"The November 1970 coup that brought Hafiz al-Asad to power fundamentally transformed cultural production in Syria. A comprehensive intellectual, ideological, and political project--a Ba'thist ...cultural revolution--sought to align artistic endeavors with the ideological interests of the regime. The ensuing agonistic struggle pitted official aesthetics of power against alternative modes of creative expression that could evade or ignore the effects of the state. With this book, Max Weiss offers the first cultural and intellectual history of Ba'thist Syria, from the coming to power of Hafiz al-Asad, through the transitional period under Bashar al-Asad, and continuing up through the Syria War. Revolutions Aesthetic reconceptualizes contemporary Syrian politics, authoritarianism, and cultural life. Engaging rich original sources--novels, films, and cultural periodicals--Weiss highlights themes crucial to the making of contemporary Syria: hero
The two-century long conflict over Syria between Seleukids and Ptolemies was the central diplomatic and military matter of the Hellinistic period. By examining it for the first time in detail, its ...importance can at last be seen.
In the The Aramaeans in Ancient Syria the authors present the history and culture of the Aramaean kingdoms of Syria from the 12th to the end of the 8th century B.C.
This invaluable resource provides students with a comprehensive overview of the Syrian Civil War, with roughly 100 in-depth articles by leading scholars on an array of key topics, and several ...important primary source documents.This important work provides a thorough introduction to the origins, events, and impact of the devastating Syrian Civil War, illuminating the complexities and the consequences of this long-lasting conflict. From the emergence of the war in early 2011 following the Arab Spring that swept across the Middle East, to the rise of the Islamic State (ISIS), through the re-establishing of control of most of the country by Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's armed forces by late 2018, this comprehensive work covers every aspect of this conflict that has devastated millions.The book begins with a detailed overview of the Syrian Civil War that provides context to each of the reference entries that follow. The introductory material also includes essays on the causes and consequences of the war. Next comes the A-Z reference entries on such topics as Bashar al-Assad, chemical weapons, drones, the refugee crisis, the Battle of Saraqeb, and White Helmets. In addition, the book includes about a dozen curated and contextualized primary source documents along with a comprehensive chronology and an extensive bibliography.Provides the essential information students needs in order to fully comprehend one of the early 21st century's defining eventsExplains how various warring factions backed by Russia and the United States have greatly complicated the war and strained international relationsDetails how ISIS took advantage of the power vacuums created by the long-running civil war to seize large swaths of territory in Syria and neighboring IraqDescribes how the largest refugee crisis since World War II has spilled into neighboring countries and across Europe
From ISIS propaganda videos to popular regime-backed TV series and digital activism, the Syrian conflict has been dramatically affected by the production of media, at the same time generating in its ...turn an impressive visual culture. Yet what are the aesthetic, political and material implications of the collusion between the production of this sheer amount of visual media being continuously shared and re-manipulated on the Internet, and the performance of the conflict on the ground? This ethnography uses the Syrian case to reflect more broadly on how the networked age reshapes contemporary warfare and impacts on the enactment of violence through images and on images. In stark contrast to the techno-utopias celebrating digital democracy and participatory cultures, Donatella Della Ratta’s analysis exposes the dark side of online practices, where visual regimes of representation and media production dramatically intertwine with modes of destruction and the performance of violence. Exploring the most socially-mediated conflict of contemporary times, the book offers a fascinating insight into the transformation of warfare and life in the age of the internet.
This book uses a study of Syria under the French mandate to show what historical developments led people to start describing themselves and others as 'minorities'.
This book offers a glimpse into Syrian refugee women's stories of defiance and triumph in the aftermath of the Syrian uprising.The al-Zaatari Camp in northern Jordan is the largest Syrian refugee ...camp in the world, home to 80,000 inhabitants. While al-Zaatari has been described by the Western media as an ideal refugee camp, the Syrian women living within its confines offer a very different account of their daily reality. Defiance in Exile: Syrian Refugee Women in Jordan presents for the first time in a book-length format the opportunity to hear the refugee women's own words about torment, struggle, and persecution-and of an enduring spirit that defies a difficult reality. Their stories speak of nearly insurmountable social, economic, physical, and emotional challenges, and provide a distinct perspective of the Syrian conflict.Waed Athamneh and Muhammad Musad began collecting the testimonies of Syrian refugee women in 2015. The authors chronicle the history of Syria's colonial legacy, the torture and cruelty of the Bashar al-Assad regime during which nearly half a million Syrians lost their lives, and the eventual displacement of more than 5.3 million Syrian refugees due to the crisis. The book contains nearly two dozen interviews, which give voice to single mothers, widows, women with disabilities, and those who are victims of physical and psychological abuse. Having lost husbands, children, relatives, and friends to the conflict, they struggle with what it means to be a Syrian refugee-and what it means to be a Syrian woman. Defiance in Exile follows their fight for survival during war and the sacrifices they had to make. It depicts their journey, their desperate, chaotic lives as refugees, and their hopes and aspirations for themselves and their children in the future. These oral histories register the women's political outcry against displacement, injustice, and abuse. The book will interest all readers who support refugees and displaced persons as well as students and scholars of Middle East studies, political science, women's studies, and peace studies.
The Ottoman Syrians – residents of modern Syria and Lebanon – formed the first Arabic-speaking Evangelical Church in the region. This book offers a fresh narrative of the encounters of this minority ...Protestant community with American missionaries, Eastern churches and Muslims at the height of the Nahda, from 1860 to 1915.
