones that existed until modern times, when the Middle East came under the influence of Europe. Now, he says, "a new kind [of identity] is evolving" between the two traditional categories that existed before. This is "the freely chosen cohesion and loyalty of voluntary associations, combining to form what is nowadays known as the civil society."

In nine brief chapters describing these various elements of identity, and the pain and empowerment that has come from their revision, Lewis ranges widely over the recent history of inter-Arab and Arab-Israeli conflicts. He solves no problems with this book, but he does clarify them as well as anyone has. The Multiple Identities of the Middle East is the kind of book that can reframe a reader's entire orientation to a subject, infusing one's perspective with empathy beyond anything an outsider to the region could possibly muster on his or her own. --Michael Joseph Gross --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Lewis is a noted expert in Middle Eastern history, religion, and culture who has authored a number of authoritative works, including The Cambridge History of Islam in its several editions. His new work should be required reading for all Westerners who have any serious interest in understanding how the history and religion of this dynamic area have led to very different interpretations of such traditional Western notions as nation, citizenship, and patriotism. Lewis ably communicates the primary importance of Islam in forming the core personal identity for area Muslims. This relatively uniform identity does not mean, however, that Islam has survived without the rise of numerous schisms or competing visions of Islam and its relation to the state. While the influence of Islam remains strong on most Muslims, Lewis maintains that several Muslim states, such as Egypt, have forged more of a nation state-type polity than others. The reader will appreciate even more how the State of Israel fits into this m?lange and why it has been so extremely difficult to build a lasting peace in the Middle East. Strongly recommended for all public and academic libraries.AStephen W. Green, Auraria Lib., Denver
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Schocken (January 30, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805211187
• ISBN-13: 978-0805211184
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.5 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #388,775 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Television is insufficient November 26, 2001

By Pumpkin King

Format:Paperback

The Middle East has been a source of politically interesting news for Americans for a long time, and since September 11, the discussions have become more passionate, and more judgmental. And despite the area's growing influence on our consciousness, our understanding of the peoples there and who they are is one of vague categories.

Bernard Lewis does not offer a history in this short book, but rather a discussion of how people in the Middle East perceive themselves, and how they create and define their identities. We often tend toward the simplified assumption that political boundaries contain single ethnic groups, linguistic groups, religious groups, but as Lewis shows, these groups are overlaid in complex ways.

People who have only a Western perspective of the Middle East, and want to understand the area in a much more complex manner, should find Lewis' book to be a great introduction to the depth of the history and conflicts that exists there.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars An academic treatment of "Mideast" culture November 29, 2000

By Christopher A. Smith

Format:Hardcover

Lay readers like myself who are simply looking for a new insight on the cultural roots of the Mideast problem might find Multiple Identities of the Middle East a bit heavy (the chapter on "nation" for example, consists almost entirely of a discussion of the word's origin in the Jewish, Persian, Turkish, and Arabic tradition, tracing the roots back to their linguistic origins.)

But although the book at times delves into a level of detail above and beyond that which will interest the casual reader, it is direct and clearly written, and in its short 160 pages Lewis does provide some valuable insights. Lewis gives us a concise historical overview which highlights the differences and similarities between Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, and the varied cultures and societies of the region. And most importantly, he highlights the fact that these different cultures view the world from very different viewpoints. Within the "Middle East" (a term which he uses for the sake of familiarity, then quickly discards as being meaningless) both conflict and cohesion arise from these conflicting viewpoints.

An informative read which taught me many things.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting overview of the Middle-East September 19, 2001

By K. Maxwell

Format:Paperback

This book gives an interesting background to much of the modern attitudes of the middle-east and their historical basis. It explains how traditonaly society in the middle east has based itself around family/clan ties then religion and then state last of all.

In fact the concept of people belonging to and owning loyalty to a state is quite new to the region in many places as they don't have the long history of it that Europe has. It also explains how long standing traditions within holy law govern such things at the correct treatment of non-muslim minorities (in theory).

If you really don't know much about middle eastern and arab culture this book is a good introduction, to a society that is in many ways fundimentaly alien to western culture.

It should be noted that this book is ONLY an introduction and in many ways has a lot of generalisations, but it's a good starting point if you don't know much about arab culture (like me).