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youniseader's review against another edition
4.0
In the Name of Identity written in 1998 by Amin Malouf, a Lebanese-French author. As an Arabic native speaker, writing in French, and having an Eastern and a Western culture, Malouf discusses the notion of identity, its complex nature and its different components based on his experiences and on accounts he drew from his observations, with reference to extremist ideologies, and the oppression of imposing cultures on others. This book, despite being somehow superficial in its analysis because I believe it should have included empirical evidence when claiming some points, was eye-opening. I feel annihilated with my identity as an Algerian faced with a range of identities, Arabic, Ottoman, and Western, and I also don't share the same cultural values with my own community.
I don’t particularly recall most of the ideas in the book but the following ideas are the ones I found the most interesting to discuss:
1. Identity is the sum of many allegiances
I used to think of identity as a sole entity, straightforward and direct, but Malouf’s perspective made me reconsider that.
Each of us may identify with different cultural components, speak multiple languages, and hold various beliefs. Personally, I am Ottoman of origin, speak Algerian Darija, Arabic, French, and English, all of which I absorbed some of their cultures. I live in a Mulsim majority country, yet I have a different faith, and I am secular. In addition, I listen to only Arabic and Algerian music . It seems that I identify with different allegiances, and that is what Malouf made in this point. He goes on this by saying, “Identity would then be seen as the sum of all our allegiances, and, within it, allegiance to the human community itself would become increasingly important, until one day it would become the chief allegiance, though without destroying our many individual affiliations.”
2. “The influence of religion on people is often exaggerated, while the influence of people on religion is neglected.”
This is what I found the most interesting point in the book . People shape religions in extraordinary ways since religion is not flexible but humans are not, though yes! a lot take it for granted, but I think it is not digested by everyone in the same manner. Malouf points out to Islam in particular, claiming that though it might be perceived as brutal and intolerant, this has been the case for most religions, and he contrasted that with Christianity, which was more brutal than is Islam now. He says, “If we drew up a comparative history of the Christian and the Muslim worlds, we would discover on the one hand a religion which was for a long while intolerant, with a clear tendency towards totalitarianism, but which has gradually been transformed into a religion of openness; and on the other hand, we would find a religion with a vocation for openness which has gradually drifted towards practices that are intolerant and totalitarian.” This is valid considering the history of Islam during the Abassite Califate, and non-Muslims in the Andalus, where believers of the three monotheistic religions co-existed, and built a great civilization. This doesn’t mean that religion can be entirely independent from its followers because there are some fundemental nocive values in many religions, including Islam, but the main point here is that people can change religion and edit it to fit their agenda. This change varies depending on the socio-economic status of societies believing in that religion, and I think that's why Islam is now more radical than it was in the past.
Idea 3: Why don’t Westerns learn about our culture as we do about theirs?
There is an obvious explanation why this is not the case. I think it is mainly due to the fact that the West today dominates the world and globalization seems to be focusing more on learning about the West. Non-Western countries, particulary MENA region countries, struggle to export their cultures to the West and other parts of the world. In my country Algeria, for instance, tourism is not a sector well taken care of and people outside Algeria barely know something about us. In addition, Arabic is a confusing language. It has many varieties and there are no speakers of Standard Arabic, so learners of this language would be frustrated to learn a language that no one uses in their everyday life. In addition there are fewer resources available to learn this language. This is why I believe that countries that speak Arabic varities should reconsider what they consider as their native langauge.
Malouf’s point though is important. I think the point of globalization is to bring cultures together, not dominate one culture over another. But in a world of abusive power and tyranny, can this ever happen?
4. Equality, liberty, and individual freedom as fundamental values
If we were to decide universal values that would be applied to all cultures all over the world in the 21st century. I emphasize on the 21st century because we are much closer to each other than ever. Malouf, and I agree with him, think that these would be equality between men and women, liberty of faith, and freedom of choice. “I believe profoundly not just in equality, between men and women alike, but also in liberty in matters of faith and in the freedom of every individual to live as he chooses; and I distrust any doctrine that tries to challenge such fundamental values.” Moreover, fighting for these values is crucial to ensure that everyone is included, and these values should be cultivated everywhere if we want to live in a more co-exsiting world.
Now I am starting to accept my multiplex identity and I think it is the reason why I think multiculturalism should be encouraged, at least, multiculturalism knowledge should be encouraged around the world. It is by learning about the other that we learn how to accept the other!
I recommend this book to everyone who feels they do not belong. This book will give you different perspectives on identity, especially that it comes from someone with a vast array of identity components. His style of writing is brilliant and Barbara Bray, the translator, also did a wonderful job rendering it into English!
I don’t particularly recall most of the ideas in the book but the following ideas are the ones I found the most interesting to discuss:
1. Identity is the sum of many allegiances
I used to think of identity as a sole entity, straightforward and direct, but Malouf’s perspective made me reconsider that.
Each of us may identify with different cultural components, speak multiple languages, and hold various beliefs. Personally, I am Ottoman of origin, speak Algerian Darija, Arabic, French, and English, all of which I absorbed some of their cultures. I live in a Mulsim majority country, yet I have a different faith, and I am secular. In addition, I listen to only Arabic and Algerian music . It seems that I identify with different allegiances, and that is what Malouf made in this point. He goes on this by saying, “Identity would then be seen as the sum of all our allegiances, and, within it, allegiance to the human community itself would become increasingly important, until one day it would become the chief allegiance, though without destroying our many individual affiliations.”
2. “The influence of religion on people is often exaggerated, while the influence of people on religion is neglected.”
This is what I found the most interesting point in the book . People shape religions in extraordinary ways since religion is not flexible but humans are not, though yes! a lot take it for granted, but I think it is not digested by everyone in the same manner. Malouf points out to Islam in particular, claiming that though it might be perceived as brutal and intolerant, this has been the case for most religions, and he contrasted that with Christianity, which was more brutal than is Islam now. He says, “If we drew up a comparative history of the Christian and the Muslim worlds, we would discover on the one hand a religion which was for a long while intolerant, with a clear tendency towards totalitarianism, but which has gradually been transformed into a religion of openness; and on the other hand, we would find a religion with a vocation for openness which has gradually drifted towards practices that are intolerant and totalitarian.” This is valid considering the history of Islam during the Abassite Califate, and non-Muslims in the Andalus, where believers of the three monotheistic religions co-existed, and built a great civilization. This doesn’t mean that religion can be entirely independent from its followers because there are some fundemental nocive values in many religions, including Islam, but the main point here is that people can change religion and edit it to fit their agenda. This change varies depending on the socio-economic status of societies believing in that religion, and I think that's why Islam is now more radical than it was in the past.
Idea 3: Why don’t Westerns learn about our culture as we do about theirs?
There is an obvious explanation why this is not the case. I think it is mainly due to the fact that the West today dominates the world and globalization seems to be focusing more on learning about the West. Non-Western countries, particulary MENA region countries, struggle to export their cultures to the West and other parts of the world. In my country Algeria, for instance, tourism is not a sector well taken care of and people outside Algeria barely know something about us. In addition, Arabic is a confusing language. It has many varieties and there are no speakers of Standard Arabic, so learners of this language would be frustrated to learn a language that no one uses in their everyday life. In addition there are fewer resources available to learn this language. This is why I believe that countries that speak Arabic varities should reconsider what they consider as their native langauge.
Malouf’s point though is important. I think the point of globalization is to bring cultures together, not dominate one culture over another. But in a world of abusive power and tyranny, can this ever happen?
4. Equality, liberty, and individual freedom as fundamental values
If we were to decide universal values that would be applied to all cultures all over the world in the 21st century. I emphasize on the 21st century because we are much closer to each other than ever. Malouf, and I agree with him, think that these would be equality between men and women, liberty of faith, and freedom of choice. “I believe profoundly not just in equality, between men and women alike, but also in liberty in matters of faith and in the freedom of every individual to live as he chooses; and I distrust any doctrine that tries to challenge such fundamental values.” Moreover, fighting for these values is crucial to ensure that everyone is included, and these values should be cultivated everywhere if we want to live in a more co-exsiting world.
Now I am starting to accept my multiplex identity and I think it is the reason why I think multiculturalism should be encouraged, at least, multiculturalism knowledge should be encouraged around the world. It is by learning about the other that we learn how to accept the other!
I recommend this book to everyone who feels they do not belong. This book will give you different perspectives on identity, especially that it comes from someone with a vast array of identity components. His style of writing is brilliant and Barbara Bray, the translator, also did a wonderful job rendering it into English!
solariane's review against another edition
2.5
olalalala papi maalouf s’agirait de prendre du recul 2min
cafardesque's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
As close to perfect as possible.
amatullah's review against another edition
4.0
While being in a time where identity is an issue, this book brought me some answers as I expected.
Kind of naive view, in the way that everyone should have the right to be whatever his origins or his environment states. Reality is, most of the time, the identity crisis forces the individual to chose one between the multicultural background he can have.
I highly recommend this read. Short, easy to read.
Kind of naive view, in the way that everyone should have the right to be whatever his origins or his environment states. Reality is, most of the time, the identity crisis forces the individual to chose one between the multicultural background he can have.
I highly recommend this read. Short, easy to read.