Based on his own field research and the ethnographic reports of other scholars, anthropologist Salzman presents an analysis of Middle Eastern culture that goes a long way toward explaining the gulf between Western and Middle Eastern cultural perspectives
Saudi Arabia is a young nation with an ancient history. It is one of the most conservative traditional societies in the world grappling with the impact of modernization wrought by the influx of great oil wealth beginning only in the mid twentieth century. Saudi culture is in constant flux, and the culture gap between the West and Saudi Islamic culture is wide. Culture and Customs of Saudi Arabia is the first cultural overview of country and provides timely, authoritative insight into a major Middle Eastern power. The Saudis are a proud people with a closed society, but circumstances have caused them to play an important role in current world affairs. The author has lived and worked in Saudi Arabia and has extensively used his contacts there to provide up-to-date material. Saudi culture developed through age-old interactions between the Arabian peoples and their harsh desert environment. Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam, and the basic Islamic values of Saudi culture have remained to this day. The themes of an ancient desert society infused with Islam values on a collision course with modernity are interplayed throughout chapters on the land, people, and history, traditional Islamic culture and modernization, the extended family and gender roles, cuisine and dress, social customs, rites of passage, and holidays, communication and mass media, and artistic expression. Color photos and a map, chronology, and glossary round out the narrative.
This book provides readers with a topical, social-anthropological introduction to the Middle East. It synthesizes historical, ethnographic, and socioeconomic data within a social science framework., and places in proper context the region's distinctive “way of life” —which has always been at the crossroads of cultures and civilizations. Comprehensive and straightforward coverage includes distinctive theoretical forms without the use of social science jargon.. Chapter topics include the prophet, religion, identity, and culture of Islam; communal identities and ethnic groups; pastoralism and nomadic society; agriculture and the changing village; cities and urban life; women and the social order; leadership, patronage, and tribalism as local organizations of power; and challenges and dilemmas facing the Middle East today. For individuals who want to explore problems, patterns, and cultural processes of the area known as the “central Middle East.”
Explore the history of conflict in the Middle East, from ancient times to today's headlines. Take a balanced but unflinching look at: The warring civilizations of the ancient Middle East..The early expansion of Islam...What most textbooks don't tell you about the Crusades...Wars between Israel and its Arab neighbors...The Israeli-Palestinian conflict...Why religion and politics are intertwined in the Middle East...How Iran became an Islamic Republic...Iraq from ancient times to the post-Saddam era...How Bin Laden became a radical.and then a terrorist...Islamist terror beyond the Middle East...and much, much more
This volume combines ethnographic accounts of fieldwork with overviews of recent anthropological literature about the region on topics such as Islam, gender, youth, and new media. It addresses contemporary debates about modernity, nation building, and the link between the ideology of power and the production of knowledge. Contributors include established and emerging scholars known for the depth and quality of their ethnographic writing and for their interventions in current theory.
30 rich, engaging travel stories that capture uplifting scenes from everyday life and deliver sensitive, bittersweet renderings of people and landscapes often shaken by conflict. This book features original takes on commonplace "things to do" for the traveler in the Middle East--from marveling at the brilliance of the bazaars to drifting down the Nile in a felucca. It also provides intimate portrayals of people and traditions too often absent from books on the region.--From publisher description.
Islamic Culture in Perspective is an in-depth look at the cultures of Islam, with an emphasis on current culture. The young reader is presented with an overview of a variety of regional cultures that developed historically and analyzes how the cultural history shapes the current culture. The book is written in a lively and interesting style, and contains Islamic languages, foods, music/dance, art/literature, religions, holidays, lifestyle, and most importantly contemporary culture around the world today. The series has been developed to address many of the Common Core specific goals, higher level thinking skills, and progressive learning strategies from informational texts for middle grade and junior high level students.
A collection of essays examining the role and power of images from a wide variety of media in today’s Middle Eastern societies. This timely book examines the power and role of the image in modern Middle Eastern societies. The essays explore the role and function of image making to highlight the ways in which the images “speak” and what visual languages mean for the construction of Islamic subjectivities, the distribution of power, and the formation of identity and belonging. Visual Culture in the Modern Middle East addresses aspects of the visual in the Islamic world, including the presentation of Islam on television; on the internet and other digital media; in banners, posters, murals, and graffiti; and in the satirical press, cartoons, and children’s books. “This volume takes a new approach to the subject . . . and will be an important contribution to our knowledge in this area. . . . It is comprehensive and well-structured with fascinating material and analysis.” —Peter Chelkowski, New York University “An innovative volume analyzing and instantiating the visual culture of a variety of Muslim societies [which] constitutes a substantially new object of study in the regional literature and one that creates productive links with history, anthropology, political science, art history, media studies, and urban studies, as well as area studies and Islamic studies.” —Walter Armbrust, University of Oxford