Dissident Syria: Making Oppositional Arts Official

Dissident Syria: Making Oppositional Arts Official
miriam cooke (Author)

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Syria

From 1970 until his death in 2000, Hafiz Asad ruled Syria with an iron fist. His regime controlled every aspect of daily life. Seeking to preempt popular unrest, Asad sometimes facilitated the expression of anti-government sentiment by appropriating the work of artists and writers, turning works of protest into official agitprop. Syrian dissidents were forced to negotiate between the desire to genuinely criticize the authoritarian regime, the risk to their own safety and security that such criticism would invite, and the fear that their work would be co-opted as government propaganda, as what miriam cooke calls “commissioned criticism.” In this intimate account of dissidence in Asad’s Syria, cooke describes how intellectuals attempted to navigate between charges of complicity with the state and treason against it.

A renowned scholar of Arab cultures, cooke spent six months in Syria during the mid-1990s familiarizing herself with the country’s literary scene, particularly its women writers. While she was in Damascus, dissidents told her that to really understand life under Hafiz Asad, she had to speak with playwrights, filmmakers, and, above all, the authors of “prison literature.” She shares what she learned in Dissident Syria. She describes touring a sculptor’s studio, looking at the artist’s subversive work as well as at pieces commissioned by the government. She relates a playwright’s view that theater is unique in its ability to stage protest through innuendo and gesture. Turning to film, she shares filmmakers’ experiences of making movies that are praised abroad but rarely if ever screened at home. Filled with the voices of writers and artists, Dissident Syria reveals a community of conscience within Syria to those beyond its borders.

• Rank: #158581 in Books
• Published on: 2007-08-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 8.66" h x .51" w x 6.18" l, .62 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

Adaptable Autocrats: Regime Power in Egypt and Syria (Stanford Studies in Middle Eastern and Islamic Societies and Culture)

Adaptable Autocrats: Regime Power in Egypt and Syria (Stanford Studies in Middle Eastern and Islamic Societies and Culture)
Joshua Stacher (Author)

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Syria

The decades-long resilience of Middle Eastern regimes meant that few anticipated the 2011 Arab Spring. But from the seemingly rapid leadership turnovers in Tunisia and Egypt to the protracted stalemates in Yemen and Syria, there remains a common outcome: ongoing control of the ruling regimes. While some analysts and media outlets rush to look for democratic breakthroughs, autocratic continuity—not wide-ranging political change—remains the hallmark of the region's upheaval.

Contrasting Egypt and Syria, Joshua Stacher examines how executive power is structured in each country to show how these preexisting power configurations shaped the uprisings and, in turn, the outcomes. Presidential power in Egypt was centralized. Even as Mubarak was forced to relinquish the presidency, military generals from the regime were charged with leading the transition. The course of the Syrian uprising reveals a key difference: the decentralized character of Syrian politics. Only time will tell if Asad will survive in office, but for now, the regime continues to unify around him. While debates about election timetables, new laws, and the constitution have come about in Egypt, bloody street confrontations continue to define Syrian politics—the differences in authoritarian rule could not be more stark.

Political structures, elite alliances, state institutions, and governing practices are seldom swept away entirely—even following successful revolutions—so it is vital to examine the various contexts for regime survival. Elections, protests, and political struggles will continue to define the region in the upcoming years. Examining the lead-up to the Egyptian and Syrian uprisings helps us unlock the complexity behind the protests and transitions. Without this understanding, we lack a roadmap to make sense of the Middle East's most important political moment in decades.

• Rank: #166850 in Books
• Published on: 2012-04-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 9.02" h x .55" w x 5.98" l, 1.01 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

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all our items our feedback faqs about us contact us item description adaptable autocrats regime power in egypt and syria stanford studies in middle eastern and islamic societies and cultures ean 978 0804780636 isbn 10 0 804780633 ref bnt 0804780633 title adaptable autocrats regime power in egypt and syria stanford studies in middle eastern and islamic societies and cultures author stacher joshua

Among the Jasmine Trees: Music and Modernity in Contemporary Syria (Music Culture)

Among the Jasmine Trees: Music and Modernity in Contemporary Syria (Music Culture)
Jonathan Holt Shannon (Author)
(4)

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Syria

How does a Middle Eastern community create a modern image through its expression of heritage and authenticity? In Among the Jasmine Trees: Music and Modernity in Contemporary Syria, Jonathan H. Shannon investigates expressions of authenticity in Syria's musical culture, which is particularly known for embracing and preserving the Arab musical tradition, and which has seldom been researched in depth by Western scholars. Music plays a key role in the process of self-imaging by virtue of its ability to convey feeling and emotion, and Shannon explores a variety of performance genres, Sufi rituals, song lyrics, melodic modes, and aesthetic criteria. Shannon shows that although the music may evoke the old, the traditional, and the local, these are re-envisioned as signifiers of the modern national profile. A valuable contribution to the study of music and identity and to the ethnomusicology of the modern Middle East, Among the Jasmine Trees details this music and its reception for the first time, offering an original theoretical framework for understanding contemporary Arab culture, music, and society.

• Rank: #472025 in Books
• Published on: 2009-11-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 9.02" h x .83" w x 5.98" l, .95 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Description #1 by Barnes & Noble - Book Culture Inc.:

Categories: Music->Arab countries->Philosophy and aesthetics. Contributors: Jonathan Holt Shannon - Author. Format: Hardcover

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The World of Neo-Hittite Kingdoms: A Political and Military History

The World of Neo-Hittite Kingdoms: A Political and Military History
Trevor Bryce (Author)

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Syria

In the early 12th century, the Late Bronze Age Hittite empire collapsed during a series of upheavals which swept the Greek and Near Eastern worlds. In the subsequent Iron Age, numerous cities and states emerged in south-eastern Anatolia and northern Syria, which are generally known today as the "Neo-Hittite kingdoms." Bryce's volume gives an account of the military and political history of these kingdoms, moving beyond the Neo-Hittites themselves to the broader Near Eastern world and the states which dominated it during the Iron Age.

Divided into three sections, The World of Neo-Hittite Kingdoms looks at the last decades of the empire and the features of these kingdoms and their subsequent treatment under their Anatolian successors. Through a closer look at the individual Neo-Hittite kingdoms and their rulers and a comparison with the contemporary Aramaean states and the other kingdoms of the age--notably the Neo-Assyrian empire --it concludes with a historical synthesis of the Neo-Hittites when the last kingdom was absorbed into the Assyrian provincial administration.

• Rank: #570938 in Books
• Published on: 2012-04-07
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 9.49" h x 6.50" w x .0" l, 1.80 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

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author trevor bryce format hardback language english publication year 15 03 2012 subject history military subject 2 ancient history title the world of the neo hittite kingdoms a political and military history author trevor bryce publisher oup oxford publication date may 22 2012 pages 356 binding hardcover dimensions 6 50 wx 9 50 hx 0 75 d isbn 0199218722 subject history ancient general brand new hardcover all orders get full access to our online status tracking service allowing you to view rea

Description #2 by DeepDiscount:

In the early 12th century, the Late Bronze Age Hittite empire collapsed during a series of upheavals which swept the Greek and Near Eastern worlds. In the subsequent Iron Age, numerous cities and states emerged in south-eastern Anatolia and northern Syria, which are generally known today as the 'Neo-Hittite kingdoms'. Bryce's volume gives an account of the military and political history of these kingdoms, moving beyond the Neo-Hittites themselves to the broader Near Eastern world and the states which dominated it during the Iron Age.Divided into three sections, The World of Neo-Hittite Kingdoms looks at the last decades of the empire and the features of these kingdoms and their subsequent treatment under their Anatolian successors. Through a closer look at the individual Neo-Hittite kingdoms and their rulers and a comparison with the contemporary Aramaean states and the other kingdoms of the age - notably the Neo-Assyrian empire - it concludes with a historical synthesis of the Neo-Hittites when the last kingdom was absorbed into the Assyrian provincial administration.

Description #3 by Barnes & Noble - EuroBooks:

Categories: Ancient History * General. Contributors: Trevor Bryce - Author. Format: Hardcover