Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-01T07:28:34.986Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Saddam’s Word: Political Discourse in Iraq. By Ofra Bengio. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. 266p. $49.95.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 April 2005

Amatzia Baram
Amatzia Baram
Affiliation:
Haifa University and Georgetown University,,
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Ofra Bengio's book is a scholarly and methodical endeavor to analyze the way in which Ba`thi Iraq (1968-present) has been using (or misusing) the Arabic language, symbolism, history, and myths in order to legitimize its rule and policies. Bengio demonstrates how language has been twisted and manipu- lated in an attempt to terrorize political enemies, paralyze and enchant the vast majority of the Iraqis, induce them to perform or tolerate atrocities, and risk their lives in battle for leader and country. Sometimes, the regime is entrapped in its own rhetoric. The book shows how discourse, art, and symbols have been used to construct a cult of personality for Saddam Husayn, unmatched in the contemporary Middle East.

Type
Book Review
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 95 , Issue 2 , June 2001 , pp. 491 - 492
Copyright
2001 by the American Political Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.