Description
Book SynopsisMoustapha Safouan, in this courageous and honest book, confronts head-on the problem of Arab despotism, examining it from the point of view of political philosophy, religious argument and linguistic history.
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- A ground-breaking book written by the eminent Lacanian psychoanalyst Moustapha Safouan.
- Rejects explanations of Arab despotism which appeal either to imperialism or to notions of Arab culture in favour of an analysis which focuses on the relations between writing and power.
- Investigates the divorce between the classical Arabic which is the medium of education and the diverse vernacular Arabics which are the languages of the streets.
- A tour de force of political philosophy, religious argument and linguistic history.
Table of ContentsForeword by Colin MacCabe ix
Acknowledgements viii
Introduction 1
1 Components of Western Dominance 13
2 Questions that Have Been Forgotten in our Political Philosophy 27
3 Creative Transmission and Stagnant Transmission: Culture and Power 35
4 People and Writers 47
5 The Role of Language in the Creation of Culture 57
6 Writing and Power 67
7 The Fraud of the Islamic State 87
Further Reading 99
Index 103
