Hidden Histories
Palestine and the Eastern Mediterranean
For thousands of years, Palestine and the Eastern Mediterranean have been subject to constant colonial interference, which has disenfranchised the indigenous population from their own history. Basem L. Ra'ad uncovers this history and begins the process of reconnecting it with its rightful owners.
Orientalist ideologies, colonial projects and Zionist cultural takeovers have contributed profoundly to the revisionism of Palestine's history. Drawing upon research in archaeology, linguistics and history, Ra'ad dispels many of the myths relating to religions, languages, peoples and sites. What emerges from this recovery is the presence of native people, a forgotten, submerged and subaltern, who stubbornly endure, from ancient Canaan to contemporary Palestine. Demanding that we 'unlearn' whitewashed, colonial histories, Hidden History is a process of recovery, de-colonization, revision and inclusivity.
Orientalist ideologies, colonial projects and Zionist cultural takeovers have contributed profoundly to the revisionism of Palestine's history. Drawing upon research in archaeology, linguistics and history, Ra'ad dispels many of the myths relating to religions, languages, peoples and sites. What emerges from this recovery is the presence of native people, a forgotten, submerged and subaltern, who stubbornly endure, from ancient Canaan to contemporary Palestine. Demanding that we 'unlearn' whitewashed, colonial histories, Hidden History is a process of recovery, de-colonization, revision and inclusivity.
Basem L. Ra'ad is a Professor at Al-Quds University, Jerusalem. He is the author of Palestine and the Eastern Mediterranean (Pluto, 2010). He has been an editor and community organiser, and taught in various countries, including Canada, Bahrain and Lebanon.
'Draws upon the latest research in archaeology, linguistics and history to expose how Palestine's past has been appropriated for orientalist and colonialist purposes.This is a brilliant tour-de-force of recovery, decolonisation, revision and inclusivity' - Hilton Obenzinger
'Seeks to restore the history of the Eastern Mediterranean from an interested sociology of knowledge. Particularly moving is the discussion of Palestinian epistemological self-colonisation, a regrettable result of the appropriation of history' - Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Professor of Humanities, Columbia University
'A courageous foray into one of the most fraught terrains of history. ... Those who seek to arrive at any understanding of one of the world's most misunderstood regions would do well to read [this] closely' - Djelal Kadir, The Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Comparative Literature, Pennsylvania State University
'Right on the mark ... [He explains how scholars] have created a politically tendentious history of Palestine, which has effectively marginalised every alternative history, and which has supported an intensifying effort to displace modern Palestinians from their cultural roots' - Thomas L. Thompson, Professor emeritus, University of Copenhagen
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Preface
Introduction: Understanding the History of the Eastern Mediterranean
Part One: Ancient Myths, Religions, and Cultures
1. 'Canaan Nails': Idealised Perceptions and Their Uses
2. Origins of Monotheistic Religions
3. Sacred Sites, Pagan Roots
4. Ugaritic Revelations: What an Ancient City Tells Us
5. Wheels of Fortune: The Alphabet
Part Two: Modern Myths and (De)Colonised History
6. 'Last of the Phoenicians': Identity Questions
7. Appropriation: Zionist Cultural Takeover
8. Self-Colonisation: Its Symptoms and Outcomes
9. Cats of Jerusalem
10. Politics of Place Names
11. Epilogue: Retrieving the Ancient Subaltern
Notes
Index
Preface
Introduction: Understanding the History of the Eastern Mediterranean
Part One: Ancient Myths, Religions, and Cultures
1. 'Canaan Nails': Idealised Perceptions and Their Uses
2. Origins of Monotheistic Religions
3. Sacred Sites, Pagan Roots
4. Ugaritic Revelations: What an Ancient City Tells Us
5. Wheels of Fortune: The Alphabet
Part Two: Modern Myths and (De)Colonised History
6. 'Last of the Phoenicians': Identity Questions
7. Appropriation: Zionist Cultural Takeover
8. Self-Colonisation: Its Symptoms and Outcomes
9. Cats of Jerusalem
10. Politics of Place Names
11. Epilogue: Retrieving the Ancient Subaltern
Notes
Index
Published by Pluto Press in Jun 2010
Paperback ISBN: 9780745328300
135mm x 215mm