The Use and Abuse of History the images of the enemy in Iraq historiography
Main Article Content
Abstract
This research attempts to explore the dynamic relationships between writing the ancient history of Iraq and political discourse, focusing on academic publications in Iraq between 2003 and 2014. These publications created images of the enemy through transhistorical narratives, providing "evidence from the past" to justify aggression against certain communities and neighbouring countries. The study uses Stein's definition of enemy images and Ofer Zur's model of creating enemy images to examine the role of Iraqi historiography in shaping political discourse.
The research argues that the peaceful coexistence between Iraqi communities depends not only on political actors but also on the response of the academic community to power. By addressing distorted historical images of "Others," Iraqi historians can play a role in promoting peaceful coexistence between communities. The study highlights the importance of challenging politically motivated enemification of certain communities, which lack evidence from history.
The research reveals a strong connection between the representations of the Persian, Jews, and Christians by the Baʿthist regime and those found in Iraqi academic publications after the regime's collapse. The study highlights the need for Iraqi historians to re-examine their relationship with power and to avoid disseminating politically motivated narratives that distort historical facts.
Thus, this research emphasizes the importance of examining the role of historical narratives in shaping political discourse and promoting peaceful coexistence between communities. Iraqi historians have a crucial role to play in challenging distorted historical images of "Others" and promoting a more accurate and inclusive understanding of history.
Downloads
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
References
REFERENCES
Al-Shaheen, M. (2009). rasāʼil al-rasūl ila al-mulūk wa-al-umarāʼ [letters of the prophet to kings and princes]. Adab al-Rafidayn. Mosul University, 39(54), pp 205-235.
al-Ṭāʼī, I. (2006). Thawrāt al-aqālīm al-ʻArabīyah Ḍidda al-Sayṭarah al-Akhmynī [The Revolutions of the Arab Provinces Against the Achaemenid domination]. Journal of Education and Science, Mosul University, 13(10), pp 1-15.
Awiny, M. (2009). Inhiyār al-Bawwābah al-Sharqīyah al-Ḥaqāʼiq al-Tārīkhīyah al-Mūjibāt wa al-Jiyūsitrātījīyah [The collapse of the Eastern Gate Historical Facts and Geostrategic Imperatives]. Journal of Historical & Cultural Studies. Tikrit University, 1(1), pp193-214.
Bar-Tal, D. (1990). Causes and consequences of delegitimization: Models of conflict and ethnocentrism. Journal of Social issues, 46(1), pp.65-81.
Baram, A. (1991) Culture, History and Ideology in the Formation of Baʿthist Iraq, 1968-89. Hampshire: Springer and Macmillan.
Bengio, O. (1998) Saddam’s Word: Political Discourse in Iraq. New York: Oxford University Press.
Bunzel, C. (2019) From Paper State to Caliphate: Ideological Infighting in the Islamic State. Center for Middle East Policy. Brookings.
Danecki, J. and Górak-Sosnowska, K. (2019). Religious Conflicts in Iraq. Country of Origin Information Unit. Office of Foreigners. European Union.
Dawisha, A. (1999). Identity’ and Political Survival in Saddam’s Iraq. Middle East Journal 53, no. 4: 553–67. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4329390.
Fahdawi, A. (2006). ʻAqāʼid al-mujtamaʻ al-ʻarabī qabla al-islām [Beliefs of Arab society before Islam]. Journals of Research and Islamic Studies. Scientific advisory body / Sunni Endowment. 1(4). Pp59-88.
Gayer, Corinna Carmen, et al. (2009) “Overcoming Psychological Barriers to Peaceful Conflict Resolution: The Role of Arguments about Losses.” The Journal of Conflict Resolution, vol. 53, no. 6, Sage Publications, Inc., pp. 951–75, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20684624.
Gerő, M., Płucienniczak, P.P., Kluknavska, A., Navrátil, J. and Kanellopoulos, K. (2017). Understanding Enemy Images in Central and Eastern European Politics: Towards an Interdisciplinary Approach. Intersections. East European Journal of Society and Politics, 3(3).
Goldstein, J. and Pevehouse, J. (2007). International relations New Jersey: Person Longman. Hermann, MG (2002)“Assessing Leadership Style: A Trait Analysis” Social Science Automation Inc. socialscience.
Hasan, S. (2005). Qiyādat Khaled ebn Alwalid lil-fatḥ al-Islāmī 622 [Khalid ibn al-Walid's leadership of the Islamic conquest]. Journal of Education and Science, Mosul University, 12(3), pp 65-86.
Hasan, S. (2009). Al fatḥ al-Islāmī lil Ḥīrah [Islamic Liberation of Al-Hira in 12A.H./633A.D.]. Adab al-Rafidayn. Mosul University, 39(54), pp 269-286.
Hasan, S. (2010 b). Al fatḥ al-Islāmī lil Anbār [The Islamic conquest of Anbar and its outskirts A.D. 21 to 666]. Journal of Tikrit University for the Humanities. Tikrit University. 17 (3). Pp271-250.
Huseen, N. (2009). Mawqif Naṣārá al-ʻArab fi al-ʻIrāq min al-fatḥ al-islāmī fi ʻahd al-Khalīfah Abī Bakr al-Ṣiddīq: raḍiya Allāh ʻanh [The stan of the Arab Christians in Iraq towards the Islamic conquest during the era of Caliph Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq (may God be pleased with him)]. Journal of Historical & Cultural Studies. Tikrit University, 1(2), pp292-313.
Ibrahim M, A, AL-Jobory,. (2012). Mamlakat al-Ḥīrah wa awḍāʻihā al Siyāsīyah wa al-Ḥaḍārīyah Qubayla al-Islām [The Kingdom of Al-Hira and its political and civilization situations before Islam]. Journal of Education and Science, Mosul University, 19 (62), 247-272
Jobory, I. (2011). Ṭabīʻat al-ʻalāqah bayna Mamlakat al-Ḥīrah wa al-Dawlah al-Sāsānīyah: khilāl fatrat ḥukm al-Nuʻmān ibn al-Mundhir [The nature of the relationship between the Kingdom of Hera and the Sassanid state during the reign of Nuʿman ibn al-Mundhir 585-602 AD]. Journal of Education and Science, Mosul University, 18(4), pp70-80.
Katzman, K. (2009). Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security. Collingdale: DIANE Publishing, Available online: https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Iraq/NtJ163gwKHIC?hl=en&gbpv=0 (accessed on 28th December 2022).
Kennan, G. and John, J. (2012). American Diplomacy 60Th-anniversary expanded ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Mac Sweeney, N. (2013). Foundation myths and politics in ancient Ionia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Maghdid, B. (2018). Historiography and Politics: Twentieth-Century Arab Scholarship on Antiquity. Unpublished PhD Thesis. Leicester: University of Leicester.
Merskin, D. (2004). The construction of Arabs as enemies: post-September 11 discourse of George W. Bush. Mass Communication & Society, 7(2), pp.157-175.
Metz, H. (1990). Iraq: A Country Study. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Normand, L. (2016). Demonization in International Politics: A Barrier to Peace in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. New York. Palgrave Macmillan.
Osman, K. (2012). The Hissing Sectarian Snake: Sectarianism and the Making of State and Nation in Modern Iraq. Unpublished PhD Thesis. Exeter: University of Exeter. UK
Rash, F. (2005). Metaphor in Hitler’s Mein Kampf, in: etaphoric.de 9, 74-111, http://www.metaphorik.de/09/.
Ṭilfāḥ, Kairiulla. (N.D) Thalatha kan ʿala Allah an la Yakhluqahum hum: al-Fars, al-Yahud wal-Dhabib [Three Whom God Should not have Created: Persians, Jews, and Flies]. Baghdad: Dār al-Ḥurrīyah lil-Ṭibāʻah.
ʿUdwān, N. (1988) Ḥawla al-Ḥarb al-ʻIrāqīyah-al-Īrānīyah wa-al-Intifāḍah al-waṭanīyah al-Filasṭīnīyah [On the Iraqi-Iranian War and the Palestinian Uprising]. Al-Markaz al-ʻArabī li-Buḥūth al-Mustamiʻīn wa-al-Mushādidīn, Ittiḥād Idhāʻāt al-Duwal al-ʻArabīyah. Baghdad: Dār al-Ḥurrīyah lil-Ṭibāʻah.
UN General Assembly, Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace: resolutions / adopted by the General Assembly, 6 October 1999, A/RES/53/243, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3b00f54e0.html [accessed 19 March 2022].
Vuorinen M. (2012). Introduction: Enemy Images as Inversions of the Self. Enemy Images in War Propaganda. M. Vuorinen (ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Workman, W. (1994). The Social Origins of the Iran-Iraq War. Colorado and London: Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Zur, O. (1991). The Love of Hating: The Psychology of Enmity. History of European Ideas. 13, 345-369.
Van Dijk, T.A., 2006. Ideology and discourse analysis. Journal of political ideologies, 11(2), pp.115-140.
Van Dijk, T.A., 2006. Politics, ideology, and discourse.
Van Dijk, T.A., 2009. Society and discourse: How social contexts influence text and talk. Cambridge University Press.
Van Dijk, T.A., 2011. Discourse and ideology. Discourse studies: A multidisciplinary introduction, pp.379-407.
Van Dijk, T.A., 2016. Discourse and racism: Some conclusions of 30 years of research. Interdisciplinary studies in pragmatics, culture and society, pp.285-295.
Verschueren, J., 2012. Ideology in language use: Pragmatic guidelines for empirical research. Cambridge University Press.