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Middle Eastern Cultures and Traditions

Middle Eastern Cultures and Traditions. Middle East: A culture area. A historical development – not a geographic region

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Middle Eastern Cultures and Traditions

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  1. Middle Eastern Cultures and Traditions

  2. Middle East: A culture area • A historical development – not a geographic region • Example, Muslim groups from Morocco to Pakistan and Turkey to Sudan – a huge complex area whose cultures have been formed by mixing people, languages, way of life, and religions. • A conglomeration of areas interconnecting Africa, Asia, and Europe • Middle East vs the West: a political development

  3. Culture area: Impact of geography, language and religion • Three ways of life – nomadism, peasant agriculture, and urban commerce – in arid and semiarid lands, combined with the wide adoption of Arab culture and Islam have developed a “ culture area” • 4 “great tradition” civilizations: for example “patriarchy” varies from agro pastoralism and Islam in middle east to caste system and Hinduism in India, with rice agriculture and Confucianism in China, and with feudalism and Christianity in Europe.

  4. Map Exercise • How many countries can you fill in? • http://lizardpoint.com/geography/mideast-quiz.php • Answers at:http://www.eduplace.com/ss/maps/pdf/afr_asia_pol.pdf http://www.eduplace.com/ss/maps/pdf/cent_swasia.pdfNow, look up the capitals!

  5. Defining the Region Geographically and Culturally • “Near East” (colonial term) or Southwest Asia,North Africa, and some or all of Central Asia, because of historical contact, colonial experience, cultural affinity, and contemporary politics.Bounded by natural barriers of mountains, desert, and bodies of water. • Varieties of Muslims in Africa, India, Indonesia

  6. What is regional culture or a culture area? • Groups of people that have been neighbors for long periods of time, since they are culturally, genetically, and historically related.Thus, the Middle East/North Africa is treated as a regional specialization, despite links with Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, the Pacific, and Europe.Another interesting study of the diaspora of peoples from this region.

  7. Importance of the Middle East • The civilizations of the Fertile Crescent (Mesopotamia) and Pharaonic Egypt were the first to develop agriculture, writing, codified law, and complex social structure. • The Golden Age of Islam brought advances in mathematics, astronomy, literature, and philosophy to Europe, Asia, and Africa. • The dominant monotheistic traditions of today were all originated in the Middle East

  8. Contemporary Issues in the Middle East of world importance • Wars in Iraq and AfghanistanResource problems: e.g., petroleum, water, land • Ethnic tensions (e.g., genocide in Sudan, oppression of Kurds)Israeli-Palestinian conflictRise of Islamist states and fundamentalist movements.

  9. Globalization • Globalization involves engagement between different traditions, not a simple economic transformation • secularization and secularism may be distinctively modern, possibly Western historically, but important to understand in the Islamic context (refer to having legal, governmental, or other societal 'spaces' not ruled through religion)

  10. Anthropological Issues • Anthropology focuses on culture (worldview, customs, behavior, art and artifacts, ritual, etc.), society (kinship, marriage, status and social stratification, age and gender, social interaction), and the relation between the concept of the person and the group. We are interested in the ecological adaptation of the people, and of course their history and current issues. • Sources of Confusion

  11. Sources of confusion • Terminology: Semitic, Arab or Arabic, Muslim (or Moslem, Islamic, Mohammedan, etc.), Persian; “tribe”Stereotypes and misconceptions:Middle Eastern people in the post-9/11 world (confused with South Asians, too)Not all Middle Easterners are Muslims or Arabs; not all Muslims are from the Middle East (most are in Indonesia, in fact!)Terrorism reporting pretty negative • Religion is an important part of people’s identity.

  12. Language and Ethnicity • Great language families: Afro-Asiatic, Indo-European, AltaicCultural history (migrations, contact, and settlements) corresponds to language distributionTrade linked entire region from ancient times; Greek, Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Indic, and European colonial unificationStrong ethnic, tribal, cultural, local identity

  13. Important Topics in the Anthropology of the Middle East • Role of the family and larger kinship unitsStatus of women • Impact of nomadic pastoralist tradition • City versus country cultureCustoms related to power, such as patriarchy, authoritarian leadership, versus non-hierarchical emphasis of KoranTension between local culture and pan-Arab/pan-Muslim movements • Polygyny is associated with Islam, but is strongly cultural.

  14. Valuable resources • Internet sites:http://www.albany.edu/history/middle-east/http://www.merip.org/http://www.arab.net/index.htmlhttp://www.mideastinfo.com/

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