Saddam's Word; The Political Discourse in Iraq

by Ofra Bengio

Overview

This is the first serious attempt to understand modern Iraq through a close examination of the political discourse used by the Ba'th regime and its leader, Saddam Hussein. By analyzing political terms, concepts, and idioms as disseminated through the official Iraqi mouthpieces, author Ofra Bengio illuminates Iraq's political culture and the events that these expressions have both reflected and shaped. Not only does this study add to our understanding of the "Saddam enigma;" it also offers a more universal truth: that under any regime, political culture is built on public discourse. Saddam's Word will be of much interest to students of the contemporary Middle East, as well as to all other observers of Saddam Hussein and his regime.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195114393
Publisher:	Oxford University Press, USA
Publication date:	01/28/1998
Series:	Studies in Middle Eastern History Series
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.10(d)
Lexile:	1420L (what's this?)

Table of Contents

Introduction: Language and Politics		3	(14)
I Revolution and Revival		17	(38)
1 Revolution: Thesis and Antithesis		19	(14)
Inqilab: Coup or Revolution?		20	(3)
Multifaceted Intifada		23	(2)
Thawra: Highest on the Value Scale		25	(4)
Ridda: From Apostasy to Reaction		29	(4)
2 Ba'th: The Word and the Party		33	(16)
The Ba'th: "Permanent Revolution and the Renewal of Youth"		33	(2)
"A Single Arab Nation"		35	(2)
The Threefold Way: Unity, Freedom, Socialism		37	(12)
3 Language and Action		49	(6)
The "Ba'thization" of Iraqi Society		49	(2)
Struggle and Violence: End or Means?		51	(4)
II From "Popular" to Totalitarian Democracy		55	(32)
4 The Intricacies of "Democracy"		57	(12)
"The Dictatorship of Popular Democracy"		57	(3)
The Sword of Democracy		60	(4)
The Pejorative Triplet: Libiraliyya, Barlamaniyya, Ta'addudiyya		64	(5)
5 An Irreplaceable Regime		69	(18)
The Indispensable Leader		70	(4)
Oath of Allegiance		74	(3)
The Myth of Saddam Husayn		77	(2)
Husayn's Role Models		79	(8)
III Unity and Separatism		87	(38)
6 The Sunni Arabs: An Issue of Double Identity		89	(9)
Guardians of "the Iraqi Tent"		89	(3)
Standard-Bearers of Arabism		92	(3)
The Dialectics of "Iraqiness" and Arabism		95	(3)
7 The Shi'is: Loyalty to the Community or the State?		98	(11)
Ta'ifiyya: Part Sectarianism, Part Racism		100	(3)
The Evils of Shu'ubiyya		103	(3)
Iqlimiyya: The Enemy of Unity		106	(3)
8 The Kurds: Autonomy or Secession?		109	(12)
Ba'th Ambiguity toward the Kurds		109	(3)
A New Framework for Identity: The 1970 Autonomy		112	(4)
Kurdish Nationalism versus Arab and Iraqi Nationalism		116	(5)
9 The Ba'th Facing Particularism and Secession		121	(4)
IV Cycles of Enmity and Violence		125	(34)
10 Three Cycles of Hostility		127	(19)
Imperialism: "An Antediluvian Dinosaur"		127	(7)
Israel: "The Monstrous Entity"		134	(5)
Iran: "The Yellow Storm"		139	(7)
11 The Ethos of Force		146	(13)
A Vision of Strength and Greatness		146	(2)
A Military Society		148	(5)
Glory, Honor, and Death		153	(6)
V Epic and Apocalypse		159	(44)
12 History as a Lever of Politics		163	(13)
Recherche du temps perdu		163	(4)
On Writing History		167	(2)
Making History Known		169	(3)
History Is Returning: Qadisiyya as a Parable		172	(4)
13 The Manipulation of Islam		176	(16)
Ba'thi Convolutions over Islam		176	(5)
Husayn's Islamic Rhetoric		181	(3)
Islam in the Service of the War		184	(8)
14 From Islamic Rhetoric to a Vision of Apocalypse		192	(11)
"A Mission to the Nation and to Mankind"		192	(2)
The War of the Elephant		194	(9)
Conclusion: The Rape of Language		203	(10)
Notes		213	(36)
Bibliography		249	(10)
Index		259

Editorial Reviews

"Bengio provides an insightful look at how yet another dictator uses...propaganda tools to advantage."—Military Review

"[Bengio] has written the most important book on Baathi Iraq since Kanan Makiya's Republic of Fear (published in 1989 under the pseudonym of Samir al-Khalil). Her well-written, easily accessible yet sophisticated analysis of political language makes a major contribution to our understanding of contemporary Iraq."—Middle East Policy

"Anyone who doubts the corrupting effects of totalitarianism on political language—if such a person could exist at the end of our century of totalitarianisms—should read this book. Bengio...has compiled exhaustive evidence from the Iraqi sources to show how the Ba'thist regine in general and Saddam Hussein in particular have debased the political vocabulary of Iraq..."—Political Science Quarterly

"It is refreshing to read an English-language book on a Middle Eastern topic that relies largely on Arabic sources rather than Western or Israeli ones. The book is unique, delving into previously uncharted waters."—Perspectives on Political Science

From the Publisher