| ID | 166763 |
| Title Proper | Imagining modernity |
| Other Title Information | the language and genealogy of modernity in nineteenth-century Arabic |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Abu-ʿUksa, Wael |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | This article employs the methodology of conceptual history to contest two of the most common theoretical approaches dominating our understanding of modernity in the field of Middle Eastern studies. The first approach relies on the assumption of incompatibility between modernity and Islam and captures Arab modernity using concepts such as ‘adoption’. The second understands Arab modernity through concepts such as ‘imitation’, contending that it is a legacy of Western imperialism. This article challenges both theories by examining the genealogy of tamaddun (civilization, being civilized), a pivotal concept used in nineteenth-century Arabic to imagine modernity. The genealogy of tamaddun elucidates that medieval paradigms derived from the concept of madina (polity) were rediscovered, reimagined, and reused in the context of the rise of the nation-state and the challenge of Western imperialism. The article suggests understanding Arab modernity and its critique from within, rather than outside of, the temporality of the historical condition. |
| `In' analytical Note | Middle Eastern Studies Vol. 55, No.5; Sep 2019: p.671-682 |
| Journal Source | Middle Eastern Studies Vol: 55 No 5 |
| Key Words | Orientalism ; Post Colonialism ; Nahda ; Imperialism ; Islamic Modernity ; Arab Modernity ; Tamaddun ; Arab Concept Of Civilization ; Anti-Orientalism ; Arab Thought ; Arab Philosophy ; Arab Conceptual History ; Arab Rationalism |