The Arab Mind
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The Arab Mind is a non-fiction cultural psychology book by Raphael Patai. First published in 1973, revised in 1983, and since reprinted the book is considered a seminal work in the field of Middle Eastern studies. An update (Patai has since died) is planned for 2007.
The book advocates a tribal-group-survival explanation for the driving factors behind Arabs' actions. Comparisons are made to other theories. Essentially no scientific jargon is used.
The book is widely criticized for being essentialist and reductionist, making broad generalities about its subject matter which may be unwarranted. As such it is often considered an example of "Orientalist" scholarship, where this term is used perjoratively; indeed, Patai is criticized in passing at several points in Edward Said's seminal study Orientalism.
[edit] Contents
Caution: This book was last revised in 1983
Along with Prefaces, a Conclusion and a Postscript, the book contains 16 chapters including Arab child-rearing practices, three chapters on Bedouin influences and values, Arab language, Arab art, sexual honor/repression/freedom/hospitality/outlets, Islam's impact, unity and conflict and conflict resolution, and Westernization. A four-page comparison to Spanish America is made in Appendix II.
The Foreword is by Norvell B. DeAtkine, Director of Middle East Studies at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg.
[edit] See also
- Bedouin systems of justice
- Honor codes of the Bedouin
- Arab cultural psychology
- The Bookseller of Kabul (in Pakistan)
- Tales from the Expat Harem (in Turkey)
[edit] External links
- The Arab Mind Revisited, with the book's Foreword
- What's wrong with the White House's book on Arab nationalism
- Guardian criticism
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