1st Edition

Historians, State and Politics in Twentieth Century Egypt Contesting the Nation

By Anthony Gorman Copyright 2003
    292 Pages
    by Routledge

    292 Pages
    by Routledge

    This book deals with the relationship between historical scholarship and politics in twentieth century Egypt. It examines the changing roles of the academic historian, the university system, the state and non-academic scholarship and the tension between them in contesting the modern history of Egypt. In a detailed discussion of the literature, the study analyzes the political nature of competing interpretations and uses the examples of Copts and resident foreigners to demonstrate the dissonant challenges to the national discourse that testify to its limitations, deficiencies and silences.

    Preface  Abbreviations  Introduction  Part 1: Historians and the National Discourse  1. The Emergence of the Academic Tradition Egyptian Historiography at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century The Royalist School The Founding Fathers: Rifat, Ghurbal and Sabri A Changing of the Guard Ahmad 'Izzat 'Abd al-Karim: A Home-Grown Historian Muhammad Anis and the Socialist School A More Diverse Academy: Class and Women An Organized Profession  2. History, Institutions and the State Learned Societies The Egyptian University The Revolution and the University The Mithaq and the Mashru' Institutes and Think-Tanks The Higher Institute of Socialist Studies The Centre for Political and Strategic Studies History by Government Committee Acceptable Limits A Dearth of Documents  3. History In The Street: The Non-Academic Historian Beyond the Palace: The Liberal School and the National Movement 'Abd al-Rahman al-Raf'I The Rise of the Materialist School A Window of Opportunity Diversity on the Left Contemporary Islamic History: Religious-Cultural Radicalism Bringing Islam Back The Muslim Brotherhood A Revived Force Female Voices Non-Academic History and the University  4. Egypt for Which Egyptians? The Liberal School: From Palace to People Party and Nation: Sabri, al-Rafi'I and Ramadan The Materialist School: nation, Capital and Class From Revolution to Revolution Vanguard of the Nation The Islamic Current: An 'Authentic' Nation Nasser in Islamic Discourse Women and Nation: Symbolic Supplement or Dissonant Distaff?  Part 2: National Dissonance  5. The Copts A Quietest Academy Coptic Institutions Copts in Contemporary Historiography The Liberal School: Under the Protection of the Wafd The Materialist School: Class and Ta'ifiyya The Islamic Current: Ahl al-Dhimma or a Fifth Column? Coptic Responses Coptic Interpretations Society of the Coptic nation (Jama'at al-umma al-qibtiyya)  6. The Mutamassirun The Mutamassirun and the Nation The Liberal School: Foreign Nationals The Materialist School: Non-National Bourgeoisie Islamic Current: 'Domestic Imperialists' Mutamassir Voices  Conclusion  Notes  Bibliography  Index

    Biography

    Anthony Gorman has taught at Macquarie University, the University of Sydney and, most recently, the American University in Cairo. He is currently working on aspects of the Greek presence in modern Egypt.