Books by Sadok Damak
Sadok Damak, and Fathi Bourmeche, eds. Sfax, Tunisia: Contact Editions. [ISBN: 978-9973-953-36-0], 2023
The volume Populism and National Identities claims that the notion of populism is elusive, necess... more The volume Populism and National Identities claims that the notion of populism is elusive, necessitating constant redefinition according to varying and evolving interactional contexts for a better grasp of its nature and scope. By modern standards, the notion has acquired additional implications and significations as innovative as enigmatic and flummoxing.
The volume speculates that populism is an ideology that juxtaposes the interests of the “pure” people, considered in its entirety, to those of a political, cultural, media, or business/economic elite—real or perceived—that populists identify as “exploitative”, “corrupt”, and “conspirative”. The volume also illustrates the impacts of this ideology through the study of several cases depicting political parties, social movements, and charismatic populist leaders.
The volume’s contribution coincides with an obvious upsurge of interest in the topic that has recently dominated public debate in America and Europe as well as other regions around the globe.
Sadok Damak, and Fathi Bourmeche, eds. Sfax, Tunisia: CAEU Med Ali Editions. [ISBN: 978-9973-33-602-6], 2021
Shaping Public Opinion captures the essence of the debates that stemmed from the First Internatio... more Shaping Public Opinion captures the essence of the debates that stemmed from the First International Symposium on Media and Cultural Studies. The volume claims that the notion of public opinion is elusive and fuzzy, necessitating certain frames, ideological and political ones in particular, for a better grasp of its nature and scope. Besides, this notion has long constituted the concern of scholars from different horizons, probably starting with Plato, Aristotle, and later Hobbs and Jean Jacques Rousseau, who conceived of public opinion as people’s long-standing social practices and behavioral traditions. By modern standards, the notion has acquired new meanings all of which are as innovative and avant-garde as puzzling and baffling.
Sadok Damak - Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 140 pages. [ISBN (13): 978-1-5275-4337-9 / ISBN (10): 1-5275-4337-4], 2020
This volume anticipates the deradicalization of the Nation of Islam's erstwhile extremist discour... more This volume anticipates the deradicalization of the Nation of Islam's erstwhile extremist discourse, depicting the return of a sort of prodigal son to the common American national identity, after over three generations spent in denial of the mother country. In addition to investigating this shift in identification observed among the disciples of the sect during the past decade, the volume offers a reflection on how ethnicity is much more resilient than ethnic identity itself. From a social psychological perspective, it speculates that, unlike ethnic identity, ethnicity allows people to change identity at will in order to circumvent the identities imposed on them or assigned to them by birth. It also illustratively demonstrates the feasibility of thorough academic research in cultural studies.
In Approaches to Cultural Studies (Sfax, Tunisia: Laboratory on Approaches to Discourse, pp. 160-211) - [ISBN: 978-9973-33-529-6], 2018
This volume offers an academic guide for research and pedagogical methodologies in cultural studi... more This volume offers an academic guide for research and pedagogical methodologies in cultural studies. It proposes practical tools and instruments in the illustration of such a guide, mainly supported by a series of commentaries on selected typical pedagogical materials commonly covered in cultural studies classes.
As historical events, sociological phenomena, and political aspects are all at once of prime interest to cultural studies, so are the methodological approaches adopted in the corresponding academic disciplines. The solution to such a complex methodological problem lies therefore in the adoption of a common analytical procedure applicable to most tutorial texts in cultural studies classes. The objective is to develop hybrid, interdisciplinary anchors whereby to gain scientific recognition.
In Sadok Damak, and Moez Rebai, eds., From Deconstructing Narrative Vehicles to La Réécriture... (Sfax, Tunisia: CAEU Med Ali Editions, pp. vi-xiii) - [ISBN: 978-9973-33-521-0], 2017
French philosopher and critic Jacques Derrida has worked out a strategic analytical device which ... more French philosopher and critic Jacques Derrida has worked out a strategic analytical device which is meant to be not only an “ensemble of rules for reading”, but even for “interpretation and writing”, yet not at all a system simply limited to a predefined method in particular. Derrida insists in this respect that deconstruction cannot be tied down to a single methodological step or strategy. This suggestion of Derrida rests on the assumption that the “modes of rhetorical analysis, hitherto applied mainly to literary texts, are in fact indispensable for reading any kind of discourse”. Accordingly, although deconstruction is more often than not in use in literature, we extend its scope in this volume to assigning meanings also to any other vehicle of narration and to every type of discourse, without exception, such as the ones in press organs, political speeches, religious sermons, historical accounts, along with films, cartoons, textbooks, and what not, all in hopes to extract the semantic substances that these vehicles enclose, as advantageously as possible.
Les Arabes musulmans aux Etats-Unis depuis 1965 ethnicité et assimilation, 1998
As a novice-anthropologist, I had recourse to qualitative research, analyzing data I had collecte... more As a novice-anthropologist, I had recourse to qualitative research, analyzing data I had collected through fieldwork, questionnaires, and interviewing methods in three cities of major Arab concentration in the United States, namely Detroit, Michigan; New York City (precisely the borough of Brooklyn), New York; and Jersey City, New Jersey. Previous studies on Arab Americans, on the whole, had focused on the history of a settlement involving a rather numerically small minority, essentially of Christian background that up to 1965 had managed to adjust and assimilate successfully into American society.
It was not until after the revision of the immigration legislation in 1965 that the minority became conspicuous with the Muslim component immigrating in greater numbers, largely superseding their Christian counterpart. It all happened in a context that witnessed changing circumstances in the Middle East in the aftermath of the 1967 Six-Day War. The conflict caused the orientalist stereotypical portrayal of Arab culture to resurface, with the United States siding with the enemy of Arab countries. It was then that the first Arab American organizations started to form in the host country. The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the American Muslim Council, the Association of Arab-American University Graduates, and the National Association of Arab Americans; all of them mustered Muslims and Christians alike who expressed dismay and dissatisfaction with the negative representation of their common culture. They emerged with the avowed aim to counter the stereotypes targeting their minority. I wanted to understand how a lingering low opinion about their cultural belonging was tantamount to provoking a strong reaction only at that time. I also sought meanings regarding the rationale for indulging in such a conspicuous identification.
It transpired that, even after 1965, Arab Muslims continued to enjoy no difficulties adjusting to American social and cultural norms and values, on account of their relatively high socioeconomic status. Yet, the negative representation of their ancestral culture in the host country—mainly due to biased media coverage and prejudiced public opinion about Islam and Arab culture—ignited a defensive reaction and ensuing ethnic activities, in a move to reverse the tide of cultural misrepresentation. The study engendered a new concept: defensive ethnicity, one I conceived with respect to the case at hand. The findings established that as two dimensions of their cultural identity—Arabity and Islamity—were involved in such a hostile context of social interaction, so too were there as many stances vis-à-vis adversity that both characterized the Arab Muslims’ ethnic identification in the United States: the first aiming to restore a positive image of Arab culture, and the second conspicuously highlighting the differences between Islam and Christianity.
Journal Articles by Sadok Damak
In In-Image Journal: Semiotic Studies and Discourse Analysis 1 (2019): 123-47. [ISSN: 1737-7390]
The typical paradigm adopted in cultural studies research and teaching methodologies alike is mor... more The typical paradigm adopted in cultural studies research and teaching methodologies alike is more often than not the interpretative approach to the available data. The present paper speculates that the cross-verification of the outcome of the interpretative approach by means of the Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) Transitivity analytical toolkit in application to the collected data not only confirms the findings and concluding remarks, but even allows additional discernments about aspects that the cultural studies researchers or practitioners may overlook. This hypothesis has been tested with regard to the interpretative findings about a lecture by the current spiritual leader of the Nation of Islam, an African American sect. The content analysis of such an ethnic-religious discourse has reflected the identification hesitance of the mouthpiece of the sect as one swaying between separatism and social integration or, simply, between Islamity and Americanity. With respect to this finding, the cross-checking by means of the significant Experiential characteristics of Transitivity has proved conclusive, as will be shown. Although at this stage more identical surveys will certainly be needed for testing this hypothesis further, it is recommended in the interim that such an interdisciplinary approach be adopted in application to cultural studies research and classes, both.
In Academic Research (12): 126-44. [ISSN: 1737-1007], 2017
This paper presents a methodological approach to documents dealt with in Cultural Studies—or the ... more This paper presents a methodological approach to documents dealt with in Cultural Studies—or the academic subject known as Civilization. It seeks to elaborate on the existing French school of commentary techniques related to the subject by working out an exhaustive version that might provide the tools for research in the branch of knowledge of Civilization. The paper argues that an important feature of this branch is the way Civilization corpora are analyzed. The approach is then applied to political discourse in Abraham Lincoln's " Gettysburg Address " as a sample.
In French – Cet article a pour objectif de proposer une approche méthodologique pour étudier les documents de civilisation britannique et américaine. En se fondant sur les techniques de commentaire élaborées en la matière par l'école française, il cherche à construire une méthode analytique, faisant usage des outils linguistiques à même de rendre compte des intentions des auteurs dans les documents étudiés. En guise d'application, cette approche prend pour cible un discours du célèbre président américain Abraham Lincoln intitulé « The Gettysburg Address ».
In Academic Research (13): 173-92. [ISSN: 1737-1007], 2017
Most studies on ethnicity and ethnic attitudes involve subgroups and minorities, seldom individua... more Most studies on ethnicity and ethnic attitudes involve subgroups and minorities, seldom individuals, and still rarer an individual case. This paper deals with the manifest ethnicity in an exilic narrative by Ihab Hassan, an American of Arab background who, at twenty-one of age, left his native Egypt forever to settle in the United States of America, deliberately cutting almost all vital and cultural ties with ethnic ancestry. After four decades of exile culminating in an obvious Americanization, Hassan publishes an autobiography wherein he confides childhood, boyhood, and adulthood memories. What were the circumstances that pushed Hassan to appropriate the dominant identity at the expense of ancestral culture? And what explains his late need for an autobiographical meditation evoking roots and reviving old memories, despite Hassan's confession that his voluntary cultural exile has been a choice he still claims and assumes? This paper hypothesizes that contrary to all appearances, Ihab Hassan has not managed to abandon or get rid of his primordial ethnic feelings, despite his undeniable efforts to conform to the dominant, mainstream culture.
In French - Le présent article se consacre à l'autobiographie d'Ihab Hassan, le critique littéraire égypto-américain. Dans une perspective psychosociologique, l'article met en exergue l'identification ethnique chez cet auteur qui a délibérément choisi l'exile comme moyen d'acculturation pour fuir son identité culturelle d'origine. L'étude révèle à travers une analyse du contenu sémantique ainsi qu'un examen des champs lexicaux comment Hassan a du mal à contourner son identité ethnique primordiale, notamment son arabité, malgré des efforts indéniables pour se conformer uniquement aux exigences identitaires de la société d'accueil.
Book Chapters by Sadok Damak
In Vulnerability and Resilience to Violent Extremism: An Actor-Centric Approach. Ed. Juline Beaujouan et al. London and New York: Routledge. 124-41. , 2024
Far from the classic dichotomous approaches to religious radicalisation, which tend to attribute ... more Far from the classic dichotomous approaches to religious radicalisation, which tend to attribute its causes either to the clash of civilisations or to the flaws of modernity, this chapter proposes to examine the role of formal and informal institutions and their impact on the community’s dynamics and reactions to the eruption of religious phenomena. It is based on the results of a field study carried out at two sites in Tunisia in order to show that radicalisation is the echo of marginalisation, which is overdetermined by a feeling of Hogra (contempt) that has persisted for decades in the country. The chapter also points to the fact that radicalisation is in part the outcome of the excesses of globalisation that manifest themselves particularly through exuberant privatisation, on the one hand, and the influence of cross-border religiosity, on the other. It concludes that radicalisation in Tunisia is a political response to political choices. Even if extremism is expressed as being based on religious justifications, it remains political in essence and is a response to social and regional injustice. While some Tunisian regions are equipped with the cultural or symbolic means to resist this radicalisation, other more marginalised ones are more affected by radicalisation and violent extremism.
In Exploring the Autobiography as a Genre and a Data Collection Tool. Ed. Nadia Abid and Elena Bonta. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 115-28. , 2023
The present paper investigates the specific cultural identification that transpires from the Auto... more The present paper investigates the specific cultural identification that transpires from the Autobiography of Malcolm X. Therein, it looks for the elements indicative of cultural identity transformation in illustration of the innovative theoretical views about intercultural psychology. The latter view maintains that a cultural encounter ignites 'interculturation'-a process of partial cultural exchange-that engenders a new cultural entity. It is a process that yields 'interculturality', a genuine cultural product propitious for constructing additional identities. In an interpretative approach to the book by Malcolm X-an African American convert to the faith of the Nation of Islam, this paper seeks to apprehend how interculturality manifests itself through the contact involving two sets of religious cultural symbols along with the third spiritual identity that stems therefrom. It turns out that Malcolm X's narrative of conversion corroborates the emergence of an identification of the intercultural type that is basically generated by the combination of cultural constituents pertaining to both Christianity and Islam.
In Populism and National Identities. Ed. Sadok Damak and Fathi Bourmeche. Sfax, Tunisia: Contact Editions, 51-72. [ISBN: 978-9973-953-36-0], 2023
Populism is an elusive notion that closely connects with politics. It can thus signify the politi... more Populism is an elusive notion that closely connects with politics. It can thus signify the political stance that promotes the juxtaposition of the cause of ordinary people against the attitude(s) of the establishment. Despite the abundant literature on populism as a mode of political action, little is known about social movements whose leadership indulges in populism. In the couple of decades closing the twentieth century, the Nation of Islam, a movement made up of African American converts, represented a case in point. This chapter aims to inquire about the separatist call for autonomy formulated at that time by Louis Farrakhan, the spiritual leader of this movement. I speculate that Farrakhan's call betrayed a populist stance. Hopefully, this study helps gain further insights into how populism operates in social movements, as distinct from political parties. In a narrative inquiry, I use the ideational approach to populism to investigate a long sermon lecture delivered by Farrakhan in the mid-1990s. From a social psychological perspective, I explain that Farrakhan had recourse to religious identity singularization to reinforce a populist stance that capitalized on Black Nationalism. The findings confirm this theory.
In La prison : expériences, imaginaires et créations. Ed. Makki Rebai. Sfax, Tunisie: Impr. Contact, pp. 19-30 [ISBN: 978-9973-9892-4-6], 2021
The paper hypothesizes that the decision to turn the first established British territory in Austr... more The paper hypothesizes that the decision to turn the first established British territory in Australia into a penal colony gave rise to an open-sky prison the torments of which started for the convicts at the setting of sails towards an unusual penitentiary. In a micro-historical approach, the work examines archival materials about the testimonies of early British settlers on the Australian continent. The findings confirm the hypothesis and reveal how the transportation of convicts, in reality, constituted a source of free labor close in its exploitation to the institution of slavery.
In Shaping Public Opinion. Ed. Fathi Bourmeche and Sadok Damak. Sfax, Tunisia: CAEU Med Ali Editions, pp. 28-55. [ISBN: 978-9973-33-602-6], 2021
This work departs from the existing knowledge about the way Hispanics have thus far been framed i... more This work departs from the existing knowledge about the way Hispanics have thus far been framed in media discourse in order to study how and why the Los Angeles Times, a Californian daily broadsheet newspaper, framed this community in 2016, during the ten months prior to the US presidential election. To this end, a qualitative frame analysis has been applied to the content of a sample of eight articles involving Hispanics published by the broadsheet under scrutiny during that year. Therein, it has looked mainly at the recurrent themes along with any new tendency patterns in covering Hispanics that emerged at that time and the rationale for framing. The findings show that the newspaper reinforced many common stereotypes and embraced a complex, episodic frame, as though to meet the readers' expectations, in covering the themes pertaining to demographics, votes, and immigration debate; all three of them placed Hispanics outside the mainstream prospects and norms. The work concludes by speculating that the Los Angeles Times framed this community as an alien threat of culturally inferior invaders in order for the newspaper to survive.
In The Poetics and Politics of Identity. Ed. Chantal Zabus. Gabes, Tunisia: TAELS Publications, 2018. 111-25. [ISBN: 978-9938-9934-1-7]
Most often identities are studied in terms of the acculturation of minorities in favor of the maj... more Most often identities are studied in terms of the acculturation of minorities in favor of the majority. But such an approach recognizing the preeminence of a dominant culture has recently raised much criticism on account of its ideological implicitness. Instead, it is interculturation, a new concept involving mutual cultural influence that henceforth determines the identities of the people belonging to cohabiting cultures. In this innovative perspective, the present essay investigates the identity of Hispanics mainly through their recourse to Spanglish, which bespeaks an ‘interculturative’ ethnicity, a choice of identification expressed to voice how far to concede to the mainstream culture.
In Politics and Poetics of Belonging. Ed. Mounir Guirat. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2018. 214-237. [ISBN (13): 978-1-5275-0351-9 / ISBN (10): 1-5275-0351-8]
In a social context of ethnic adversity wherein several identity dimensions are involved, the que... more In a social context of ethnic adversity wherein several identity dimensions are involved, the question of belonging reveals itself problematic. In American society, African Americans had been denied elementary constitutional rights and, thus, access to full American identity (Americanity) till the early 1960s. In such a conflictual situation, Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., the pacifist Civil Rights direct action leader, settled the question of belonging to Americanity in a subtle manner in his “I Have a Dream” speech.
The present paper revisits the speech and speculates that in his aspiration to attain social and political equality King has recourse to cultural conformity as a strategy of identification so as to gain the recognition that is supposed to validate his belonging to Americanity.
Methodologically, the speech is explored through the lens of the Cultural Studies viewpoint in that the paper combines the interpretative commentary techniques pertaining to content analysis and the strategic sociological approach to identity stances involving ethnic belonging, in particular, and people dealing with two cultures, in general.
In From Deconstructing Narrative Vehicles to La Réécriture... Eds. Sadok Damak and Moez Rebai. Sfax, Tunisia: CAEU Med Ali Editions, (ISBN: 978-9973-33-521-0) pp. 7-28, 2017
The minority status lends itself to intertwining interpretations combining numerical, social, and... more The minority status lends itself to intertwining interpretations combining numerical, social, and cultural variables. Should we include other variables, such as political and ethnic differences upon which minorities are also based, the notion would turn even more complex to determine. The present essay enumerates and then examines the different variables pertinent to a general comprehension of the notion of minority status, so as to isolate the ones that combine to provide a better understanding of this notion in the American social context, with a view to reflecting the persistence of minorities and, thus, refuting the argument of the " post-ethnic " theory that could be considered a revival of the Melting Pot ideal in that it envisions the myriad ethnic minorities living in the United States as amalgamating into an " ethnic pentagon " , with five major groups of color that would eventually amalgamate, in turn, in order to fulfill assimilationist ambitions. Yet, though optimistic, this vision of the future of American society raises a real question in terms of feasibility and achievement.
In COGNITION SOCIALE, FORMES D’EXPRESSION ET INTERCULTURALITÉ. [ISBN: 978-2-343-10828-5] Ed. Ghazi Chakroun. Paris : L'Harmattan, pp. 75-88, 2017
La nature ineffable de l’ethnicité, l'absence de définition commune, unificatrice à son sujet : c... more La nature ineffable de l’ethnicité, l'absence de définition commune, unificatrice à son sujet : c’est que le concept a acquis presque autant de significations que ces utilisateurs en ont bien voulu lui attribuer, s’y ajoute l’application plutôt imprécise du terme à des groupes vaguement appelés ethniques, etc. ; toutes ces difficultés font que l'appartenance ethnique devient un phénomène mystérieux. Nous nous proposons dans ce chapitre de faire un tour d’horizon des divers aspects de l’ethnicité, notamment des formes qui en sont issues grâce à des processus d’identification ethnique aussi originaux que variables impliquant certains individus qui se livrent à des activités ethniques souvent dictées par les situations de l'interaction sociale où ils se trouvent confrontés en particulier à l’hégémonie culturelle d’un groupe dominant, d’où l’appellation d’ethnicité situationnelle. Notre contribution part du postulat que l’ethnicité est loin d'être un phénomène statique d'identification mais plutôt un acte délibéré qui se développe principalement à partir de choix conscients et volontaires chez des personnes confrontés, qui plus est, à des situations qu’ils perçoivent comme représentant une menace quelconque à leurs intérêts économiques, politiques et, surtout, culturels, lorsque l'identité héréditaire (et non pas de classe) est impliquée. Toutes les illustrations empiriques nécessaires à cette étude seront tirées d’exemples dans la société américaine. Nous y examinons donc quelques variétés typologiques de l’ethnicité situationnelle pour en tirer des implications théoriques ; il en ressort que l’ethnicité est unidimensionnelle, c’est-à-dire reposant sur une dimension unique de l’identité culturelle qui elle, en revanche, est multidimensionnelle ; deuxièmement que l’ethnicité situationnelle est stratégique et tout aussi bien sélective, souvent manipulée à des fins spécifiques et variés qui peuvent être défensifs, symboliques, matériels, ou autres et, troisièmement, qu’elle n’entraine pas nécessairement la totalité des membres d’un même groupe, soi-disant ethnique, dans ce processus situationnel d’identification.
In L’INTERCULTUREL AUJOURD’HUI : PERSPECTIVES ET ENJEUX. [ISBN: 978-2-343-09973-6] Eds. Élisabeth Regnault et Élaine Costa-Fernandez. Paris: L'Harmattan, pp. 249-260, 2016
La longévité de la Nation de l'Islam, une secte de Musulmans Noirs fondée aux États-Unis au début... more La longévité de la Nation de l'Islam, une secte de Musulmans Noirs fondée aux États-Unis au début des années 1930, intrigue d'autant plus qu'elle maintient son adhésion au séparatisme ethnique, à en juger par les déclarations récentes de Louis Farrakhan, l'actuel maître spirituel et porte-parole de la secte. Toutefois, les déclarations de ce dernier recèlent aussi des indications qui paradoxalement trahissent une envie évidente d'appartenir à l'identité américaine. En réalité, l'identification chez ce leader gravite autour de trois dimensions identitaires distinctes, à savoir en premier lieu l'identité ethnique, qu'il s'évertue en deuxième lieu à occulter en affichant sa conversion à l'identité islamique et, en troisième lieu, l'identité nationale américaine qu'il semble ne pas répudier complètement. L'hypothèse qui sous-tend le présent travail soutient que les différences culturelles ne permettent pas à Farrakhan, en raison du stade avancé de son américanisation, une distinction identitaire nette, sans le recours à l'islamité. Ce travail se propose d'étudier la résultante de ce choix identitaire impliquant des symboles culturels aussi bien primordiaux que d'emprunt ; il se fonde sur l'analyse du contenu sémantique d'un discours fleuve de Farrakhan publié en 2013, qui a été retenu notamment pour son titre à la fois évocateur et ambigu où il est question de donner des directives au président Obama et à la « Nation »! Dans une approche psychosociologique se réclamant de l'école interprétative, ce travail cherche principalement à comprendre les finalités identitaires chez ce dirigeant afro-américain converti à l'islam ainsi que les stratégies qui en découlent qui se construisent dans ce cas grâce à des attitudes interactionnelles, en réaction à une adversité ethnique persistante, due à des pratiques racistes et discriminatoires encore très perceptibles dans la société américaine. Ce travail montre que les données qualitatives qui se dégagent de ce discours tendent à appuyer une hypothèse selon laquelle Farrakhan cherche à accéder à l'américanité par la mise en relief de son islamité afin de contourner la dévalorisation qui pèse sur son identité afro-américaine. Dans les propos antinomiques de Farrakhan s'entremêlent, en effet, des symboles identitaires culturels et religieux de tous bords, et il en ressort une stratégie complexe d’identification qui combine recherche de différenciation identitaire et revendication de similitudes culturelles.
In Excess(es). Ed. Mounir Guirat. Sfax, Tunisia: CAEU Med Ali Editions, (ISBN: 978-9973-33-476-3) pp. 19-33, 2016
The purpose of the present paper is an attempt to bring support to the hypothesis that ethnic ide... more The purpose of the present paper is an attempt to bring support to the hypothesis that ethnic identity when jeopardized in a context of social adversity tends to be strategic and manipulative. The paper shows how religious conversion counted among the strategies of ethnic identification used by Malcolm X, the late 1950s and early 1960s Black Muslim leader. The paper analyses a passage from The Autobiography of Malcolm X; it uses the Cultural Studies commentary techniques for Civilization— culture and history—documents to reflect how the ethnic discourse adopted by the then mouthpiece of Black Muslims relied on both social visibility and the demonization of the white man, as excessive forms of ethnic expression to preserve/defend ethnicity.
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Books by Sadok Damak
The volume speculates that populism is an ideology that juxtaposes the interests of the “pure” people, considered in its entirety, to those of a political, cultural, media, or business/economic elite—real or perceived—that populists identify as “exploitative”, “corrupt”, and “conspirative”. The volume also illustrates the impacts of this ideology through the study of several cases depicting political parties, social movements, and charismatic populist leaders.
The volume’s contribution coincides with an obvious upsurge of interest in the topic that has recently dominated public debate in America and Europe as well as other regions around the globe.
As historical events, sociological phenomena, and political aspects are all at once of prime interest to cultural studies, so are the methodological approaches adopted in the corresponding academic disciplines. The solution to such a complex methodological problem lies therefore in the adoption of a common analytical procedure applicable to most tutorial texts in cultural studies classes. The objective is to develop hybrid, interdisciplinary anchors whereby to gain scientific recognition.
It was not until after the revision of the immigration legislation in 1965 that the minority became conspicuous with the Muslim component immigrating in greater numbers, largely superseding their Christian counterpart. It all happened in a context that witnessed changing circumstances in the Middle East in the aftermath of the 1967 Six-Day War. The conflict caused the orientalist stereotypical portrayal of Arab culture to resurface, with the United States siding with the enemy of Arab countries. It was then that the first Arab American organizations started to form in the host country. The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the American Muslim Council, the Association of Arab-American University Graduates, and the National Association of Arab Americans; all of them mustered Muslims and Christians alike who expressed dismay and dissatisfaction with the negative representation of their common culture. They emerged with the avowed aim to counter the stereotypes targeting their minority. I wanted to understand how a lingering low opinion about their cultural belonging was tantamount to provoking a strong reaction only at that time. I also sought meanings regarding the rationale for indulging in such a conspicuous identification.
It transpired that, even after 1965, Arab Muslims continued to enjoy no difficulties adjusting to American social and cultural norms and values, on account of their relatively high socioeconomic status. Yet, the negative representation of their ancestral culture in the host country—mainly due to biased media coverage and prejudiced public opinion about Islam and Arab culture—ignited a defensive reaction and ensuing ethnic activities, in a move to reverse the tide of cultural misrepresentation. The study engendered a new concept: defensive ethnicity, one I conceived with respect to the case at hand. The findings established that as two dimensions of their cultural identity—Arabity and Islamity—were involved in such a hostile context of social interaction, so too were there as many stances vis-à-vis adversity that both characterized the Arab Muslims’ ethnic identification in the United States: the first aiming to restore a positive image of Arab culture, and the second conspicuously highlighting the differences between Islam and Christianity.
Journal Articles by Sadok Damak
In French – Cet article a pour objectif de proposer une approche méthodologique pour étudier les documents de civilisation britannique et américaine. En se fondant sur les techniques de commentaire élaborées en la matière par l'école française, il cherche à construire une méthode analytique, faisant usage des outils linguistiques à même de rendre compte des intentions des auteurs dans les documents étudiés. En guise d'application, cette approche prend pour cible un discours du célèbre président américain Abraham Lincoln intitulé « The Gettysburg Address ».
In French - Le présent article se consacre à l'autobiographie d'Ihab Hassan, le critique littéraire égypto-américain. Dans une perspective psychosociologique, l'article met en exergue l'identification ethnique chez cet auteur qui a délibérément choisi l'exile comme moyen d'acculturation pour fuir son identité culturelle d'origine. L'étude révèle à travers une analyse du contenu sémantique ainsi qu'un examen des champs lexicaux comment Hassan a du mal à contourner son identité ethnique primordiale, notamment son arabité, malgré des efforts indéniables pour se conformer uniquement aux exigences identitaires de la société d'accueil.
Book Chapters by Sadok Damak
The present paper revisits the speech and speculates that in his aspiration to attain social and political equality King has recourse to cultural conformity as a strategy of identification so as to gain the recognition that is supposed to validate his belonging to Americanity.
Methodologically, the speech is explored through the lens of the Cultural Studies viewpoint in that the paper combines the interpretative commentary techniques pertaining to content analysis and the strategic sociological approach to identity stances involving ethnic belonging, in particular, and people dealing with two cultures, in general.
The volume speculates that populism is an ideology that juxtaposes the interests of the “pure” people, considered in its entirety, to those of a political, cultural, media, or business/economic elite—real or perceived—that populists identify as “exploitative”, “corrupt”, and “conspirative”. The volume also illustrates the impacts of this ideology through the study of several cases depicting political parties, social movements, and charismatic populist leaders.
The volume’s contribution coincides with an obvious upsurge of interest in the topic that has recently dominated public debate in America and Europe as well as other regions around the globe.
As historical events, sociological phenomena, and political aspects are all at once of prime interest to cultural studies, so are the methodological approaches adopted in the corresponding academic disciplines. The solution to such a complex methodological problem lies therefore in the adoption of a common analytical procedure applicable to most tutorial texts in cultural studies classes. The objective is to develop hybrid, interdisciplinary anchors whereby to gain scientific recognition.
It was not until after the revision of the immigration legislation in 1965 that the minority became conspicuous with the Muslim component immigrating in greater numbers, largely superseding their Christian counterpart. It all happened in a context that witnessed changing circumstances in the Middle East in the aftermath of the 1967 Six-Day War. The conflict caused the orientalist stereotypical portrayal of Arab culture to resurface, with the United States siding with the enemy of Arab countries. It was then that the first Arab American organizations started to form in the host country. The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the American Muslim Council, the Association of Arab-American University Graduates, and the National Association of Arab Americans; all of them mustered Muslims and Christians alike who expressed dismay and dissatisfaction with the negative representation of their common culture. They emerged with the avowed aim to counter the stereotypes targeting their minority. I wanted to understand how a lingering low opinion about their cultural belonging was tantamount to provoking a strong reaction only at that time. I also sought meanings regarding the rationale for indulging in such a conspicuous identification.
It transpired that, even after 1965, Arab Muslims continued to enjoy no difficulties adjusting to American social and cultural norms and values, on account of their relatively high socioeconomic status. Yet, the negative representation of their ancestral culture in the host country—mainly due to biased media coverage and prejudiced public opinion about Islam and Arab culture—ignited a defensive reaction and ensuing ethnic activities, in a move to reverse the tide of cultural misrepresentation. The study engendered a new concept: defensive ethnicity, one I conceived with respect to the case at hand. The findings established that as two dimensions of their cultural identity—Arabity and Islamity—were involved in such a hostile context of social interaction, so too were there as many stances vis-à-vis adversity that both characterized the Arab Muslims’ ethnic identification in the United States: the first aiming to restore a positive image of Arab culture, and the second conspicuously highlighting the differences between Islam and Christianity.
In French – Cet article a pour objectif de proposer une approche méthodologique pour étudier les documents de civilisation britannique et américaine. En se fondant sur les techniques de commentaire élaborées en la matière par l'école française, il cherche à construire une méthode analytique, faisant usage des outils linguistiques à même de rendre compte des intentions des auteurs dans les documents étudiés. En guise d'application, cette approche prend pour cible un discours du célèbre président américain Abraham Lincoln intitulé « The Gettysburg Address ».
In French - Le présent article se consacre à l'autobiographie d'Ihab Hassan, le critique littéraire égypto-américain. Dans une perspective psychosociologique, l'article met en exergue l'identification ethnique chez cet auteur qui a délibérément choisi l'exile comme moyen d'acculturation pour fuir son identité culturelle d'origine. L'étude révèle à travers une analyse du contenu sémantique ainsi qu'un examen des champs lexicaux comment Hassan a du mal à contourner son identité ethnique primordiale, notamment son arabité, malgré des efforts indéniables pour se conformer uniquement aux exigences identitaires de la société d'accueil.
The present paper revisits the speech and speculates that in his aspiration to attain social and political equality King has recourse to cultural conformity as a strategy of identification so as to gain the recognition that is supposed to validate his belonging to Americanity.
Methodologically, the speech is explored through the lens of the Cultural Studies viewpoint in that the paper combines the interpretative commentary techniques pertaining to content analysis and the strategic sociological approach to identity stances involving ethnic belonging, in particular, and people dealing with two cultures, in general.
L’analyse effectuée sommairement sur une partie des propos recueillis au cours de notre enquête de terrain aux États-Unis auprès de cette communauté nous a permis de proposer l'hypothèse opératoire préliminaire selon laquelle à la fin du siècle dernier les Arabes musulmans aux États-Unis inscrivaient leur action ethnique collective dans un comportement identitaire stratégique, plutôt défensif, tantôt de valorisation, tantôt de singularisation.
Les quatrième et cinquième chapitres de la thèse se consacrent ensuite à étayer cette hypothèse grâce à l'analyse approfondie de la récolte de l'étude alors menée sur place. Sadok Damak