CONTEMPORARY ARAB THOUGHT - CULTURAL CRITIQUE IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE

The disastrous outcome of the Six-Day War led to a major shift in Arab intellectual and popular thought. Movements to liberalize and decolonize several Arab nations had failed, leading to further occupation and repression and a severe crisis in culture and politics. In response to these events, two trends crystallized: totalizing doctrines, especially of a religious nature, and a revitalized critique directed at prevailing modes of thinking and ideology. The first book to take stock of this critical trend, this volume illuminates the interface between cultural and political critique in the major writings of Arab thinkers of the second half of the twentieth century and compares it to similar elaborations in other postcolonial contexts.