아랍 정체성(Arab Identity)의 역사적 패러다임 변화

Abstract

This paper analyzes the origins of ‘Arab/Arabs’ and ‘Arab world’ and then tries to formulize its identity, using area studies’ methodological approaches. It begins with broad questions: who exactly called themselves ‘Arabs’ in context of history? Was Arab identity (Al-Huwiyyah Al-ʿArabiyyah) contested and fluid through its history? The study tries to remove idealists’ views of identity that emphasize its similarities. It is rather dialectical, attaching more significance to common characteristics in the context of history. The paper examines the questions empirically and concentrates on ‘Islamization (ʾAslimah)’ and ‘Arabization (Taʿrīb)’ including ‘the Shuʿūb movement (Al-Shuʿūbiyyah: Shu`biyya)’ from which variables for Arab identity are drawn. From this perspective, Arab identity can be seen through an angle of local or regional identity. It can also be described as consisting of interrelated factors: racial, ethnic, national, religious, cultural, linguistic, political characters. The conception of modern Arab identity can be reframed by analyzing the Arab renaissance (Cultural Movement) or ‘Al-Nahḍah’, ‘Pan-Islamism (Al-Waḥdah Al-Islāmiyyah)’, ‘Islamic Modernism (Al-Iṣlāḥ Al-Islāmī)’, ‘Pan-Arabism (‘Al-Waḥdah Al-ʿArabiyyah)’ and ‘Arab Nationalism (Al-Qawmīyyah Al-ʿArabīyyah)’ that affect its notions. Thus, it is necessary to inquire and outline their origins and characteristics according to historical progress. Its results will be compared with them and at the same time the importance of their differences will be recognized and considered. And then, if all the dimensions are analyzed together, the forged notions of Arab identity can be embodied in its own shape although it is vulnerable to controversy criticism. In this context the implication of plurality and unity in defining Arab identity can be expressed as the right words of ‘Es Pluribus Unum! (Out of Many, One!)’ Finally, it is generally supposed that the noble spirit of the Arab Spring (Al-Thawrah Al-Madaniyyah) is the result of the efforts to find its roots in the Arab history. It seems to seek its lineage from the historical movement of Al-Shuʿūbiyyah by using the word ‘Al-Shaʿb’ under the slogan of “Al-Sha ʿb Yurīd Isqāṭ Al-Niẓām”.