Cultural Encounters In Near Eastern History

Globalization and cheaper travel have led to a rapid increase in cross-cultural encounters worldwide--which makes understanding problems of conflict, prejudice, interaction, and adaptation ever more important. Fortunately, we have a powerful historical example to draw on: the closely knit, yet very different cultures that inhabited and interacted in the Near East. Contributors look at the interactions of nomads, traders, religious groups, armies, and more to help answer questions about cultural encounters through both theoretical and empirical lenses. They present cases drawn from a range of fields within the overall history of the Near East, including Mesopotamian history, the rise of Islam, and the effects of Hellenism.

Charles Issawi's collection of essays, Cross-Cultural Encounters and Conflicts, has been written in the belief that a study of the past encounters and conflicts between the world's major cultures can shed light on their nature and importance. Though the emphasis is on the Middle East, of which Issawi is one of our foremost scholars, the subjects covered here range in scope from the great ancient civilizations to Shelley's passion for the Middle East, from the failures of the Greeks as empire builders to the preeminence of English as an international language today. Other essays examine either the way in which certain cultures were formed, or the effects of the direct control of one culture over another, or cross-cultural perceptions, most notably the dramatic change in the Western perception of the Orient between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In this age of multiculturalism, conflicts between the world's cultures have become a dominant feature of the international landscape. This excellent collection is a much-needed exploration of their historical nature.

Epic Encounters examines how popular culture has shaped the ways Americans define their "interests" in the Middle East. In this innovative book—now brought up-to-date to include 9/11 and the Iraq war—Melani McAlister argues that U.S. foreign policy, while grounded in material and military realities, is also developed in a cultural context. American understandings of the region are framed by narratives that draw on religious belief, news media accounts, and popular culture. This remarkable and pathbreaking book skillfully weaves lively and accessible readings of film, media, and music with a rigorous analysis of U.S. foreign policy, race politics, and religious history. The new chapter, titled "9/11 and After: Snapshots on the Road to Empire," considers and brilliantly analyzes five images that have become iconic: (1) New York City firemen raising the American flag out of the rubble of the World Trade Center, (2) the televised image of Osama bin-Laden, (3) Afghani women in burqas, (4) the statue of Saddam Hussein being toppled in Baghdad, and (5) the hooded and wired prisoner in Abu Ghraib. McAlister's singular achievement is to illuminate the contexts of these five images both at the time they were taken and as they relate to current events, an accomplishment all the more remarkable since—to paraphrase her new preface—we are today struggling to look backward at something that is still rushing ahead.

Taking the flexible concept of "cultural encounter" as a starting point, this volume presents a variety of studies which focus on the impact of encounters between cultures, groups, and individuals as it relates to ancient Jewish religion, culture, and society.

Taking the flexible concept of “cultural encounter” as a starting point, this volume presents a variety of studies which focus on the impact of encounters between cultures, groups, and individuals as it relates to ancient Jewish religion, culture, and society.

This collection of essays contributes to the growing field of ‘encounter studies’ within the domain of cultural history. The strength of this work is the multi- and interdisciplinary approach, with papers on a broad range of historical times, places, and subjects. While each essay makes a valuable and original contribution to its relevant field(s), the collection as a whole is an attempt to probe more general questions and issues concerning the productive outcomes of cultural encounters throughout the Late Medieval and Early Modern periods. The collection is divided into three sections organised thematically and chronologically. The first, ‘Encounters with the Past,’ focuses on the reception of classical antiquity in medieval images and texts from France, Italy and the British Isles. The second, ‘Encounters with Religion,’ presents a selection of instances in which political, philosophical and natural philosophical issues arise within inter-religious contexts. The final section, ‘Encounters with Humanity,’ contains essays on early science fiction, political symbolism, and Elizabethan drama theory, all of which deal with the conception and expression of humanity, on both the individual and societal level. This volume’s wide range of topics and methodological approaches makes it an important point of reference for researchers and practitioners within the humanities who have an interest in the (cross-)cultural history of the medieval and Renaissance periods.

Cross-Cultural Encounters in Modern World History explores cultural contact as an agent of change. It takes an encounters approach to world history since 1500, rather than a political one, to reveal different perspectives and experiences as well as key patterns and transformations. It studies the spaces between cultures historically to help us transcend human differences today in a rapidly globalizing world. The text focuses on first encounters that suggest long-term developments and particularly significant encounters that have changed the direction of world history. Because of the complexities of these encounters, the author takes a user-friendly approach to keep the text accessible to students with varying backgrounds in history.