Modern Arab Historiography: Historical Discourse and the Nation-State

257 Pages·2003·1.485 MB·English

by  Youssef Choueiri

MODERN ARAB
HISTORIOGRAPHY
‘Choueiri’s book is an impressive achievement, thought-provoking
and stimulating.’
Professor C. Edmund Bosworth
‘Atpresentit stands alone astheonlygeneralbookon itssubject.’
Professor Peter Gran
‘His book is an original and stimulating contribution, not only to
theevolvingdiscussionofArabhistoriography,but, indeed,toour
understandingofthehistoricalevolutionofmodernArabthought.’
Professor Israel Gershoni
The study of Arab historiography and the emergence of the Arab
nation-state as an object of historical treatment is a matter of
considerable current interest. Despite its importance, no academic
workhassofardealtwiththissubjectasamajorpreoccupationof
Arab historians and intellectuals.
This book discusses the development of modern Arab histori-
ographyanditsstudyofthenation-stateinthenineteenthcentury,
andanalysestheworkofthreecontemporaryArabhistoriansfrom
Egypt, the Lebanon and Morocco. An important and highly
readableaccount,itreaffirmstheimportanceofhistoriographyand
proposes a revision of the manner in which modern Arab thought
has hitherto been classified and interpreted.
YoussefM.ChoueiriisReaderinArabicandIslamicStudiesatthe
University of Exeter.
CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION
IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Series Editor: Ian R. Netton
University of Leeds
This series studies the Middle East through the twin foci of its
diverseculturesandcivilizations.Comprisingoriginalmonographs
aswell as scholarlysurveys, it covers topics inthefields ofMiddle
Eastern literature, archaeology, law, history, philosophy, science,
folklore, art, architecture and language. While there is a plurality
of views, the series presents serious scholarship in a lucid and
stimulating fashion.
MODERN ARAB
HISTORIOGRAPHY
Historical discourse
and the nation-state
Youssef M. Choueiri
Firstpublished1989byRoutledgeunderthetitle
ArabHistoriographyandtheNationState
Thisrevisededitionin2003byRoutledgeCurzon
This edition published 2013 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
SimultaneouslypublishedintheUSAandCanada
byRoutledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup
#2003YoussefM.Choueiri
TypesetinSabonbyLaserScriptLtd,Mitcham,Surrey
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedor
reproducedorutilisedinanyformorbyanyelectronic,mechanical,
orothermeans,nowknownorhereafterinvented,including
photocopyingandrecording,orinanyinformationstorageor
retrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublishers.
Thepublishermakesnorepresentation,expressorimplied,with
regardtotheaccuracyoftheinformationcontainedinthisbookand
cannotacceptanylegalresponsibilityorliabilityforanyerrorsor
omissionsthatmaybemade.
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AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
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ISBN0–7007–1602–5(hbk)
ISBN0–7007–1650–5(pbk)
For Amal and Tarek
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CONTENTS
Preface ix
Glossary xi
A list of dynasties xiii
Introduction 1
PART I
Pioneers and amateurs 1820–1920 15
1 Patriotic intellectuals and enlightened patrons:
al-Tahta¯w¯ı and the Egyptian identity 17
˙ ˙
The concept and use of history 20
Egypt resurrected 22
Religion and science 28
Another Azharite 31
2 Two histories of Syria 39
The burden of the past 42
Matar’s Syria 48
˙
Yann¯ı’s history 53
3 New identities and imperial vistas 68
Carthage, Rome, and Arabia 69
vii
CONTENTS
PART II
The professional historians: managers of legitimation
1920–1980 75
4 Muhammad ‘Alı¯ and the Sphinx: Shafı¯q Ghurba¯l’s
˙
histories of Egypt 77
Views of history 79
The villains, the ignorant, and the unlucky 82
Two rivals 95
Muhammad ‘Al¯ı revisited 112
˙
The Pharaohs or the Arabs? 115
5 Kamal Salibi and the history of Lebanon: the making
of a nation? 125
A new history 129
In the beginning ... 134
An enlightened prince? 140
A Christian nation and a Greek ethos 145
The politics of history 156
6 The panacea of historicism: Abdallah Laroui and
Morocco’s cultural retardation 174
An ideological leap 176
History as culture 181
A Hobbesian sultan 186
Conclusion 197
Appendix A: History books translated under the
supervision of al-Tahta¯wı¯ 213
˙ ˙
Appendix B: Muhammad al-Alfı¯’s visit to London
˙
and the British press 214
Bibliography 225
Index 233
viii
PREFACE
This study deals with Arab historians and intellectuals who had
direct or indirect access to western education, knew a foreign
language, and attempted to use academic techniques in their
history writings. It is, moreover, confined to a particular tendency
of modern Arab historiography. Its main focus is that current of
historical discourse which takes for its unit of study one specific
Arab ‘nation-state’, and endeavours to endow its past with a
distinctive national character. Thus other historical works are
either excluded, or alluded to only briefly in order to illustrate a
pointorhighlightacomparison.Furthermore,thisisnotastudyof
thehistoryofthemodernnation-stateintheArabWorld;rather,it
isthehistoryofitshistoriographyrepresentedbyaselectedsample
of narratives.
The study consists of two parts, divided into six chapters with
anintroductionandaconclusion.PartIdiscussesthedevelopment
of modern Arab historiography during the nineteenth and early
twentiethcenturies,withparticularemphasisonEgypt,geographi-
cal Syria, and North Africa. Part II is a critical analysis and a
somewhat extensive assessment of the writings of three modern
Arab historians: Shaf¯ıq Ghurba¯l (Egypt), Kamal Salibi (Lebanon),
andAbdallahLaroui(Morocco).Thesehistorianswereselectedfor
a number of interrelated reasons: their crucial role in founding an
indigenousschoolofhistory,theuseoftheirworksasauthoritative
sources, and their representative character of a cross-section of
Arab intellectuals. Other historians whose output and influence
met the same criteria were left out either for lack of space or in
order to avoid repetition. One such whose name stands out is the
Iraqi sociologist and historian ‘Alı¯ al-Ward¯ı. Another is the
Egyptian historian Muhammad Sabrı¯. Hence, a process of
˙ ˙
elimination imposed itself as a necessary step so as to avoid
ix