Sacred language, ordinary people : dilemmas of culture and politics in Egypt /
by Niloofar Haeri.
- xvi, 184 pages ; $c 21 cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Introduction -- Humble Custodians of the Divine Word: Classical Arabic in Daily Life -- Text Regulation and Sites of Ideology -- Creating Contemporaneity: Struggles with Form -- Persistent Dilemmas: Pleasure, Power and Ambiguity -- Conclusion. Ch. 1. Ch. 2. Ch. 3. Ch. 4. Ch. 5. Ch. 6.
"In the Arabic world, Classical Arabic is the language of both religion and the state, and as such is typically the language of formal written communication and publishing. But local Arabic dialects are often significantly different in terms of grammar, lexicon, and pronunciation than Classical Arabic. Such is the case with the Egyptian dialect of Arabic. In this innovative book, Niloofar Haeri looks at the complex interactions of these two dialects of Arabic in everyday life in Egypt, with a particular focus on the political, cultural, and religious struggles to modernize Classical Arabic. Based on extensive fieldwork in Egypt, the book includes analysis of such topics as: the role of Classical Arabic in religious education and everyday religious practice the work of professionals in Egyptian secular publishing, who must adapt and correct the sacred language for profane uses the use of "sacred" Classical Arabic in advertising. The book also speaks to contemporary interest in the anthropology of multiple modes of modernity and the new interest in the work and cultural role of intellectuals."--Publisher description.
Niloofar Haeri is Professor of Anthropology at Johns Hopkins University. She was a Bunting Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University (1999-2000) and is an internationally recognized scholar of Arabic. She has conducted research on language change and its relation to class and gender in Egypt. Among her publications are The Sociolinguistic Market of Cairo: Gender, Class, and Education (Kegan Paul International, 1996) and Structuralist Studies in Arabic Linguistics: Papers Published by Charles Ferguson 1948-1992, with K. Belnap (E. J. Brill, 1997).
0312238975 0312238983
2002074880
Arabic language--Dialects--Egypt Arabic language--Variation--Egypt Arabic language--Social aspects--Egypt Diglossia (Linguistics)--Egypt Language and culture--Egypt Arabic language--Religious aspects--Islam