From Pan-Arabism to Saddam Hussein's cult of personality
This article explores the nationalist ideologies in Iraq from the end of the Ottoman era to the fall of the Ba'ath regime in 2003, with emphasis on how Iraq's past, especially ancient Mesopotamia, was used by various Iraqi regimes to promote their political agendas. The article particularly focuses on the developments of Pan-Arabism in Iraq and the formation of an Iraqi nationalist ideology under the Republic and the Ba'ath regime. It also considers the cult of personality that developed around Saddam Hussein by selecting elements from the ancient past and projecting a whimsical image of Saddam Hussein as the latest manifestation of a great line of Mesopotamian leader-heroes. The article explores how archaeology and archaeological discoveries fit into these broader social, cultural, political, and ideological developments.
Saddam's Word: Political Discourse in Iraq
Saddam's Word: Political Discourse in Iraq, by Ofra Bengio. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1998. ix + 211 pages. Notes to p. 248. Bibl. to p. 258. Index to p. 266. $49.95. Reviewed by Jacqueline Ismael In Saddam's Word, Ofra Bengio attempts to use political discourse "to shape a prism through which to discern that regime's political culture and follow the political processes evolving in the society" (p. 3). To accomplish this, Bengio conducts a semantic and lexicographic analysis of key words embedded in the idioms of Ba`thi discourse. Specifically, Bengio analyzes Iraqi President Saddam Husayn's speeches (and other published utterances) and Ba`thi pronouncements in the media. Describing the purpose and method of this analysis, Bengio writes: "It is not the course of events that stands at the center of our endeavor; rather, it is the language, the expressions and verbal statements, that reflected events and at times shaped and nurtured them" (p. 3). The analysis is organized into five overlapping spheres of public life: "the Ba`th and the revolution; the political system and its leader Saddam Husayn; nation-building and ethnic-minorities; enemies and wars; and history and Islam" (p. vii). Reflecting these overlapping spheres, the text is divided into five parts, each of which is comprised of two-to-four chapters, 14 chapters in all. The first part of the book, entitled "Revolution and Revival," explores the nature of the Ba`th regime through its appropriation of the terminology of political instability (from thawra to ridda), political development (from jahiliyya to umma), and political action (from tathqif ba `thi to `un). The second part, called "From 'Popular' to Totalitarian Democracy," examines the political institutions of the Ba`th regime through its corruption of the terminology of governance (from dawla dimuqratiyya to al-qa'id al-darura). In the third part, "Unity and Separatism," Bengio analyzes the Ba`thi approach (i.e., perspectives and policies) to nation-building in a pluralist society in terms of its use of the mythology of political identity (from al-qiwa al-wataniyya to ta'ifiyya vis-a-vis the Shi'a; to aL-jayb al-amil al-mutamarrid vis-a-vis the Kurds). The fourth part, "Cycles of Enmity and Violence," probes the Ba`thi psyche in terms of its mystification of paranoia (imbiryaliyya) and violence (istishhad). Finally, "Epic and Apocalypse" examines the regime's response to deep crisis through its misappropriation of the language of venerated traditions (from al-Qadisiyya to sura al-fil). Bengio's study sharply reveals two characteristics of Ba`thi political discourse. The first is the dominance of themes of terror and violence, which reflect the pernicious nature of the regime. On this subject, Bengio writes: "One of the most striking aspects of the Ba`thi political discourse is its constant emphasis on threats from ever-present and dangerous enemies and, simultaneously, on strength, force and the use of force, and violence and its application. Closely linked with each other, these two themes provide the regime with its raison d'etre: the invocation of fear and anxiety and the glorification of the use of force. …
Negotiating the cultural and economic outcomes of sport heritage attractions: the case of the National Baseball Hall of Fame
ABSTRACT Contemporary museums must balance their roles as commercial entities and repositories of various, and often dissonant, heritages and histories. Sports museums in particular often have clear commercial and nostalgic aims, particularly through tourist visitation, though the extent to which they represent more challenging narratives remains unclear. This paper examines how one of the most famous sports museums in the world, the National Baseball Hall of Fame (NBHF) in Cooperstown, New York, balances its dual role as tourist attraction and repository of baseball's sometimes checkered past. It was found that different sections of the museum provide greater or lesser degrees of engagement with more controversial issues, although the commercial outputs and appeal of the museum remains clear throughout. Utlimately, the NBHF demonstrates that balancing veneration and critique in collections can be commercially prosperous, and can provide a template for other sport and popular culture museums who may be wary of incorporating more challenging narratives in their exhibits. Furthermore, the symbiotic relationship between the Hall of Fame and the village of Cooperstown, particularly in creating and maintaining cultural and economic outputs, requires further exploration.