| The Chaldeans: Politics and Identity in Iraq and the American Diaspora Contributor(s): Hanoosh, Yasmeen (Author) |
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ISBN: 1788313690 ISBN-13: 9781788313698 Publisher: I. B. Tauris & Company OUR PRICE: $148.50 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: May 2019 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Social Science | Anthropology - Cultural & Social - History | Middle East - Iraq - Social Science | Minority Studies |
| Dewey: 271.18 |
| Series: Library of Modern Middle East Studies |
| Physical Information: 1" H x 6.3" W x 9.3" (1.40 lbs) 328 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Middle East |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Modern Chaldeans are an Aramaic speaking Catholic Syriac community from northern Iraq, not to be confused with the ancient Mesopotamian civilization of the same name. First identified as 'Chaldean' by the Catholic Church in the sixteenth century, this misnomer persisted, developing into a distinctive and unique identity. In modern times, the demands of assimilation in the US, together with increased hostility and sectarian violence in Iraq, gave rise to a complex and transnational identity. Faced with Islamophobia in the US, Chaldeans were at pains to emphasize a Christian identity, and appropriated the ancient, pre-Islamic history of their namesake as a means of distinction between them and other immigrants from Arab lands. In this, the first ethnographic history of the modern Chaldeans, Yasmeen Hanoosh explores these ancient-modern inflections in contemporary Chaldean identity discourses, the use of history as a collective commodity for developing and sustaining a positive community image in the present, and the use of language revival and monumental symbolism to reclaim association with Christian and pre-Christian traditions. |