The Multiple Identities of the Middle East

by Bernard Lewis

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.

Genres: History, Middle East, Nonfiction, Politics, Islam, Anthropology, Religion

163 pages, Hardcover

First published August 31, 1999

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Bernard Lewis was the Cleveland E. Dodge Professor of Near Eastern Studies Emeritus at Princeton University and the author of many critially acclaimed and bestselling books, including two number one New York Times bestsellers: What Went Wrong? and Crisis of Islam. The Middle East: A Brief History of the Last 2,000 Years was a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist. Internationally recognized as the greatest historian of the Middle East, he received fifteen honorary doctorates and his books have been translated into more than twenty languages.

Reviews

[Mehmet]

Her kitaptan olduğu gibi, bu küçük kitaptan da pek çok şey öğrendim. Habil ve Kabil söyleminde Habil'in göçebeliği temsil ettiğini, Sami ve Ari kavramlarının tek bir kişinin hayalgücünün eseri olduğunu vs. Daha önce Modern Türkiye'nin Doğuşu kitabını okumuştum ve o kitabı beğenmiştim. Bunda da beğendiğim detaylar oldu. Kendisi bölge hakkında bir uzman elbette bunu tartışmak doğru değil lakin yine de bazı söylemlerde yeterince dürüst olamadığını düşünüyorum.
Ortadoğu'daki pek çok "kimlik" farkındalığının "kısmen dış baskılarla, çoğunlukla da ithal" enstrümanlarla harekete geçtiğini ifade ediyor olsa da, bu orantının bu kadar net bilinemeyeceğini; fikirlerin ne kadarının dış baskıyla, ne kadarının ise ithal edildiğinin anlaşılmasının bilimsel yöntemlerle mümkün olamayacağını düşünüyorum.
Eğer ki bu yönde iddialarda bulunuyorsa, ya tamamen bilimselliğin dışına çıkıp bir komplo tarih kitabı yazmalı, ya da bilimin sınırları içinde kalmalı diye düşünmekteyim.

[Omar Taufik · Rating 5 out of 5]

This maybe a book small in size but it is full of interesting and useful details.
The beauty of the book is in the use of those details by the author to explore each aspect of identity in the middle East displaying his knowledge and talented experience in the field.
Multiple identities of the middle East, this book could be a good eye opener for beginners in the field and a very enjoyable read for readers having decent experience in the field.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Bernard Lewis, he is a very qualified, sound, and objective writer. This book was my starting point on a question I had many years ago about Israel, and the make-up of the Mid East. Every American should read this book...especially those that love to have opinions about the middle east today but don't even realize how ignorant they are. This book introduces some of the West's responsibility in getting us to where we are today.

[Wafaa Golden · Rating 5 out of 5]

أنهيتُ لتوي هذا الكتاب والذي أستطيع أن أوصفه بالكتاب القيّم إلى حدّ ما..
معلوماته شاملة ودقيقة تعكس سعة إطّلاع مؤلّفه وتمكّنه من ما يكتب..
والذي لفت نظري فيه معلوماته الدقيقة جدّاً فيما يخصّ واقعنا وحالنا
فتراه قد فهم واطّلع بشكل كبيير على بنية حاضرنا وماضينا وبالتّالي طريقة تفكيرنا وواقعنا
وتساءلتُ في نفسي: هل من الممكن أن نجد فينا نحن العرب أو المسلمين من لديه إطّلاع كهذا عن الغرب أو عن اليهود كاطّلاعه هو عن واقع وماضي العرب والمسلمين..
وكما يكرر الدّكتور سهيل دوماً: لماذا نرى لديهم مراكز للاستشراق والدّراسات الاستشراقيّة، ولا نجد عندنا مراكز لدراسة الغرب أو اليهود.
هذا تقصير منّا سنحاسب عليه دون شك..

وسأسرد لكم عناوين الفهرس كي تعطي فكرة ولو بسيطة عن الكتاب وما فيه:
مقدّمة
الفصل الأوّل: تعابير ومعانٍ.
الفصل الثّاني: الدّين.
الفصل الثّالث: العرق واللّغة.
الفصل الرّابع: الوطن.
الفصل الخامس: الأمّة.
الفصل السّادس: الدّولة.
الفصل السّابع: الرّموز.
الفصل الثّامن: غرباء وكفّار.
الفصل التّاسع: الطّموحات.

ففي كلّ فصل يشرح معنى كل كلمة ومن ثمّ يذكر ماضيها وحاضرها ومستقبلها وكيفيّة تفاعل الشّعوب معها
وتطوّر معناها عبر العصور والأزمان.
وكما ذكرت فيه تفاصيل دقيقة أحياناً تعكس مدى تعمّقه في الموضوع، حتّى أنّي ذهلتُ عندما قرأت حادثة كنتُ قد سمعت بوقوعها وتأتي لذهني بين الفينة والأخرى وأقول في نفسي يا تُرى هل كان ما قيل صحيح أم مجرّد إشاعات وتأويلات، فجاء في هذا الكتاب وذكرها تماماً كما هي..

[Ben Ricketts · Rating 4 out of 5]

First thing’s first: this book can get a little dry at times, and it would have really benefited from more extensive source citations. These are my only reasons for not giving it 5 stars. Parts of it are outdated (such as those referring to the then-current government of Saddam Hussein), but this is not a flaw so much as it is a feature of books about contemporary history and society.

That being said, this is a fantastic book that—in just 142 pretty short pages—packs a lot of important info about the multiple natures of identity in the Middle East (and how many of those conceptions of identity are Western in origin). I have read extensively on Middle Eastern history and politics, and I still walked away with so much fascinating new knowledge to ponder. I highly recommend this book.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very short quick read, written for a middle-brow audience. The author addresses an anthropological/sociological question, identity, by applying history and philology. The book is for some will be tiresome leaving you saying: "Tell me something I didn't already know." But he does make some good points.

First, Arab is the label of a culture, not ethnicity in the region. It is so homogenous, because the Arab conquest that spread Islam was replacing a previous empire--Byzantine--which had replaced a previous one--Rome--which had replaced a previous one--Persian--which had replaced a previous one--Greek, and cultural identity was already weak.

Second, nationality is a Western import, as is race.

Third, since the ninth century, sectarian conflict within Islam was rare, and that the current conflict is an innovation under the pressures of Western modernity.

[Asia Jane Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

A compelling book that evinces the overturning and adaptation of concepts, values and ideas in the eyes of different cultures. The thought-provoking arguments of the author show in a even more evident way the challenge, but I'm my eyes also the beauty, of the global and multicultural world in which we are increasingly entering.

[Almodather Awad · Rating 5 out of 5]

An insightful examination of the multiple layers of identity in the Middle East region. Bernard Lewis was one the most knowledgeable historians of this region, and one of the most unbiased analysts of its politics. Showing no sign of regional or political preference, he paints a fairly accurate picture of the situation in most Arab countries.

[Aga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning and thought-provoking.

[sam hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

informational but a bit dense idk it felt kinda surface level to me but it’s supposed ti be introductory so not sure

[Sasha Wolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad overview for the general reader, but a bit frustrating for the academic: a distinct lack of dates, a fair amount of overgeneralisation, and no citations.

[Babak Fakhamzadeh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thorough and readable account on the many faces of the Middle East and the reasons for that being so.
The author highlights Iran and Turkey as rather unique countries in the region, due to their more or less continuous existence over hundreds if not thousands of years. Lewis shows, most particularly, that western concepts, symbols and ideas, superimposed on the peoples of the Middle East have influenced pan-Arab, pan-Islam, pan-Iran, etc, thinking and actions.
Additionally, western interest in pre-islamic history of the Middle East has resulted in nationalistic movements in several countries in this region and, because of that, several internal conflicts. The book was written before the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

[Robert Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

You have to start by understanding that this was never intended to be a history of the Middle East. But people in the Middle East have had a very different sense of identity before nation-states were formed (mostly arbitrarily) after World War I, and many of those identities have lingered. The same was true of Europe, but that was more than 500 years ago. The author explains the identities of a people who (with a few exceptions) have never identified with a nation state. Much of this is largely unknown to Westerners and is the cause of a great deal of confusion.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lewis reviews the history of the Middle East and the evolution of the 3 book religions in that area. The complexities of their various times of live-and-let-live to I'm right, you are wrong is never ending. The separation of church and state that Christians and Jews practice is a contrast to the Muslims combination of church and state. All three support the belief in one God which separates them from the other major religions of the world - they just wrangle over who has that one God!!!

[Shirley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I probably liked this less for the actual content than my joy at finding a book about the middle east that so aligned with my interests of society, and more specifically, the concept of identity. And even more specifically, reviewing the multiple identities through the lenses of nation, country, state, religion, race, and language. C'est parfait.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short read. I feel Lewis could have dived a little deeper, but it is meant to just give an overview and some introduction to how Middle Easterners view themselves and those around them. Religion, language, culture, ethnicity, he covers them all, and shows where more value it placed, and by whom.

[Austin Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, I thought this would be about the Kurd/Druze/Berber/Armenian/Alawi people of the Middle East....but, it is pretty much just about the terms "nation" and "people".

Still a good read, though the last few chapters teeter off.

[Bruinrefugee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short book that does a pretty good job addressing the various layers of identies pushing and pulling in the Middle East (as reflected in its title). Not earth-shattering, but a decent guide for orienting oneself.

[Amit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative and Thought Provoking. The book is written perhaps more as a primer for the western reader on Middle East but nevertheless unravels the heterogeneity behind the seemingly singular Arab / Muslim identity.

[Sambasivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great primer on the Middle East by one of the most erudite scholars of the region. Multiple perspectives - place, religion, state, nations, symbol, race etc and with a high level country-by-country analysis. Essential reading.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before you even begin to scratch the surface of the Middle East, this book is an essential read.

[Craig Bolton]

The Multiple Identities of the Middle East by Bernard Lewis (2001)

[Elliot]

https://www.goodreads.com/amazon_purc...#

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

good history