A political map of the Middle East (in one version of it)
(Wikimedia Commons public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Knowing what to call the region often known as the \u201cMiddle East\u201d is surprisingly difficult.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
What is it east of? \u00a0Morocco, which many people consider Middle Eastern, is west of France. \u00a0And why should Paris and London be considered the center of the world, anyway?<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
And what is \u201cthe West?\u201d \u00a0Is it a geographical region or a cultural given? \u00a0Is Australia part of it?<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Of course, some don\u2019t<\/em> consider Morocco part of the Middle East. \u00a0(See the map above.) \u00a0But there is a fundamentally important cultural continuum from Morocco clear across to at least Iraq, and no impassable geographical barriers from east to west.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFar Eastern\u201d is fairly clear. \u00a0It\u2019s East Asia. \u00a0China and Japan, for instance. \u00a0Korea, too. \u00a0Thailand. \u00a0Cambodia and Vietnam.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
But is there any difference between the \u201cMiddle East\u201d and the \u201cNear East\u201d? \u00a0My impression is that, today, there really isn\u2019t. \u00a0I received my Ph.D. with an emphasis in Arabic studies from a Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures. \u00a0I teach Arabic and Arabic studies in a Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages, but our overall program at BYU is Middle East Studies (Arabic). \u00a0And if I were teaching the same classes at the University of Utah, I would be teaching in the Middle East Center. \u00a0Listening to myself, I find that I use them interchangeably and with approximately equal frequency.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
My sense, though I haven\u2019t really researched the matter, is that there used to be a continuum, and a distinction, from Far Eastern<\/em> through Middle Eastern<\/em> (perhaps the Indian subcontinent and Iran, etc.) to Near Eastern<\/em> (e.g., Egypt over to Morocco). \u00a0If so, however, such differences have been lost.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
And what, actually, is in the \u201cNear East\u201d or \u201cMiddle East\u201d? \u00a0I\u2019ve seen some maps that included Pakistan and even Greece but excluded Tunisia and Morocco and perhaps even Algeria.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The great historian of Islam Marshall G. S. Hodgson fought valiantly to introduce greater terminological exactness into the field. \u00a0But he didn\u2019t have much success. \u00a0I myself really like his distinction between Islamic<\/em> (of, or pertaining to, the religion itself) and Islamicate<\/em> (of, or pertaining to, the culture in which Islam is dominant, but not necessarily religious at all \u2014 e.g., Islamicate metalwork). \u00a0That a mosque is an Islamic building is obvious, of course. \u00a0But why should a palace, say, or an Arabic or Persian lyric poem necessarily be termed \u201cIslamic\u201d? \u00a0Is the White House a Christian building in even remotely the same sense that the cathedrals of Cologne or Chartres are Christian? \u00a0C. S. Lewis is a Christian writer, certainly. \u00a0So is Dante. \u00a0So is Milton. \u00a0But is Ernest Hemingway? \u00a0Is F. Scott Fitzgerald? \u00a0Ezra Pound? \u00a0Goethe? \u00a0Nietzsche?<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I can see, though, why Hodgson\u2019s proposal of \u201cthe Nile-to-Oxus region\u201d didn\u2019t really catch on.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
And the battle is probably lost. \u00a0Even \u201cMiddle Easterners\u201d have adopted Middle East<\/em> and, I think to a considerably lesser degree, Near East<\/em> for themselves.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Arabs, for example, live in, and have a major newspaper called, Al-Sharq al-Awsat<\/em> (\u201cThe Middle East\u201d). \u00a0Sometimes, they refer to al-sharq al-adnaa<\/em> (\u201cthe Near East\u201d). \u00a0And people such as I are engaged in al-diraasaat al-sharq al-awsatiyya<\/em> (\u201cMiddle Eastern studies\u201d).<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Oh well.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Posted from Newport Beach, California<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 Knowing what to call the region often known as the \u201cMiddle East\u201d is surprisingly difficult. \u00a0 What is it east of? \u00a0Morocco, which many people consider Middle Eastern, is west of France. \u00a0And why should Paris and London be considered the center of the world, anyway? \u00a0 And what is \u201cthe West?\u201d \u00a0Is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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