Explores the dynamic relationships between language, politics and society in the Middle East Published in honour of Professor Yasir Suleiman, this collection acknowledges his contribution to the field of language and society in general, and to that of language analysis of socio-political realities in the Middle East in particular. Presenting a range of case studies relating to the role of language in the Middle East, it shows in each one that the study of language unearths deeper processes relating to political affiliations, social behaviour and transnational as well as religious and sectarian identities. It also explores questions related to the power of language as a sociopolitical instrument, and addresses current issues that facilitate an understanding of the evolving intersections in the areas of language and politics in the modern Middle East. This includes how language forms and is shaped by its social and political surroundings; the language manifestations of social, religious and political identifications; and the groupings, divisions and polarisations in the encounter between language, conflict and politics in contemporary Middle Eastern communities. Looking at language as a proxy for social and political struggles, the volume gives prominence to the long-lasting legacy and great contribution of Professor Yasir Suleiman to the field. Key Features: - Brings together scholars from the fields of sociology, political science, Middle Eastern history, linguistics, sociolinguistics, political communication and media studies - Includes chapters on identity changes via literary creations and word choice, code- switching and its importance in understanding political realities; Arabic studies in Jewish schools in Israel; the influence of the dominant Hebrew on Arabic spoken by Palestinians in Israel, and 'the language of the revolution' with case studies from Tunisia, Egypt and Libya Yonatan Mendel is a Research Associate at the Centre of Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge. He is author of The Creation of Israeli Arabic: Security and Political Considerations in the Study of Arabic in Jewish-Israeli Schools (2014) and co-author (with Ronald Ranta) of From the Arab Other to the Israeli Self: Palestinian Culture in the Making of Israeli National Identity (2016). Abeer AlNajjar is a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Middle East Centre, London School of Economics, and an Associate Professor of Mass Communications at the American University of Sharjah-UAE. She has published numerous academic articles and book chapters on journalism and news media and is author of Conflict over Jerusalem: Covering the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict in the British Press (2009). Cover image: Israel, 2016 (c) Oded Yedaya Cover design: Andrew McColm [EUP logo] edinburghuniversitypress.com ISBN 978-1-4744-2153-9 Barcode

List of Figures and TablesAcknowledgementsForeword: About Yasir Suleiman, Carole HillenbrandIntroduction, Yonatan Mendel & Abeer AlNajjarChapter 1: The Hauntology of Language and Identity, John E. JosephChapter 2: Transcultural content and translingual reflection: Rethinking the Arabic language learning experience, Karin Christina RydingChapter 3: Metaphorical recurrence and language symbolism in Arabic meta-language discourse, Chaoqun LianChapter 4: Colloquial Moroccan Arabic: Shifts in usage and attitudes in the era of computer-mediated communication, Eirlys DaviesChapter 5: 'Arabic is under threat': Language anxiety as a discourse on identity and conflict, Ashraf Abdelhay and Sinfree MakoniChapter 6: Code choice, place and identity in Egypt: Evidence from two novels, Reem BassiouneyChapter 7: Language as Proxy in Egypt's Identity Politics: Examining the New Wave of Egyptian Nationalism, Mariam AboelezzChapter 8: Rakakah and the Petit Quarrel of 1871: Christian Authors and the Competition over Arabic, Rana Hisham IssaChapter 9: Orchestrating Multimodal Protest and Subverting Banal Nationalism in the Linguistic Landscape of the Tunisian Revolution, Sonia ShiriChapter 10: The Arab Jews and the Arabic language in Israel: An Ongoing Ambivalence between Positive Nostalgia and Negative Present, Maisalon DallashiChapter 11: War Names in the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Comparative Study, Muhammad AmaraAbout the Contributors