Mountain Against the Sea Essay -- History, Zionist, British

In Mountain against the Sea (2009), Salim Tamari investigates dichotomies that exist within the historical memory of Palestinian â€Å"modernity† prior to and during Zionist and British influences and how this has contributed to the separation from the social changes that were taking place in Ottoman Palestine at the turn of the twentieth century. Typical historical methodologies have used the Nakba as the defining moment of change within Palestinian societies. Tamari, on the other hand, moves beyond this essential methodology and explains how modernity and complex social changes were occurring in Ottoman Palestine even before 1917. By taking advantage of geographical terminologies, he explains this through the cultural divides that were arising through the connector cities, such as Jaffa, between the inland (mountain/traditional) cultures and the cosmopolitan coastal (sea/contemporary) cultures. Tamari utilizes and builds upon theories of small town urban sprawl and demonstr ates how social control (authoritarianism) differed between Ottoman Palestine and current small towns within the West Bank. Building upon these internal changes taking place all over Palestine before, and to some extent after the Nakba, Tamari proceeds with the second half of the book by narrowing the focus on particular urban intelligentsia, and social and political reformers. Much of the discussion here is devoted to those participating within Jerusalem society and the author challenges conventional ideas of the city being devoid of modernity prior to British entanglements. Building upon his urban foci of â€Å"hybridity,† Tamari explains the cultural hybridity that took place within Ottoman Palestine. Many of his arguments challenge typical ideas about early Pale... ...im Arab Communist like Najati Sidqi; the resulting conclusion is always the same – the traditionalist perspective of a pastoralist Palestine is unfounded. By investigating early cosmopolitan social shifts, popularized ceremonies, the rise of urban intelligentsia, the destruction of coastal cosmopolitan centers and the resultant small town social authoritarianism, the rise of the â€Å"nostalgic narrative† referencing a lost traditionalist society, and the subsequent generations to synthesize imagined societies with reality, Tamari has successfully challenged the Palestinian rhetoric of who Palestinians were before, during, and after the Nakba. Tamari has utilized â€Å"new† sources of information leaning heavily on memoirs, unpublished diaries/journals, and commemorative events resulting in an amalgamation of new perspectives on the social changes within Palestinian society. Mountain Against the Sea Essay -- History, Zionist, British In Mountain against the Sea (2009), Salim Tamari investigates dichotomies that exist within the historical memory of Palestinian â€Å"modernity† prior to and during Zionist and British influences and how this has contributed to the separation from the social changes that were taking place in Ottoman Palestine at the turn of the twentieth century. Typical historical methodologies have used the Nakba as the defining moment of change within Palestinian societies. Tamari, on the other hand, moves beyond this essential methodology and explains how modernity and complex social changes were occurring in Ottoman Palestine even before 1917. By taking advantage of geographical terminologies, he explains this through the cultural divides that were arising through the connector cities, such as Jaffa, between the inland (mountain/traditional) cultures and the cosmopolitan coastal (sea/contemporary) cultures. Tamari utilizes and builds upon theories of small town urban sprawl and demonstr ates how social control (authoritarianism) differed between Ottoman Palestine and current small towns within the West Bank. Building upon these internal changes taking place all over Palestine before, and to some extent after the Nakba, Tamari proceeds with the second half of the book by narrowing the focus on particular urban intelligentsia, and social and political reformers. Much of the discussion here is devoted to those participating within Jerusalem society and the author challenges conventional ideas of the city being devoid of modernity prior to British entanglements. Building upon his urban foci of â€Å"hybridity,† Tamari explains the cultural hybridity that took place within Ottoman Palestine. Many of his arguments challenge typical ideas about early Pale... ...im Arab Communist like Najati Sidqi; the resulting conclusion is always the same – the traditionalist perspective of a pastoralist Palestine is unfounded. By investigating early cosmopolitan social shifts, popularized ceremonies, the rise of urban intelligentsia, the destruction of coastal cosmopolitan centers and the resultant small town social authoritarianism, the rise of the â€Å"nostalgic narrative† referencing a lost traditionalist society, and the subsequent generations to synthesize imagined societies with reality, Tamari has successfully challenged the Palestinian rhetoric of who Palestinians were before, during, and after the Nakba. Tamari has utilized â€Å"new† sources of information leaning heavily on memoirs, unpublished diaries/journals, and commemorative events resulting in an amalgamation of new perspectives on the social changes within Palestinian society.