Overview

In order to better understand the political conditions of the Arabic language in Israel, a comparison with the political conditions of Arabic in the Levant as well as the Diaspora is necessary. Comparison consists of macro factors, such as nation-state building, and at the micro level, the daily public usage of Arabic. While the relationship between language and nationhood is well documented, study of the unique socio-political situation of the use of Arabic in the Jewish state, and in particular language usage in East Jerusalem, has hitherto not been addressed. The removal of Arabic as an official language in Israel in 2018 has major implications for IsraeliPalestinian accommodation. Research for the book relied on ethnographic fieldwork as well as sociolinguistic literature. Investigation is wide-ranging: distinguishing the different public presences of language; the state of literacy (publishing, education); and (formal and informal) interviews with students, teachers and journalists. Linguists often consider the Levant to belong to one dialect group but post-1918 people in the Levant have had to deal with separate political realities, and language differences reflect their unique political and social circumstances. The history of European colonialism is but one influencing factor. Diaspora comparison engages with the US city of Dearborn, Michigan, home to the largest Arab American community in one locality. How does this community find meaning in both being American and a threat to national security? This dilemma is mirrored in the life of Palestinians in Israel. Security and securitisation are relational concepts (Rampton and Charalambous 2019), and language plays a large part in personal sense of belonging. Analytical tools such as the concept of seamline (Eyal 2006), and indexicality (Silverstein 1979), assist in coming to terms with the metapragmatic meanings of language. This important book reaches far beyond linguistic difference; it goes to the heart of political, social and economic despair faced by multiple communities.

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9781789761696

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Reviews

Building on long term and wide-ranging ethnographic explorations of language and politics in the Middle East, Professor Camelia Suleiman incorporates situated understanding of people and place, cross-disciplinary scholarship, and insightful theoretical links to account for the use and role of Arabic in the Jewish state, with a comparison to the diaspora in the US a key feature. It is an important, revealing, thought-provoking book, which illuminates facets of a complex history of language, politics, and identity. Colleen Cotter, Professor in Media Linguistics, Queen Mary University of London Camelia Suleiman's Arabic between State and Nation is a vitally important and many-sided study on the position and development of Arabic in Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. It even discusses Arabs and Arabic in Michigan, with the highest concentration of Arabs in the US. Through language, it tackles a myriad important questions such as identity, position of minorities in a settler-colonial state, and the role of education systems. This diligently researched book is an essential reading for anybody wishing to learn what has happened to Levantine Arabic, once common to the whole region but now separated by modern borders and competing nation-building projects. Hannu Juusola, Professor of Middle Eastern Studies, University of Helsinki, Finland The author discusses the role of language in various Arab contexts and leads the reader to the special situation of the language development in Jerusalem. I found the book interesting, well organized, and comprehensive. In my opinion, this book should be part of linguistics studies, as well as Middle East Studies. Mona Khoury-Kassabri, Vice President of Strategy and Diversity, Professor of Social Work, Hebrew University of Jerusalem It is a fascinating, comprehensive and enlightening research work on the interplay between the Arabic language and the social and political developments in the Levant states, notably Jordan, Israel, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Based on a variety of sources, personal observations and interviews, this original study uniquely contributes to our knowledge and understanding of the crucial role of Arabic on the national identities of important Middle Eastern entities. Moshe Ma'oz, Professor Emeritus, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Author Information

Camelia Suleiman is an associate professor at the Department of Linguistics, Languages and Cultures at Michigan State University. She earned her Ph.D. in (Socio)Linguistics from Georgetown University. Her books include The Politics of Arabic in Israel: A Sociolinguistic Analysis (2017) and Language and Identity in the Israel-Palestine Conflict: The Politics of Self-Perception in the Middle East (2011). Her numerous articles have appeared in many journals, including The Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication.

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