Criticizing Antonius: A Different Perspective On The Official Arab Nationalist Narrative
George Antonius’s 1938 book Arab Awakening serves as a foundational text, methodically defining, restricting, and shaping the history of the Arab national movement. Antonius’ work established a sacred “origin” for Arab nationalism; he presented the activities of a literary-cultural circle (Nahda) an...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Arabic |
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Istanbul University Press
2024-04-01
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| Series: | Şarkiyat Mecmuası |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/817E67B97EE540218550A2B0E174ED54 |
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| Summary: | George Antonius’s 1938 book Arab Awakening serves as a foundational text, methodically defining, restricting, and shaping the history of the Arab national movement. Antonius’ work established a sacred “origin” for Arab nationalism; he presented the activities of a literary-cultural circle (Nahda) and how they accelerated the political nationalist movement. The literature frequently criticizes the Arab Awakening, emphasizing its historical justifications or subjective perspective flaws. The goal of this research is to examine how the Arab Awakening has historically helped to develop Arab nationalism around two key concepts.The intellectual foundations of the concept of “national awakening” will be revealed in this regard, following a brief summary of Antonius’ historical sketch and an evaluation of the critical canon compared to the Arab Awakening. The issue of Antonius’ relationship to territorial nationalism, which he opposes to ethnic nationalism, will then be examined as a frequently overlooked aspect of his writing. It will be argued that the distinction between qawmiyya and wataniyya represents an important breaking point revealed by the Arab Awakening. |
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| ISSN: | 2717-6916 |